Time Management Experiment

For the past 3 days I have utilized two time management techniques.  The first was The Covey Matrix.  Even though I thought I was pretty good at my prioritizing in my daily life, this definitely helped me discover that I needed to change my way of thinking.  What I also gleaned from this “experiment” was  not only should I use this in my everyday time management, but I should also apply it to others.  For example, what I think might be urgent and important, might not fall into that same category for someone else, so perhaps I will handle a situation differently in the future.  Maybe this will help me become more  confident and proactive for myself and less reliant on others.

The Pickle Jar Theory was also another favorite.  I have posted that on my classroom blog because not only was it beneficial for me, but I wanted to share it with my students, their parents, and anyone else who happened to stumble upon my page.  What this theory really tries to do is to help us to remember this very simple ideology; keep what is important close to your heart, and don’t sweat the small stuff.  My first score on the Time Management quiz was a 60 out of 70.  After taking it a second time after this brief experiment, I scored a 68 out of 70.  These two "small habits" will now become big habits for me.

If we can learn anything from these two models, it’s this:  Don’t work longer and  harder, just work smarter.  Make sure to let the little things go, get the most important things done first, minimize  your distractions, make sure to have extra time set aside to deal with the unexpected, and know the difference between Urgent and Important.