By Teresa Morrow of Key Business Partners

For most business owners one of the frustrating but so needed things to gain an effective time management system for their business. With any time management system, the goal is to create a sense of organization and price instead of overwhelm and regret. This simple time management system only requires a spiral notebook, pen, and a kitchen timer and allows a consistent flow of accomplishment for you to increase your successes.

This will eliminate the arduous task of feeling as if you need to write down everything and create the “never ending” to do list and leaves you defeated just by looking at it.

So set aside your hefty long to do list containing many things you could not possible complete in 24 hours. Pick up a new spiral notebook and opened to the first page to reveal a “clean slate”.  Write the following day’s date on the top line and underline it.

Think about five tasks you want to get done the next day. Start out with only five tasks to complete.  Later in this article is how you will add more to the list.  Before you write down a task, ask yourself, “Do I really need to do _______ tomorrow or can it get done the next day?” If the task could be pushed back one day, do not write it down. If the task is something you really need to have completed by the end of the next day, write it down.  Leave a few spaces in between each task for notes regarding each task. This step will take about 20-30 minutes to complete. It will get faster once you get used to the system.

Once you have the five tasks listed, write down the approximate amount of time (on the right hand side of each task in parenthesis) it may take you to accomplish each task. This allows you to see how long each task may take and may assist you in numbering the tasks.
Next add the numerical order to the list on the left side of each item.

For instance:   2. Write WE Magazine Article (90 min)

To read the rest of this article, check out the Fall Issue of WE Magazine for Women http://www.staging.wemagazineforwomen.com/WEMagazineFall2008.pdf