Fifteen minutes or another time management system

Ten times in my life I tried to start using the diary, both in paper and electronic form. Did not work. I was worried about this for a long time, reproached myself for laziness and disorganization, and then I realized that the system of business planning through a diary (as well as planning, organizer, electronic reminder) simply does not correspond to my character and style of work. Suppose I planned the case, but it took so much that there was not enough time for other things. It was frustrating, to say the least - annoying.

It is possible for each case to determine the amount of time that must be spent on it. But here a number of difficulties appear. First, you need to know exactly how long it will take. Secondly, you need to pinpoint the moment when you started doing business, and remember about the moment when you finish it, otherwise you can leave the schedule. Thirdly, all unexpected, accidentally appeared affairs bring down the schedule of affairs planned. Fourthly, when planning the Napoleon-scale affairs, it is necessary to lay some time at every daily junk, from which one cannot escape. And how much to lay it? It becomes clear that a perfectionist who wants to strictly adhere to the schedule of planned cases must first investigate and measure his everyday activities.

Gradually, I came to a system that performs several functions at once:
1. Helps plan cases
2. Helps to take into account the time spent
3. Helps analyze and improve work efficiency.

System "Fifteen minutes."
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Step 1. Everything in the schedule

We treat any of our activities or inactivity as an item in the schedule of planned works. I emphasize: to any . Otherwise, the whole system collapses.

Step 2. Fifteen minutes

We break 24 hours into fifteen minutes . You can take a smaller period of time, but then it will be necessary to put more effort on the accounting and planning. You can take a longer period of time, but then the planning accuracy will decrease, and you will often have to round off and do postscripts.

Step 3. Sleep and nutrition

Eat an elephant in parts. We start with the sirloin. How much time is needed for healthy sleep and good nutrition? We make two columns in the to-do list, put down opposite to each time a multiple of fifteen minutes. These are the points that will be subject to the smallest changes, but it must be borne in mind that they are also not constants.

Subtract from 24 hours the time allotted for eating and sleeping. The remaining time array can be operated while planning the rest of the business.

Step 4. We make a list of daily affairs

We lay on each case the necessary amount of time, multiple to fifteen minutes. There may be family and household chores, sports training, morning and evening toilet, work with the mail, English classes, watering ficus, weeding the beds, catching fleas from your favorite cat. The time allotted for these cases will occasionally be subject to minor adjustments.

Hello lion cub and turtle

At this point, some readers should snort: “Family on schedule !? Loving a cat on a schedule !? My dear, I don’t understand how you read it to this place. Any system is abhorrent to people with a certain mindset and character. Someone lives by the dictates of the soul and heart, and someone plans his life and revels in the fact that he controls everything (as it seems to him, at least). Both methods have the right to exist. If only the person was happy at the same time. The system of fifteen minutes is an incredible tinsel even for bores, which are frustrated when by the evening something was not done that was planned in the morning, when something generally remains for a long time not done, whether it is a nail or an unread book that has not been hammered into the wall. For them, this is a chance to feel happy and successful (= successful), and there can be no compromise here. Yes, yes - family in the schedule. Otherwise, the family will fully experience what a perfectionist is, dissatisfied with life.

Step 5. We hammer into the schedule all long-term and medium-term projects.

Based on personal experience, we allocate a certain amount of time for each project, and evenly distribute the daily load. This section should be analyzed every morning (or every evening, for whom it is convenient), and depending on the state of the projects, transfer the time between them. If a project does not fit into the schedule, then it is necessary to squeeze in some other or to get into the inviolable section of daily affairs: for example, to deprive the cat of attention. In this place it becomes clear that his family happiness depends on a person’s ability to plan things and soberly assess his strength.

Step 6. Short-term care and unplanned needs

You have to go to the insurance and wash the car on the way, you have to take the child to the vaccine, you have to meet and discuss an interesting project with a potential partner, you need to buy cat food ... But you never have to do anything without a servant and employees. And it happens that such cases occur suddenly. The schedule should contain time that can cover most of the short-term unplanned concerns.

There are cases half a day and a day. Sometimes you just need to relax. You can simply lay one or two days a week (and not necessarily on weekends) when you can live without a schedule, or on a very lightweight schedule.

Step 7. Fixation

Planning things is half the battle. It is necessary to control their implementation with an accuracy of ... fifteen minutes. This means - every fifteen minutes to fix what they were spent on. Immediately, a mosaic is built in real time: which cases fit into the schedule, and which do not. The first month or two (and more) should not be very upset due to the fact that the schedule, which is drawn up in a joyful rush, is not really met. The schedule should be settled, and the person - get used to the new life. A life in which it is known where time is going.

What does this look like?

I have a small cell tablet, where one cell is equal to ... fifteen minutes. Planning is done by repainting the cells. In total, the graph should have 96 filled cells or less: when things take several hours, like a dream, for example, you can simply write in numbers. Next, the schedule is printed, and the cells throughout the day are gradually filled with checkmarks. Ideally, ticks should be placed only on stained cells.

Step 8. Time Management

All that is recorded during the day (week, month, year) must be preserved. When the project is completed, it becomes clear how much time was spent on it with an accuracy of ... fifteen minutes. Do I have to say that this system helps to organize work with maximum efficiency?

PS

Do not forget to schedule daily work with the plan ... Fifteen minutes is enough.