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YOUR DAILY "TO DO" LIST

Your time budget is your long-term plan. It covers predictable or recurring tasks that you must complete. It also reserves time for nonrecurring tasks. These are the real time robbers. If you don't get control of these unanticipated, day-to-day tasks, they will eventually consume all of your time. The two hours you allocated in your time budget to work on the payroll will disappear as you deal with one crisis after another.  How do you get control of these nagging time robbers? You do so with your short-term plan or daily "To Do" list.

As its name implies, your daily "To Do" list is a simple, prioritized list of nonrecurring things to accomplish each day. What kind of tasks are these?

• Phone calls you have to return
• Reports you have to write
• Meetings you have to conduct
• Visits with customers

Include all of those things that occur only once or that you can't plan for on a long-term basis. You have to plan for these tasks on a daily basis. When? During the first and last half hours of each day.

You will recall from building your time budget that we suggested you reserve the first and last half hours of each day for nonrecurring activities. You should prepare, review, and revise your daily "To Do" list during these two half hours each day. During the last half hour, you review your "To Do" list for the upcoming day. Move over to the next day's list any items you have not completed and also add any new items. Then prioritize your list by picking out the five most important items and number them from 1 to 5 in priority order. Don't be concerned if your list of "To Do" items is long. It is likely that you will never complete all of the tasks you can list for any single day. Completing all of the tasks you list is not important. Having a list and completing the top five (or just the top item) is important.

When you have completed your list and picked at least your top five items, go home - and take the list with you. At night, if you think of an item, add it to the list. The key to gaining control over these nonrecurring activities is to get them on your list. If you are away from the office and don't have your list with you, phone in a message (to your receptionist or answering machine) to remind yourself to add an item to your list when you return.

One way to build your "To Do" list and ensure you don't forget an important item is to set aside time each day to quickly scan your mail, fax messages, phone messages, and internal memos.  As you review each item, make a brief note on the item concerning action you need to take (i.e., "Call John and discuss this," "Do estimate for this," "Write reports"). Then add the item to your "To Do" list. Don't try to complete any of these items at this time.

Earlier, we suggested that you set aside the first half hour of each day for nonrecurring activities. This first half hour is critical. During this time, you use your "To Do" list and time budget calendar to plan your day. Review your "To Do" list and transfer at least your top five priority items to your time budget calendar, filling in time for each item from the "To Do" list around the time you have already set aside for recurring activities such as preparing the payroll. For the remainder of the day, try to work off your completed time budget calendar for that day.

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