Time Management PlannerA time management planner, whether one of the Franklin Covey Planners or a generic daily planner, is an important time management tool. A planner greatly improves your time management skills.With the right planner you won't have to rely on little sticky notes, scrap pieces of paper with the important phone number, or look for that missing business card. Have you ever double booked yourself or forgotten that important date or meeting? How much of your day is spent juggling the demands of your superiors, managing interruptions, or working with customers? As your demands increase you find that you have less time for planning! Do you reach the end of the day, frazzled and worn out, but with little to show for it? A time management planner enables you to use your time in a more effective manner. By using a planned and systematic approach, you focus on your priorities and achieve your goals. But which time management planner to use? Should you use a weekly planner, a daily planner, a 2 pages to a day planner...? Or should you drop the paper and pencil approach and use daily planner software? Which time management planner to choose?A planner provides a central location in which you hold all the necessary information to organize and plan your time. With the right planner you won't have to rely on little sticky notes, scrap pieces of paper with the important phone number, or look for that missing business card. A planner provides a central location in which you hold all the necessary information to organize and plan your time. But there are many different time management planners, ranging from:
Benefits of a time management planner A time management planner is a key time management tool used in planning and organizing. With a structured system you have one source for all your information, that is prioritized and organized to your needs. When used properly, a time management planner increases productivity, improves work life balance, and reduces stress. At the very minimum your planner needs to include a calendar, a location for your to do list or daily plan, a list of contacts, and a spot to plan at the weekly or monthly level. Within each of these planners you can incorporate a time management system that allows you to align your objectives with your daily tasks and priorities. To take control with your personal time management it is important to choose a planner that is right for you - as a tool with which you are the master and not the slave! Franklin Covey PlannersI particularly like Franklin-Covey Planners as their range is expansive and they are unique in that they help you develop your own personal productivity plan.
For example, some of their planners use the lessons from the best seller "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" which reminds you to evaluate your daily activities based on the 4 quadrant approach. This is discussed in the time management matrix, and provides motivation content from their book. In purchasing a planner I recommend that you choose one that has:
For your time management system to work correctly within your planner, you first need to identify what you want to achieve and then develop your system to meet your needs.
Prioritizing your tasks Franklin Covey planners help you to stay on the right side of effectiveness by focusing on your most important tasks - those tasks that are aligned with your goals and overarching vision.
I talk more about using the Pareto principle as a means of prioritizing so that you can validate your incoming tasks against your objectives - ensuring you stay on top of your most important tasks.
Choosing a software planner or a paper-based plannerThis is a difficult question to answer. It all comes down to your personal time management preferences. Do you like to put pen to paper? Do you want something that you can hold onto? Do you want something that outlasts a few coffee stains without having to reboot or purchase new software? Are you away from the office (or desk) for long periods (and you don't use a PDA or iPhone)? If so, then you are likely to want a paper-based time management planner system. If you are comfortable with technology and like to use time management software then there are some real advantages to a software-based system like GTD software or task management software. However, a word of caution needs to be stated here. A time management software program does not cure poor time management. Just as you wouldn't expect a new piano to help you to play any better if you didn't have the musical skills, so it is with time management skills. Software can supercharge time management under the right conditions, and learning time management skills and effective habits gives you the tools to make the most out of planning software. Related time management articles
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