Thanks Roger Salam

I can't say much in this post but I'll say two phrases: Roger Salam and Time Quotient. More on these in future posts.

Life Management Basics

The original title of this post is Time Management Basics but as I agree with Trace that we cannot manage time, I changed it to Life Management. It's about some basic stuff that any Life Management technique I decide to use must have. I realized this while trying to make this thing work, managing my life I mean.

1. Tasks/Priorities should be listed somewhere. My brain, although highly advanced, is not reliable to keep track of everything. It gets distracted easily. I hope there's a way to train focus and determination because I definitely need it!
2. Tasks/Priorities should be ranked accoring to importance. No surprise here. This helps me to focus on the really important stuff first.
3. Tasks/Priorities should be clear. If it's not clear, then I should work on having clarity with it first. Only when I have a sense of what I really want should I start working on something. Or I can put "Working on getting clarity on..." as a To-Do item. It could be a process.
4. Set aside time to write and review the list. Any list once written should be reviewed periodically. That should help my brain focus.

That's the 4 things I think I should have in this Life Management thing. Missing any one of the 4 would weaken the system but getting it all together should help me become 1% better everyday.

Why 1% Better?

Simple. It's just too difficult for me to sustain change. If I initiate anything big, I usually go back to my old ways in a few weeks. Inertia gets the best of me. So to make lasting change permanent, I take it 1 small change at a time. One small change done in 21 days should do the trick. It becomes permanent and part of routine already.

The challenge of course is where do I begin? How do I become 1% better in the next 21 days? Which area should I focus on? Which area would have the most impact?

Hmm. I don't have time to actually go through all the things I'd like to overhaul in my life so I'd take a stab at the most problematic area at the moment. Time Management. I've read a couple of time management books already with two authors coming to mind - Stephen Covey and Brian Tracy. I've tried some of their ideas but nothing permanent has lodged itself in my life. This blog is actually in danger of being one of them. I'll try anyway.

The idea of being 1% better actually came from Brian Tracy, in his book Focal Point. In that book, he even takes it one step better by suggesting you become better by 0.1% in the next 24 hours! That should roll up to 1004% in 10 years. I suggest you read his book to check his proof. I won't dispute that here. My point is if I want to become 1000% better than how I am now, I just need to be 0.1% better today.

How can I do that? I'll start with Time Management. I'll start with daily goal-setting. I won't be concerned with getting 100% goals achieved at first but I need to establish the habit of setting and working towards goals. I have some of that already on the yearly level. I just need to bring it down regularly to the daily level.

That's how I plan to do it. Tell me how I can do it better. Maybe you can share some of your best practices.