Money Smartz  ~>  Starting Blocks  ~>  Next Article  (Bank on It!)

Buying Time

You’re swamped!

It’s only Monday, and you’ve already got an Algebra test on Wednesday, a paper on why those kids got so out of hand in Lord of the Flies for Thursday, a tennis match on Friday, and your biz just got a rush of new customers. Getting the time together to handle school, have fun, and also run a business can be hard to handle. If you’re going broke for time, you may need to get busy planning.

Manage Your Schedule

Planning and scheduling your work can sound pretty dull, but it’ll pay off when the work is all done and you’ve got time left to play the dust-gathering copy of Gran Turismo sitting in the corner. An organized, efficient schedule also impresses customers — if you constantly look like you’re scrambling to meet your clients’ demands, they may not stick around.

With all the stuff that has to get done, it’s hard to get a time-management strategy started. A good first step is to write down what you do each day in a normal notebook. Keeping a journal of your daily activities is a great way to spot wasted time or your most creative times of day. It may mean cutting out a few fun activities, but nobody enjoys staying up until 2 a.m. to trudge through the math homework.

Prioritizing is your next step. Focus on your goals, then decide which of your tasks go along with accomplishing those goals. But when you schedule time for those tasks, be realistic. Studying for your algebra final is going to take way more than ten minutes. If anything, overestimate how much time you’ll need. If you get done early, you can always start on the next thing on the list. This will also help you compensate for those unexpected distractions (ahem, that pizza Mom brought home).

Invest in Gear

There are tons of cool tools out there to help manage your precious time, but not all of them are going to work for you. Think about it: do you do better when you can glance at something and see what’s going on, or do you work better when you can keep detailed notes of your projects? Consider your personal habits before you invest in anything.

Notebook planners are great for keeping track of appointments, tasks, projects, and even phone numbers and e-mail addresses. You can buy these at stores from Wal-Mart to Office Depot to Franklin Covey, who handles some of the higher-end planners. They can cost as little as $10 for a no-frills notebook up to $200 for a leather cover and customized filler paper.

Always keep in mind that one of the most inexpensive planning methods — big, write-on desk and wall calendars — may actually be the best thing for you. These run about two bucks at any office supply store and offer plenty of room for notes and appointment schedules.

If you like gadgets or want to save a few trees, you might be better off with electronic organizers. These palm-based computers can often hold thousands of addresses, appointments, memos, and even store e-mail messages. Most models hook up to a computer so you can transfer info back and forth. You can pick these puppies up at stores like Best Buy. Price tags on electronic organizers are higher, a basic model like the Palm Pilot m100 runs about $150 and has 2 MB of RAM, while a high-end model like the Casio E-115 costs $600 and has 32 MB of RAM.

If that’s a little hard on the pocketbook, online planners might be the solution. Internet-based organizing tools are often free, and good for any Web-savvy ‘trep. Some online planners will even send an e-mail or page when an important date is approaching. They aren’t portable, though, so they aren’t good for someone always out of the office. Sites like Excite and Franklin Covey  offer these techie tools.

Once you’ve gotten the gear to organize, use it! Get in the habit of writing down important dates, and fill in times you need to be working on certain projects. Make up a system of taking down short notes in your planner. You don’t want to spend all of your time organizing, you want to get things done. Look for workshops on time management to get help handling your busy schedule. Franklin Covey offers workshops on making the most of your time, which run about $280. Sites like Mind Tools offer some great advice, too.

Planning can be easy, but you have to work at it. Make it a habit now and the rest of your life will be smooth sailing!