Top Time Tip #75 How to leverage your time when you're too busy
12th May 2006
It's amazing how much you can pack in if you restrict the amount of time to do certain tasks and work a good plan.
In September 2000, just before we left Sydney after a four-year residency to return to New Zealand, I wrote my second book 'About Time - 120 tips for those with no time' in only four weeks - a feat I'd not previously believed possible. It was driven by the publisher's marketing-focused deadline and I'd accepted, knowing that September was the earliest I could start.
In the same month a partner for my Australian business unexpectedly showed up, I had the business valued (quite a lot of background work), trained four licensees, gave speeches and ran workshops, said goodbye to friends, oversaw packing of the apartment (delegated the work to husband and packers!) and even attended some Olympic events.
The steps for the book were:
- Mind-mapped chapter headings and key points for each chapter. (Most of the material was already in my head so this part only took about two hours.)
- Analysed that 7 tips per day would have it written in 17 days, and allowed a further 5 days to proof.
- Drew up a simple daily progress chart - a great motivator and 'keep on track' tool.
- This next step I believe was critical to my success. Every day, the seven tips were the big goal - done FIRST THING in the morning. No email, no phone calls, no distractions - until they were done. Seven not done today meant fourteen tomorrow!
As the jet plane with dramatic after-burner flew out over Sydney Harbour Heads at the conclusion of the Olympics, the Opera House and Bridge lit up in all their glory, millions of people around the world watching, a happy author joined the crowd at the end of her road. The 'send' button to the editor had been hit 20 minutes before. (The book is excellent and sells really well.)
Would I have written it so fast without that focus? Definitely not.
Technology Tip (& a great book on email overload)
An excerpt from Chapter 3 ' Help! I've lost an email!' of my friend Debbie Mayo-Smith's latest book 'Conquer your email overload' - jam-packed with practical simple strategies to improve your email techniques in Outlook and Outlook Express. http://www.gettingagrip.com/products/books/index.asp
How to colour code emails from a specific person
In the Inbox, select an email from someone important, such as your partner, boss or mum.
- On the 'Tools' menu, click 'Organize' to display the Organize pane.
- In the left portion of the 'Organize' pane, click 'Using Colors'.
- In the first bulleted item, you should see the word 'from'and the name of the person who sent you the email.
- Then you should see the word 'in' and a drop-down list box. Click the arrow to select a colour.
- Click 'Apply Color'.
- All of the emails in your Inbox from this person should now be colour coded with the colour you selected.
From our readers - How to send big files
Sue Elleson, of the Newcomers Network in Victoria, and a contributor to About Time for Teaching , wanted a picture of the book cover for a review in one of her regional newspapers. For reasons best known to the internet pixies, (and maybe NZ Telecom) a 2 mg file refused to leave the comfort of my computer. In answer to my loud knashing of teeth, Sue replied:
'Robyn, not sure if you know of YouSendIt but it allows you to send larger size files without using email.' Try it if you struggle with the same issue - it's brilliant. Sue, thanks a heap.
All the best 'til next time
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