This week, I had several clients complain that they just can't use a calendar. This is very common, especially for clients who have situations that rely on constant "Triage". I have heard this complaint from executives with large staffs, realtors, attorneys and trades people. These folks start the day in adrenalin mode, responding to email and voice mail to make a plan of attack for the day.
They are afraid to put items down on paper, feeling what is the point, I'll never get to it anyway...Rather than thinking of these blocks as fixed in stone, it is more helpful to think of them as movable post it notes on their calendar. These notes have various degrees of importance. Urgent items have to find a spot on todays calendar or something very bad will happen. Important items are things that need to be done in a few days to a week and can be stuck on a different day on the calendar. Other items could be related to long term planning, recreation and other things you would like to do if time permits. It is so true that the act of writing things down vastly improves the possiblility that they will be completed. The trouble with trying to keep everything in your head is that this takes valuable brain power away from other activites. There is a much greater chance you will forget something and will cause yourself even greater stress. Trying to estimate how long what yhou are trying to accomplish can also help with improving long term time planning. If you note how much time a task might take, you can look at how long it actually took and adjust accordingly. I find many clients "awfulizing" how long something will take. Seeing in black and white what is erally required can help break barriers to getting and staying organized.
