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Task Management |
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Whether you consider
yourself an expert in “task management,” or desperately in need of
it, here are some invaluable insights that will shed new light on
your perception of task management.
Task management is, by
design, good at helping you handle the short-term organization of
certain types of information such as daily action items and to-do
lists. But this organizational efficiency, for all it’s merits,
utterly fails at the primary function of organizing toward
long-term outcomes. People exist in the here-and-now, but we
live for the future. Your method of daily task management has a
direct impact on today, tomorrow, and every day thereafter.
Consider for a moment, a perfectly organized person –
each day optimally scheduled, prioritized to-do lists, always
focusing on the most important issues first, never over-committing,
and maintaining this optimal organizational efficiency, day after
day. Without a long-term plan, all that organizational effort
is virtually wasted; it’s worth little more than keeping an orderly
household and bills paid on time. To be truly effective in
accomplishing the most important things in your life, however, task
management requires that you manage decisions and activities against
“the plan.” Failing to do so will merely create a well-organized
path to the wrong destination.
Daily tasks are the little
stepping stones to almost everything we will accomplish and
experience in life. Never thought of that, did you? Well, it’s time
to think about it now. It’s generally not the big, sweeping
decisions that drive our lives but rather the daily tasks and time
well spent or squandered that determines where we are at the end of
each day. Add all those days together and you get years, and
eventually, a lifetime. It, therefore, becomes essential to
consciously plan for some of those tasks to be based on your
priorities. Task management falls into four categories:
Task Management Type #1: Life’s Maintenance
Tasks
These tasks are an essential part of life, and you
already manage them day-in and day-out. They encompass things like
mowing the lawn, going out with friends, or paying the bills.
They’re planned, sometimes well in advance and sometimes on short
notice, but you decide when and how to get them done pretty much on
your own. They will never stop coming, so get good at them and enjoy
checking them off.
Task Management Type #2: Delegated
Tasks
You may receive a lot of these tasks from your boss
or spouse. It’s just a part of life for most of us, so things like
time management and organization skills become very important, or
you could easily spend all your time pursuing someone else’s agenda
and ignoring your own. Learn when to say, “No” and avoid
over-committing.
Task Management Type #3: Unexpected
Tasks
Tasks like filling up the gas tank, picking up your
sick child up from school, or stopping at the store on the way home
occur so frequently that it’s a wonder they’re still “unexpected.”
They are generally unpredictable and need immediate attention or
else something undesirable could happen. Therefore, they tend to
bump other tasks off the daily priority list.
With all
those tasks listed above coming at you every day, it’s little wonder
you have no time or energy left for the most important type of task
management…
Task Management Type #4: Meaningful
Tasks
Meaningful tasks are those that are part of a
bigger plan that you’ve designed. Your goals and plans are comprised
of meaningful tasks — the stepping stones to your goals that make
life fulfilling for you. If you haven’t been managing your goals,
then the meaningful tasks that would get you there are missing for
your daily routine. In order to accomplish your goals in life, you
have to have a plan and make time for the meaningful tasks that are
required to achieve your goals.
Creating the “Plan” for Meaningful Task
ManagementmyGoals.com (this Web site) was designed to
help you set, manage, and achieve the goals that are important to
you. myGoals.com's pre-made GoalPlans®, goal-setting
wizard, and email reminders are extremely effective in creating
viable plans and keeping you on track. GoalPlans are designed to
enable you to break your goals down into small, manageable tasks
that you perform based on a schedule that works for you. This way
your meaningful tasks become a part of your regular routine rather
than being pushed aside by everything else going on in your life.
myGoals.com first helps you identify the goals that are
important to you, and them create a plan to achieve each goal. Each
GoalPlan encompassing the meaningful tasks—your daily or weekly to
do list—is e-mailed to you at the appropriate time to help keep you
on track. There is no easier, more effective way to manage the tasks
and to-do lists necessary to reach your short- and long-term goals.
To learn more or sign up for a free
trial, visit our goal-setting homepage.
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