Subject: Time management - your tips

At present I have 2411 emails in my inbox, 648 unread. I know where things are, scan through and read and respond to the important ones but there just isn't enough time in the day to do and read everything. I think that the volume of emails is the problem rather than bad time management...? 

I recently started "filing" emails in folders rather than letting them stay in my inbox - read or unread.  This has become something of an obsession and I now find I deal with email more easily than before.  I am so determined to keep my inbox under 20 messages that this has really helped.  Not sure this is time management as such but it is helping me at the moment!

I'm trying the 3 steps in the 18 minute plan and so far today have reviewed my time and refocussed twice!  Knowing I will have to admit to what I have done in the past hour seemed to help me avoid getting distracted!

There is reference in the supporting article to "Getting Things Done" which is a very useful structured framework. For some people it has become a cult, and that may not be a bad thing if it works for them. But simpler systems can be developed for keeping track of urgent items and for priorities (often sadly not the same).

Here is a link to an interesting suggestion on how to use old-fashioned and cheap index cards (plus a binder clip) as the basis of a simple time management system. A simple index card GTD system.

Time management is incredibly personal, so a key thing is to be exposed to a lot of different approaches to make it easier to find at least one that works for you or me.

I think that guilt and procrastination are big threats to good time management. Putting the things off that scare me results in a guilty feeling and the task seems to increase in difficulty. The task becomes a big mountain rather than a little hill. I really should learn to do the scary things at the time rather than putting them off, they never turn out to be that scary. Right, time for a cup of tea!

Years ago I came across a book entitled "If You Haven't Got the Time to Do It Right, When Will You Find the Time to Do It Over". Often when I am rushing through something I remember the title and slow down and just make sure I do it right first time.