Please read the previous article before you read this one.

Remember. Your work is higher priority than work with others want you to do.

Where is your pending work listed?

Usually scattered across multiple locations : Mind, Notepads, Tissue papers, Mobile notes, mails, minutes of meetings, etc.

That is not a good idea because you can’t see all the pending work in one place. If you don’t see something you don’t end up doing it.

Step 1: Create Outlook Tasks

Go back to your core job description or KRAs or organizational commitments sheet – whatever you have signed up for. Take each item from there and break it down into smaller pieces of work and add them to tasks. Using color categories mark them as Core work.

Think of all the other pending tasks and add the to task folder as well.

Anything in this color is additional information and optional reading. You can move to the black area ahead without losing context.

Common mistake: Adding work to Calendar

Calendar and Task are two different things. If you are blocking specific time for whatever reason, put it in the calendar.

Work is different. We decide What to do and When it should be completed (the deadline). However, we don’t specify when exactly it will be done. That is called a TASK.

Calendar is for meetings, events, leave , seminars, off-sites, fieldwork, training programs, etc. Here we block time to say EXACTLY WHEN something is going to happen. If it does not happen, it may be rescheduled but that is not very important.

Step 2: Block YOUR time to do YOUR work

This is a genuine problem. We simply don’t have time to handle all the mails, attend all meetings and handle all tasks. But now that we know that tasks are the priority, we must focus on them.

If others see that your calendar is free, they are bound to send meeting requests. So before that happens, make sure that you block your time for your work.

1. Open the calendar. Better to be in the Work Week View
2. Right click on Tasks folder and choose Open in New Window
3. Make the tasks window smaller so that you can float it above the calendar window and see both
4. Look a the tasks. Choose which ones are important
5. Decide which date and time you want to do that work
6. Drag the task and drop it on that date
7. Adjust the time based upon your estimate of how long the task will require

Now think what you just did.

Remember, dragging the task to calendar is just a convenience. It DOES NOT mark the task as complete. When you finish the task, you must go and mark it as complete in the task folder.

“I took an appointment with myself to do my own work” = Time Management

Sounds funny. But this is the simplest form of time management.

Homework

Start creating the task list and drag the tasks to calendar to block time. Start it immediately.

Creating tasks is your first task

Next article

In the next article we will understand how you can refine your work in Outlook using custom fields.