Make the Most of the Last Lazy Days of Summer

The last lazy days of summer are upon us. Even though school has started for some, and work has ramped up again for others…summer officially ends Sept. 21, 2009. This time of year it’s easy to get caught up in the same old unproductive traps. Today I challenge you to break out of your “lazy days” rut with these five time management tips.

We’re all getting busier it seems. We cram more and more into each day. Me, I have a full-time career, I’m a husband and new Dad, and I use my spare time to work on my personal finance blog. Sometimes I feel like time is managing me, not the other way around. It can be frustrating.

But, because I know this happens to us all occasionally, I thought I’d refresh myself and you on some of the best productivity tips around. Let’s get back on track together. You’ll need two things: a blank sheet of paper (or a simple text editor), and a daily calendar.

Credit: orcmid

1. Create a Priority List – First, take time right now to create a simple to-do list. Write down all of the things that you need to get done. Be sure and add things that need to be completed now, as well as things that can wait a while. Some people suggest using a mind map to get everything out.

Now that you have a list of things to do, assign a priority to each one. Use a simple “ABC/123″ format to get this done. “A” can represent your most urgent, most important items. Use “B” for those things that are important, but might not be urgent. Lastly, use “C” to identify things that aren’t that important or urgent, but that you’d like to get done, time permitting. The “1,2,3,…” can be used to further prioritize the items within each category.

2. Fill Up Your Calendar – Next, take your list and fill up your daily calendar with these items. Your calendar should already have your appointments and meetings, so just fill in the gaps with these to-do items. Use a conservative approach and be realistic about the time it will take to complete your tasks. Build in plenty of buffer for breaks, emergencies, and interruptions.

3. Plan for Tomorrow Today – Be sure to build in a few minutes at the end of your day to plan for the next. During this time, reference your prioritized to-do list (to note which items you haven’t completed) and fill out the next day’s activity.

4. Eat the Biggest Frog First – When putting the to-do items on your calendar, be conscious of when you’re most productive. Since most of us are most productive first thing in the morning, it’s best to schedule your most difficult tasks then. But you know when you’re most productive. So, plan to work on your most difficult tasks then.

5. Fight Back Against Barriers – Lastly, make a quick list of your biggest time management barriers and decide on an action to fight back. Common barriers include: interruptions, lack of organization, perfectionism, inability to say no, etc.

Barriers can’t be totally prevented, but we can take steps to avoid them or at least minimize their impact.

Bonus: Online Time Management Tools

As a compliment to this post I’ve prepared a list on my blog of 15 Free Online Time Management Tools.

Phil Taylor is a personal finance writer, and he writes regularly on money topics on his site, Prime Time Money blog. You can find him on Twitter @PTMoney.

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