Overwhelmed

Photo Courtesy of KK+

Do you often feel overwhelmed at work, or even at home or elsewhere? I know that I used to, but now I am not so much “overwhelmed.” I attribute to this to a lot of things, but not the least of which has been the tying and trying and re-trying of a lot of different time management, life management, or whatever you want to call it management systems. The first thing that I have learned is that there is not one system that works for everyone. There are pieces of systems that when put together fit for the use of everyone, but at least in my experience, there is not one that does it all. I have been “dabbling” in the world of time management for the past 15 years. I have gone to FranklinCovey Classes, read numerous books, tried a variety of different paper planners and have even been working with cloud based and SmartPhone specific time management systems. For the longest time, I thought the FranklinCovey system would be the best one for me. I liked the way that it called you to think about your mission in life as well as goal planning. Generally the ABC123 model was okay, but it felt like something was missing for me. Then about 7 years ago I came across the works of David Allen and his book Getting Things Done and that changed a lot about the way that I look at the art of time/life management. There are a few take-a-ways that I want to give you that I learned from David Allen that helps me each and everyday to not feel overwhelmed and to eliminate all the stuff around me.


1. Have as few inboxes as you can, but as many as you need. An inbox is anything that collects stuff. It can be e-mails, text messages, mail, letter, fax, etc.

2. The Two Minute Rule. This is the best rule that I have ever learned and is responsible for ensuring that my e-mail box is at zero each and everyday. The rule is this. If something takes two minutes or less to do, then do it. It will take you more time to file it away, retrieve it, and do something with it then, than it would have if you had just done it now.

3. Find ways to compartmental things that need to be done in list that make sense. For example, create a list of all the calls that you need to make. Pull that list out when you have a phone and time to do it. Create of list of things that you need to do that requires a computer or even the web to do it. You will find that compartmentalizing things helps to get them done at the right time and place.

These are some of the things that have helped me get things done. What are some things that you do?