As I’m reading Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything
I’m applying my new learning to something dear to me: how I manage my time, which is the same as saying how I make decisions about what I do with my time. In the parlance, my personal time management.
I’m trying an experiment this week to try to get more of the things done that I want to do on a weekly basis. For example, I have a hobby I’m dying to start and I also want to re-balance my financial portfolio, however I have made not progress on either for several weeks.
The items are in my calendar and on my lists, but simply not getting done. I really want to do them, so I don’t think this is a matter of procrastination. I think I have not gotten to them simply because I’m not as aware of them at a conscious and un-conscious level. With this experiment, I’m hoping to make these things more “real” in my mind by giving them a location and action in my physical environment.
The Experiment – Setup
1. I listed the important routine categories I want to put time toward each week (see my list below). I used the Foundation of Wisdom method to isolate them. I prioritized into 3 levels of importance, but later chose just 2 to keep it simple.
2. I wrote the categories down on index cards which I cut in half once or twice. Bigger cards have the higher priority.
3. I chose 2 sheets of paper that can hold all the cards on them. One is a pleasant color that I want to uncover as I work, the other is a fiery color to make me more irritated and motivated (I want more of this).
4. For more clarity, I wrote in pencil on the back of the cards how the item would be accomplished. For example, for “sleep,” my goal is to be in bed by 10:40pm each night, and start my bedtime relax routine by 10:10pm each night. For, “eat” it’s very complex and I’m happy where I am now, so I just put down: “zero need to eat-out during the week” because having to eat out means I have not planned my shopping and cooking properly and then I’m forced to eat out which is less healthy and costs more.
The Experiment – Usage
1. The plan is to ceremoniously move the cards from the left panel to the right to indicate that they have been completed.
2. At the end of the week, I will look at what remains and learn from it.
The Outcome
1. I’m hoping that the act of having a specific location and action where I can SEE and FEEL the items going from here to there will help me make them more real in my mind. More memorable. I believe now that the mind is more adept and comfortable with this setup than my Google Calendar and Remember the Milk lists, however much I love them.
Here’s what I want to get done on a weekly basis
SELF – MAINTENANCE and IMPROVEMENT
Sleep
Eat
Fitness
Review
Finances
Clean
Study
WORK – PROJECTS and MONEY-MAKING
BTN (my job which I enjoy)
Foundation of Wisdom (by hobby I’ve been neglecting)
RELATIONSHIPS
Romance
Family
Community
OPEN TIME
