If you've lost some good habits...

I talk with many people who insist they used to have good time management habits which they have now lost. I suspect that what has happened is that these people have more likely replaced a second set "bad" of habits for the first. The "old, good" habits are undoubtedly still accessible. They just have to be uncovered.

Follow the "Good Habits Retrieval System" in three easy steps and you'll find your way back to good time management practices in no time at all.

1) First, write down any good habits you have had in the past. Don't focus on your current bad habits. Identify the ways you have kept yourself organized or have gotten things done in the past. This way you will know you are capable of doing it, because you've done it in the past. Here are a few examples:
 

• I used to always file things away immediately upon completing them.
• I have had the habit of doing a little bit of a large job on a regular basis. This is called "eating an elephant" in TMI's Time Manager terms.
• I used to make up a daily plan every night before going home from the office.
• I used to make careful notes about activities as they took place.
• I had the habit of setting goals for myself on an annual basis.

Give yourself lots of time to make this list. Put a piece of paper by your desk and add to the list perhaps over a couple of days. You want a very long list. 

2) Now you have your list. Go through it and order it from highest benefits to lowest benefits if you were to resume doing these things. Don't worry about being perfect in your ordering. You can even simply divide your list in two: higher benefits and lower benefits. Put the list on your wall someplace where you can easily see it.

3) Choose one good habit you used to have from the higher benefits list and start on that one. Remember, you used to do these things, so it isn't as if you have to reinvent yourself. You are "remembering" your previous habits that once used to work for you. Work on recapturing this habit for at least a couple of weeks. Don't worry if you aren't perfect about engaging in the behavior, but definitely make an effort to follow your commitment to regain your previous effective time management habit.

When you feel that you have this habit successfully under your belt, highlight it on the paper. Then choose a second habit you have lost and work on recapturing that type of behavior for yourself as well.

If at any point you find yourself losing ground with your regained habits, come back and focus on them.

You'll find this approach remarkably easy and stress free to regaining control over your organizational habits.

Good luck!
 
 

Janelle Barlow, President
TMI, US
 
 
 

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