More Time for You : A Powerful System to Organize Your Work and Get Things Done

by Tator, Rosemary

• ISBN13: 9780814416471
• ISBN10: 0814416470
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-08-11
• Publisher: Amacom Books

Summary

Why does it seem like no matter how you try to organize your work and your life, you never get less busy? Why are so many "time savers" really just time drains? And most important, what can you do about it? More Time for You is the answer.

Author Biography

ROSEMARY TATOR (Dover, NH), as Principal Partner of 2beffective™ LLC, helps clients increase effectiveness while reducing stress.

ALESIA LATSON (Sharon, MA) as Principal of the Latson Leadership Group, helps executives expand their management and leadership effectiveness.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
So Much to do	p. 5
Time and Effectiveness	p. 7
Three Coping Strategies that don't Work	p. 25
Time and you	p. 39
Knowing what you Want	p. 47
Being Clear about what is Important	p. 49
Creating Your Life	p. 61
The More-Time-for-you System to Organize your Work and get Things Done	p. 73
Capturing Your Thoughts	p. 75
Designing Your Days	p. 93
Dreams Come True when you Plan	p. 114
Managing E-Mail	p. 123
Reducing E-Mail Volume	p. 149
Back on the Triage Wagon	p. 161
Social Media is Here to Stay	p. 165
Relaunching Your Created Life	p. 175
Parting Words	p. 197
Implementation Action Plan	p. 199
Additional Techniques for Managing Calendar and E-Mail Systems	p. 202
Notes	p. 219
Index	p. 221
About the Authors	p. 227
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

INTRODUCTION

ALESIA’S STORY

The bane of my existence has always been the management (or

in my case, the mismanagement) of time. I have struggled with

finding time to ‘‘do it all.’’ In high school and college, I was notorious

for pulling all-nighters to study or write papers (a habit I have

not outgrown). When I started my career, I was often the last to

leave the office. As a consultant, I am challenged to travel, facilitate

workshops, undertake project work, address client needs, prospect

for new clients, and write for a living. In addition to nurturing my

marriage and caring for my family, there is all the stuff of life:

friends, holidays, parties, errands, bills, exercising, piano practice,

classes, reading, theater, vacation, thank-you notes, e-mail, tax

preparation, and so on. For me, it all can get daunting. I’m embarrassed

to tell you how many flights, trains, appointments, and opportunities

I’ve missed. How many times I’ve run out of gas. How

many birthdays, anniversaries, and events that I wanted to attend,

but forgot about. How many books and articles I haven’t read; movies

and plays that I haven’t seen; classes that I haven’t taken; or

trips and sporting events that I haven’t enjoyed—not because I

didn’t have the time (trust me, I’ve had plenty of time to do these

things), but because I didn’t appropriate the time. I was neither designing

my days consciously nor creating my life purposefully. This

proven system to organize your work and get things done, the system

that Rosemary and I share in this book, is the result of our

own experience and exploration into finding a way to manage our

busy lives to be fulfilling—not just full of things to do.

Is my life perfect? No. Far from it. Am I late for the occasional

meeting or appointment? Yes. Do I do everything I want to do? Not

always. But do I have a great life? Yes! Not because I get everything

done that I want to do in a day, week, month, or year, but because

I’ve designed it to be full of the stuff of life that means the most to

me. And that couldn’t happen without the system that we’ll introduce

to you in this book. So settle in and buckle up. It’s going to be

a great ride!

—Alesia Latson

ROSEMARY’S STORY

For most of my life, I have taken on more and more projects,

events, and things to do than there is time to do them. As soon as

I get into a project, I see all these resources and people that could

enhance the project, and I add them to my already-bulging schedule.

I come by this honestly. I consider myself a ‘‘professional multitasker’’

and have been at it since my childhood. As the oldest of

seven children, I learned from the best of the best: Back then,

multitasking meant finding one child’s mittens while sending the

other one out the door, while telling my mother, ‘‘Everything is all

set.’’ And it continued into my career. I hate to admit it, but I actually

trained people to hire others based on how well they could

multitask.

Adding to my ‘‘condition’’ is my high-energy, upbeat, ‘‘I can do

it’’ attitude. At first blush, this characteristic of mine may sound

like a great blessing and a benefit in accomplishing things in life.

Perhaps it would be, were I in control of it. You see, these qualities

affect not only me but other people, too. At times everyone around

me is spinning with me at the speed of light. As exciting as this

experience may be in the moment, and as great as the ‘‘high’’ may

be for pulling things off once again, as my husband says, ‘‘Dear, this

is totally unsustainable.’’ You can just about predict the forgotten

messages, the missed thank-you notes, and the settling for less than

what would have been possible if I had been more realistic with my

time. My inability to deal with twenty-four hours in a day and 168

hours in a week has been a major cause of angst throughout my life

and career.

The processes and practices that Alesia and I share in this book

are a direct result of our own experiences, struggles, and triumphs.

We not only write about these practices and coach and train people

in them, but we live by them, too. This system of practices ‘‘grounds

me.’’ I face the reality of the time available to me as never before.

It supports me in remembering that I truly can only do one thing

well at a time. Making choices has become a natural part of my day

now, and my reliability has greatly increased. I have the time to

focus on what I say is most important. I’m still an optimistic person,

but now a much more realistic one also.

As you make your way through the book, try these practices on

for size and make them your own. This is your one life.

—Rosemary Tator