Time management is highly prized by most people - and finding time is even preferred over earning more money, recent studies report. But if you don't use your time effectively, you simply lose the time you have found.
This is where task templates help you out. Task templates are simple, flexible systems for managing your time and shaping your schedule. Once you start using them, you'll wonder how you ever got by without them!
Task templates FAQS:
Q: How will task templates help me?
A: Task templates combine personal effectiveness with stress management by helping you avoid:
1. Bottlenecks
2. Late charges
3. Missed appointments
4. Under-preparing for key encounters
5. Reinventing the wheel for recurrent events
Task templates capitalize on what your mind does best, which is creating patterns. Those patterns highlight where you want to go and what you want to avoid in a given period of time.
Your brain isn't hardwired to recall, shuffle and re-prioritize multiple items in your head. But the task templates you create will put everything in front of you quickly and clearly written out. This frees up your mind to assess your options, prioritize and launch into action. And that frees up your time.
Q: Which activities are task templates best suited for?
A: Any repetitive activity with multiple steps can be streamlined with task templates.
Use them as a framework for your activities. By creating task templates, you develop a simple outline for your projects that you can refer to time after time. For example, they can help you with:
1. Tax preparation
2. Holiday planning
3. Spring cleaning
4. Packing for trips
5. Financial reports
Q: How do I get started?
A: Follow this template and see how much time you save.
First: List activities or projects where a template would be helpful to you, using the examples above for a guide.
Second: Select one project you'd like to work with first.
Third: Jot down each activity associated with this project. If applicable, also include all supplies you will need.
Fourth: Order them chronologically.
Fifth: Place all the task templates you create in a loose-leaf notebook or in a dedicated file on your desktop. That will keep them easily accessible.
Sixth: Put the template you are currently using in the appropriate workspace. If it's helpful, print out several copies to post in multiple locations.
Seventh: Review your task templates to see if important areas have been overlooked. Revise accordingly.
Task templates are infinitely flexible systems. The more you utilize them:
* The more constructive uses you'll imagine.
* The more confidence you'll place in them.
* The more confidence you'll have in yourself.
Use task templates to focus your energy. Then draw on additional time management techniques to enhance their effectiveness, such as to-do lists, setting boundaries and visualizing the sequence of tasks.
Now, ask yourself, what is your next step to finding more time?
About the Author:
Coach Paula Eder, Ph.D., The Time Finder Expert, has 35 years of success helping individuals and small businesses align time with values.
For free Time Templates + Time Tips, visit
Finding Time
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TheTimeFinder
No. of Times this article has been viewed :
831
Date Published :
Feb 18 2009