nov dec issue FINAL.indd - Custom Home Furnishings Academy

Time Management
Wilmoed Sisson
Time Management
In The 21st Century
It’s a familiar dilemma: you have so much to do that
it’s hard to keep up with everything. You don’t know
what you should work on next, or how much time it’s
going to take. You feel overwhelmed, and to top it off
you’re sure there’s something important you’ve forgotten.
How can you make time for everything
Outlook
The programs in Outlook are vital to staying organized. I use
the calendar to keep track of my appointments, my husband’s
work schedule, the kids’ activities and more. Everything is
color-coded so I can tell at a glance what category an activity
falls into. It serves as the central information station for
my day. Everything I need to know is in one place. Another
The simple answer is, you can’t. It’s impossible to
make time! Every one of us is allotted the same 24
hours in the day. The hours will go equally fast no
matter what you are doing, and the universe does not
care that you have too much to do. The real question
is, how can I make the best use of my time
It really doesn’t matter why you have problems with
time management. What helps is letting go of your
past time management methods—after all, they
haven’t worked for you, have they—and being open
to change.
A quick disclaimer here. I am not an organizing
expert. It continually amazes me when people tell me
“You’re so organized!” and privately I feel like I am
just one step ahead of chaos! But I am learning to
take a “big picture” approach to a lot of life. It really won’t
matter in ten years if I got this paperwork done, but it will
matter if I chose instead to do something fun with my kids.
It’s all a matter of choices.
I’m also an avowed technophile. If it uses batteries or a
cord, I’m all for it. My technology keeps me going in the
right direction and helps me make the best use of the 24
hours I have every day. So I apologize in advance for those
of you who aren’t comfortable with technology and also to
those of you with Macs. I’m a Windows gal. (Hey, it’s my
line of work, right)
There are several programs I rely on to keep me on track,
both for work and for my personal life. They are:
1) Outlook (Microsoft), which includes calendar, task
list, contacts and email
2) Taskline (ResultsWare)
3) Post-It Pro (3M)
4) ListPro (Ilium)
advantage, if you have more than one computer in the house
running Outlook and they are networked, you can send
appointments to the other users so they can keep up with
your activities as well. (My husband and I do this so I know
when he has work appointments and isn’t available to take
the kids to an activity.)
The Tasks list helps me keep a running list of everything
going on in my life that requires time. Entering it on the
computer helps me unclutter my head. It really helps that
I don’t have to remember everything. It’s on the computer.
The contacts list has every phone number I’ve ever needed
(no more slips of paper). I can also scan a contact’s business
card and save the image with their information. And I use
Outlook to manage my email.
Taskline
This program is a plug-in for Outlook. It has become a
crucial element to helping me make good choices for using
my time. It is very simple. For every task in your Outlook
34 The Custom Home Furnishings Magazine November/December 2006