The Time Management System I Actually Use

(Transcript edited for clarity.)

Hi, I'm Wes. Today I'm going to share with you the time system that I actually use, or the time management system that I actually use. But first, I want to cover a couple important things.

Time management isn't really about managing time. It's about deciding what deserves your attention and building systems that help you stay focused on it. So keep those things in mind as I share with you the time management system that I actually use.

Why this matters: I used to think I needed to be a better planner or a better time manager. My productivity improved a lot, though, when I stopped trying to manage every minute or every second of every day and instead started building systems around the things that were most important.

So let me tell you the story about how all this came about for me.

Years and years ago, I read a book by Hyrum W. Smith. He actually started the company that eventually became Franklin Covey, which I'm sure many of you are familiar with.

The Franklin Covey Day Planner System.

Hyrum Smith started this system, I don't know, probably 25 or 30 years ago now. I read his book, I think it's called The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time and Life Management.

It's an excellent book. I highly recommend it if you're interested.

He laid out this system in his book, and that's basically the system I use, but I've adapted it to my uses.

So here's how the system works, and this is what I still do today.

Once I started using this time management system, my productivity on the important things in my life really started taking off.

Again, this is the time management system that I actually use to get things done.

What I do every day - and I usually do this the night before, but some people do it in the morning - is list out everything I want to get done or might want to get done for that day.

Then I simply separate that list into three things.

There are the priorities, then the important but not top priorities, and then the everything else list.

I've segmented everything I can and/or want to do on any given day.

Then I look at the priority list.

That's the most important list.

I number everything on that list from the most important thing on the priority list to the least important thing on the priority list.

I've also learned that I can have a weekly list with several priorities. But for a day-to-day list - and that's what I'm talking about here, the time management system I use every single day - I don't want to have more than two or three high-priority things.

If I have other things for the week that might be high priority but don't have to be high priority today, they might go on the second list: the important but not high priority today list.

Once I have my high-priority list numbered from most important to least important, I put that at the top of a piece of paper.

I write it down.

I still physically write it down.

You can do whatever works best for you, but what works best for me is actually writing it down.

Now I've started with a list of two to three top priorities for the day, with the most important one at the very top.

Then I skip a line or two and do the same thing with my important but not priority list.

I list those from most important to least important. Once I've figured out that priority, I write those down on my paper.

Then everything else in my third list goes below that.

I skip a few more spaces and rank the things I'd like to get done but aren't super important, or might get done or might not get done, at the bottom in an order.

Before we go on, why do I skip a couple spaces between each of the three sections?

I like to write things down. Sometimes I need to make notes. Sometimes I'll be doing something and something will come to me, and I need to write it down someplace important, so that leaves space for that.

The other thing the spaces do is a mental trick that I use.

You can try it. It might work for you. It might not.

Some days priorities change.

Some days, no matter how well I've planned out my day, something comes up that has to be dealt with.

That leaves space on my daily plan, my daily time management system, to put in things that change the priorities for the day.

That's the entire setup for the day.

I told you I usually do this the night before.

So when I get up, do my morning routine, and I'm ready to start on my productivity or production for the day, I simply pull out my list and start working on the first thing on the list.

I've already decided that was my top priority.

I don't have to waste any mental energy thinking about what my top priority is now. I've already decided.

I work on that top priority until I'm finished with it.

Then, when I'm finished, I put a line through it.

Again, that's a mental trick that I've used, or learned to use, that helps me stay on track.

It's a small sense of confidence or a small celebration.

I set a priority. I did it.

I cross it off. Good for me. Now what's next?

I don't spend a lot of time celebrating because I've got other priorities.

Then I go to the second priority and work on it until it's done.

Then I go to the third priority and work on it until it's done.

Once I have all of my top priorities finished, I move down to the next list.

This sounds extremely simple, right?

You ought to be able to do all this in your mind.

But I've found that it doesn't work for me if I don't actually think it through, make the choices on what's important and what's not important, and then write them down.

Then I have a written roadmap or plan for every day.

Some people like to time block.

You can use this exact same system to time block your day.

I time block certain things, but most of the time I don't because the priority is the priority.

If life gets in the way and everything falls apart and I've got to put out fires here or there and deal with other things, if I can get that number one priority done on my list every day, at least I've got that done.

Sometimes I talk about stacking small wins.

The priorities are wins.

If I know that I can stack at least one or two of those priorities every day, those will get me farther toward my ultimate goals.

I'm not going to go into a lot of depth in this presentation about that, but before I do this day-to-day thing, I know what my big priorities are in life.

I've broken those down into steps.

I'll break them down into what needs to happen this month.

Then what needs to happen this week to get toward that.

From that, I break it down to the day-to-day time management system that I actually use.

At the end of the week, I review the previous week, see everything I got done, and then create a new priority sheet for the following week.

Then I use that every night when I plan my priorities for the next day.

Now let's talk about the second and third sections.

The second section is important things that don't have to be done today, but I want to get done.

Maybe there's stuff I want to get done this week, but it doesn't have to be done today.

I don't beat myself up if I don't get all those done on a particular day.

It's not even always bad if I get none of them done.

Some days go just as planned, perfect.

I get the two or three priorities done.

I get four or five things on my middle list done.

Then the lower list - I have prioritized it. I've done it in order from most important to least important.

But I find when I get down there, I usually skip around because sometimes I'm in the mode of recording videos, or I'm in the mode of writing content, or I'm in the mode of working with someone, a client.

Then I'll pick things that, while my mind is still in that mode, I can quickly get crossed off that lower list.

This list, this time management system I'm sharing with you, I've shared it with a lot of people, and a lot of people use it, and a lot of people have found it elsewhere.

Like I said, I didn't create the idea.

I adapted it to what works best for me.

That's what I want to point out here.

This is a tool to help you accomplish what's most important to you every day, every week, and make consistent progress toward what you're working toward, your most important goals.

Let's wrap this up with a few more important points I want you to think about while you're trying to put this type of time management system into your life.

One, everyone gets the same 24 hours.

What's important is what we do with it.

You can't manage time exactly, but you can manage your priorities.

Think back to what I told you I do and how I use this.

I'm managing my priorities, what's important, and my attention.

Schedule what matters before life and everything else gets in the way.

I also want to point out that when I make a schedule like this, when I schedule my day, if I have things I'm going to do with my wife or my family or whatever, or my other commitments, they are on there.

They're a priority.

Maybe today's priority is something that's not work-related, and that's okay too.

This is my list and my priorities and my time management system.

That's exactly what you need to get out of a time or productivity system.

Build a weekly system instead of redoing everything every day.

It saves mental energy.

Don't try to control every minute.

Instead, build a system that helps you consistently spend your time on what matters most.

Better time management comes from better systems, not from better calendars.

Thanks again for being with me. I hope that helps you.

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What's Next?

·        List everything you might want to accomplish tomorrow.

·        Separate the list into top priorities, important but not top priorities, and everything else.

·        Limit the top section to two or three items and rank them in order.

·        Make the decisions before the day starts so you can begin without deciding again.

·        Finish the highest priority you reasonably can before moving down the list.

·        At the end of the week, review what you completed and build the next week's priorities from your larger goals.

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