Previous Lessons
- Lesson 1: The Big Five: Creating a Workable To-Do List
- Lesson 2: Interruptions: Eliminating and Managing Them
Scheduling: Creating Priority and Margin
Welcome to Lesson 3 that looks at scheduling. Specifically, we are going to explore the importance translating your to-do list or Big Five into a series of appointments. We will also look at how you pad your day with time for the unexpected. This can reduce a tremendous amount of stress. This will reduce over planning your time and allows space for projects or task that take longer than you expected.
You may choose to watch these videos by streaming live from the web, downloading the MP3s to your computer or MP3 player, or by reading the text transcript.
To get the most out of these lessons focus on taking action every day, no matter how small that action may be. Small actions add up more rapidly than you may realize. Much of the battle of time management, conquering clutter and getting organized is purely a matter of consistency.
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Streaming Audio
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Task
- Set a specific time for accomplishing everything on your to-do list. Treat it like an appointment. If someone asks you to do something during that time respond as you would if you had an appointment at that time. i.e. “I am sorry. I can’t. I already have a commitment at that time.”
- Create a margin block in the afternoon. This is a grace space of time for you to deal with things that you didn’t plan on. If nothing comes up you can use however you would like. Planning a margin also helps reduce stress, because if you have something that takes you longer than yo had planned you can always use your margin time to complete it.