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Dear People,

One of the things you might catch yourself saying often is that you will do a task "in just a moment", but that moment never comes. You are busy, you are tired, you think you can do it tomorrow, but that tomorrow never seems to come. For some of us, this is a question of us delaying doing what is necessary, but for others, it's incorrect time management. Today I'm talking about only the second, as I've wrote a blog post already to help with procrastination: Taking Care of Future You.

Why we always have too many tasks
We like to feel productive so it's usually very tempting to add more and more tasks to our day. To say yes to requests from others or any thing that pops in our mind that we want to do. Often, we underestimate the time it takes to do tasks. So when the end of the day nears, the end of our list of things we wanted to do, didn't. The next day, we are up against the same mountain of work and it's likely that we will add more onto it.

Adding a task
When we say things will 'just take a moment' it means we think we can easily add it, but all the little moments add up. And often, what we say just takes a moment, costs us much more then that. A small tasks we would do immediately after all.

If we only look carefully how much work a certain tasks is going to be, we'd get a healthier outlook. A lot of things aren't then automatically put in the: "will do in the weekend" or "will do later"-pile. It forces us to plan when we will do things, write them down (so we don't forget) and consider our work load.

It also means that we need to prioritize whenever we add a new task. If it doesn't fit (which will happen often), we have to choose what is most important to us.

Removing or combining tasks
When we have a set pattern, we often don't think about tasks that we do. It's normal to brush our teeth, make our breakfast, dress and shower. Still, there might be a little time we can win by combining old and new tasks or by removing tasks that no longer serve us.

Regularly check your time management to see if you need to remove habits/tasks. You might find yourself aimlessly on social media or watching tv, while you are dying to exercise more or watch a documentary to learn something new. Often we have time sink habits that don't really bring us anything.

Time management exercise
This exercise contains two distinct lists, but you can combine them in the same notebook. If you are stressed for time, usually the first list is no problem, but the second is more time intensive. However, even giving a general view instead of an hourly update on that list will help you see what you do with your time.

List 1: Keeping a task list
On this list, keep all the tasks you plan to do. Whenever you say: "I'll fix that, I do that in just a moment or sure, I'll help", add the task to the list. If a task is done, remove it from the list. Keeping this list helps you keep your promises and also helps you see how heavy your work load is. We are less likely to overextend ourselves, if we know that our schedule is stuffed already.

List 2: Keeping an activity list
Just for a week, try to write down what you do every hour or if you can manage even every half hour. This way you can see where your time actually goes. Keeping yourself accountable also means that it's more difficult to spend hours watching tv. You can also write down at which times you feel most productive.


Have a time management tip to share or want to get a better grip on your own habits? Post a message on the blog, Facebook Fan Page or write me an e-mail.