Time Management Tools

The idea of a “daily list” was a recent invention, only a hundred years ago. Today we take for granted the idea of a to do list. Office software programs like Microsoft Outlook have a task list function built in.

One benefit of transferring tasks to a to do list is that it unclutters the mind. We are all worriers and cluttering our mind with all the endless tasks, crisis and problems in our lives can result in gridlock, confusion or working on low priority tasks.

MasterMinder

John Randall developed a more sophisticated list system he calls the MasterMinder. First and foremost a list helps us remember what to do. The MasterMinder goes another step and helps us sort out priorities.

Create an excel grid with these columns

• Tasks
• Who is task assigned to?
• Due Date

1. Now
2. 1 Day
3. 7 Day
4. 30 Day

Resources

"Is it Time to Keep a Time Log?", by Bill von Achen of the Best Practices for Business website - this article discusses the effectiveness of using a personal time log to figure out how your time is actually being spent.

"A Plan to Increase Workplace Efficiency and Boost Your Value on the Job" by Julie Morgenstern is a free downloadable set of tools

"Time Management 101" is an article by Bill von Achen of the Best Practices for Business website - this article summarizes several strategies to better management time

Author

John Randall was a CEO, started several companies and is a published author. He studied the history of management technique development and developed some new ideas.