Hanging Out with Priority Management

Back in the fall, I started the journey of updating Outlook to better reflect the principles and methods I had learned in Priority Management. As the fall passed, so did my ability to better organize my time using the Priority Management System. I’ve still deep in the learning curve. Yet, I’ve learned three important lessons.

  1. You can change Outlook from a Mail Machine to a power time management and client management system
  2. You can see just where you are wasting time each and every day
  3. You can get about 90 minute back per day when you stick with the system

For me, the above three lessons are invaluable.

The concept of being able to think through work, personal time and a social life really does lead to an organized day.

I’ll keep you posted as I move through the journey.

 

Jerry

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Revisiting an Old Friend

I was and always will be a big fan of the Priority Management Paper based system.

For me, it was a great way to organize my day, my projects and frankly, my life. I enjoyed mapping out the days with my trusty pencil each night and then seeing how the next day would unfold. I like the idea of keeping track of important notes using the Communication Planners as well as have a record or important notes in my A-Z directory. I just liked how it looked and worked.

I migrated to my first Palm Pilot back in the late 90’s. Why, too much stuff to carry. Between a lap top, cell phone, pager and Palm, I felt I was carrying a small office on my back.

Yet, I missed by Priority Management Binder. For as much I tried to make things look and work on my computer in the Priority Management style, it was never quite right.

Let’s see, I tried Time and Chaos software. It worked for a while until the upgrades cased system problems. I overlaid, Agendus from Iambic on Outlook to make it work. That worked until Agendus crashed my main computer on a regular basis. But the final straw was realizing that I was not keeping up on my work and the software fixes did not do what I needed done.

So, I pulled out my old friend, my Priority Management Binder and made a phone call.

This week I had the opportunity sit down with the folks at Priority Management. We made some “adjustments” in Microsoft Outlook and within a short period of time, I had an electronic version of Priority Management Binder.

Now, I’m in the process of getting things organized electronically just like used to do with paper and pencil.

The good news is I continue to use The Bat for my e-mail client and Outlook for Tasks, Meetings and the A-Z directory. In short, I have a great way to make Outlook look and feeling like my Priority Management Binder.

And that, is a good thing.

I’ll keep you posted on my journey.

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In the Blink of an Eye

I think I’ve come the the end of the road from the recent electrical storm. Most of the systems have been repaired, metal objects have been removed from the roof and work is in progress to fix the outstanding issues in the office. In a nutshell, this has been a journey full of lessons for consideration. Let me share with you my top five lessons from this experience.

Lesson #1 – Invest in a Surge Protection for your Electrical Panel
Electricity is electricity. It is important to invest the right combination of surge protection and battery back up systems for your place of work. If you work in your home, do talk your local electrician for the best combination of protection for your equipment. You will be surprised at the equipment you can buy in order to protect your equipment and yourself.

Lesson #2 – If it’s on your roof, get it grounded.
Take a look on the roof of your home or office. If you have metal things on the roof, are they grounded to ensure you and your office are safe. For example, if you have a Satellite Disk on your roof, is it properly grounded? If not, talk with company that owns the equipment and ask them to take the necessary steps to ensure it is safe.

Lesson #3 – Insist on Safe Work by Service Companies
I get really concerned when Bell Canada strings “wires” through the trees as a temporary solution to fix a phone line. While I understand it is a temporary solution, temporary should take days, not multiple months. Keep after Bell if you have “temporary wring” hanging the trees. It is a unnecessary risk that can cause problems for your phone, Internet and property.

Lesson #4 – Prepare for the Worst
Even with the best protection in place, things can happen in a blink of an eye. I think it is important to keep in mind that with the best plans, things can go wrong. Equipment can stop work, things get destroyed and work can be interrupted. The key is to plan for the worst, hope for the best and keep moving forward. Which leads me to the last point.

Lesson #5 – Always be Thankful
Yes, be thankful. In my case, its “stuff”. It’s a pain to fix, replace or repair. However, its just stuff. The good news is that no one got hurt and I’m here writing about it today. And for that, I am thankful!

Life is challenge where the lessons are provided well in advance of the class. The key is to keep learning, whether one finds they are in class or life.

After all, sometimes, life is the class.

Be well,
Jerry

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