How many dates and activities are keeping your mind busy?
Originally published on LinkedIn the 9th of June 2018
Did it ever happen to you, just before going to sleep, to remember about that important thing you were supposed to send to that customer? And yes, of course, you promised to follow up that very same day. Or maybe you are in the middle of something that requires all of your attention and, all of a sudden, you remember of that important task that is due by the end of the week? All these occurrences not only distract you from what you are doing in that moment but also make your mind tired, trying to remember stuff you are afraid to forget. It feels like you can never disconnect. This is what was happening to me. I suppose I am not the only one, judging by the number of friends and colleagues I see trying to remember critical things or scratching their heads and moaning “oh gosh, I forgot” – or something similar, depending on seriousness of the issue 🙂
Keeping track of important dates in your private life
What are the things that require your attention? Birthdays, expiration date of credit cards, IDs, passport, compulsory vehicle test, and other things that are important to you. A few years ago I forgot about the expiration date of a credit card I absolutely needed in a certain circumstance and, of course, I learned the lesson. Since then I started to organize things in my private life in a different way. You might think is over-killing but I chose to go for project management tool. I use a tool called Pagico. I split my activities into projects and assign to each project some tasks. You can also tag items and assign dates to them. There will be activities you will never do, just keep that in mind. The idea here is that you organize your priorities in such a way that you will eventually do at least what is critical and leave for a later time what is not
What about the stuff from work?
This is more complex. The alternatives could actually narrow because of compliance and software your company might or might not make available to you. Of course there is always the possibility of discussing the purchasing of a piece of software you find productive for your daily activities. On the other hand most of the businesses are using Microsoft Outlook as email client. Outlook can be effectively used as time management tool and you might achieve similar results as with Pagico by using it in the proper way. Just to give you an hint of something to start with, you might look into this training (WorkingSm@rt + Microsoft Outlook). I took it in the past and found it very effective in helping you organizing priorities, managing your time and keeping track of things
Do you already use something?
I feel is important to mention again that I am not connected to the companies, products and training I mentioned. They work for me and are meant as an example to share something to get started with or to compare against if you already have a system that works for you. It can be as simple as storing dates into a spreadsheet file! Your research will take you to find a way that works best for you. Do you already have a “system” or a different way of doing things? Would you like to share it?