You have a lot of tasks on your list. You know what to do, how, and why, but do you know “when”?
“When” you will do a task is the key to effectively managing your time.
If you know when, and schedule the day (and time), you’re more likely to do it. If you don’t know when, you may not do it at all.
Our days are full. Once we complete our scheduled tasks (appointments, meetings, calls), we might not have enough time or energy to do other things.
Which means we often won’t do them.
I’m not advocating time-blocking our entire day or giving everything a due date. But maybe we should give everything a “do” date.
When you schedule when to do something, you’ve decided it’s important. If you don’t know, everything becomes “someday/maybe” and that often means “never”.
Decide “when” you will do the task and schedule it. Mark the day and time on your calendar or tag it on your list. If you’re not sure of the time, at least schedule the day. If you’re not sure of the day, at least schedule the week.
You can always change the day or week. But to do that, you’ll need to reconsider the importance of the task, and then renew your commitment to doing it or remove it from your list.
Look at it this way: if a task isn’t important enough to schedule, maybe it’s not important at all.
What if you’re not sure when you will do it? Schedule a date and time to review the task and then decide.
Because “when” is the key to managing your time.
