I can’t get ahead of my to-do list; time management diagnosis

As a department director, project manager and mother, time management is at the crux of my daily life. I have a never ending to do list. I have teams that are craving for deadlines and how to get to them. Once they get the direction, they also complain that it’s not doable or they wait till the last minute to get there - causing the project to miss the deadline… resulting with you being in the front and center being interrogated on how it happened. 

Sounds familiar? 

No matter how many articles you read, how many classes you take, how many mentors you speak to, it is on you to determine the best time management technique. You will not achieve this without experimenting with different options for a certain period of time. 

Let’s break that down: There are two elements in that sentence; experimenting with different techniques for a certain amount of time. 

Experimenting: 

There are loads of techniques out there.  Some of my favorites are;

• Pomodoro:

  • What is it? A time management system where you work 25-minute durations followed by 5-minute breaks utilizing a physical timer. After 4 pomodoros, take a 20 minute break. Bonus trivia; It’s name come from the tomato shaped timers. How adorable. 

  • Ideal usage: If you are unclear about how long a repeating task of yours takes or if you are writing, coding, designing or studying. It also works really well for regular 9-5 gigs as well. 

• Personal Kanban: 

  • What is it? Utilizing a board in three columns; Backlog, Now, Done, one can add in their to do list into the backlog and start making progress on items in the now column. There should never be more than 3 items in the now column. Jim Benson and Tonianne De Maria Barry dive into this more in their book Personal Kanban: Mapping Work, Navigating Life.

• Ideal for:

  • Breaking the habit of “multitasking” or feeling overwhelmed or feeling rushed to get as many tickets done as possible.

  • I find Kanbans most productive if I’m struggling with multiple projects that pushes me into an unhealthy multitasking habit. It helps me realign with priorities. It also helps validate why I am struggling with my to-do list (backlog) because it can be pretty large.

  • What I do not find useful with a personal Kanban is that I can not prioritize. That’s where the Eisenhower matrix can come in as a guide. 

• Eisenhower Matrix 

  • What is it? A matrix system developed by Eisenhower’s quote

    “​​I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent”.  

• Ideal for: 

  • When you find yourself constantly putting out fires

  • Have hard time saying no or delegating

  • Need clear guidance on what is important vs what is urgent and eliminate the feeling of urgency for non-urgent tasks

Duration:

Once you settle in with a technique, or a combination of a few, give it at least a week. 

Let’s say you went with Kanban, you may notice that you’re inclined to add more tasks in the Now board towards the end of the week.

If you are utilizing pomodoro, you may be watching the clock for the 25 minutes too much where you can’t focus on your work. 

With the Eisenhower matrix, you may see that a lot of tasks are starting to make their way into the first quadrant towards the end of the week even if they don’t belong there. 

Time management takes discipline and kaizen, continuous improvement. Your process should adjust and change for your needs. 

In order for these to work, you’ll need to diagnose your time management problem, put together a treatment plan utilizing above and be accountable for yourself. I am working on a video to dive in deeper on time management. If you would like to hear more about it, sign up for our mailing list. 

Be kind to yourself.