there's a new phone in town

I have been teased mercilessly for my 12+ year old phone. Some have likened it to Zack Morris' 8-pound brick, others have said it reminded them of this:

I called it "hip & cool" because I was "doing the green-thing" by keeping the old paperweight. You might even say it had a "retro look" to it, which could also pass for "hip & cool" (at least that's what I said).

After admiring this phone from afar, I finally bit the bullet.

I can't believe I waited so long!

I'm due for a Faithbooking Crop hint/reminder and have been tying up loose ends on a few photography sessions... the light is near!! Now that the boys are back in school, I actually have chunks of time at my disposal. I plan to put it to good use :-)

Along those lines, I stumbled upon a "Time Management" section in a new desktop organizer. (Remember when I tried to go paperless with my calendar? Okay, I swear I remember doing a whole post on the topic but can't for the life of me find it.) I had trouble going paperless, missing all sorts of appointments and such. I quickly reverted back to my old system and life was good. Anyhow, being that the iPhone was in my sights, I thought it important to step into the Paperless Calendar Zone again. Which I did. But as a precaution, I purchased a very small desktop organizer.

Very small.

Just in case.

As I was saying, I stumbled upon a "Time Management" section in said desktop organizer. It appealed to me on many levels so I thought I'd share it here with you (it could prove to be helpful for students, someone working out of the home, or for an extremely busy family). Here we go:

FIRST KNOW YOURSELF

• Keep a time inventory/log for a few days. Use an alarm set at 15 or 30 minute intervals. Every time the alarm goes off, write down everything you've been doing. Rate each activity according to its importance: "A" for vital, "B" for important and "C" for marginally useful.
• Analyze your time.
• Identify time wasters.
• Reserve your prime time (determine when your energy level is highest and schedule important tasks during that period).
• Establish goals (long-term, mid-term, and short-term).
• Set priorities.
• Keep a daily planner.

WORKING YOUR PLAN

• Plan 60% of your day, leaving 20% for buffers and unanticipated developments and 20% spontaneity. (I love this... plan for spontaneity - go figure.)
• Be flexible.
• Pace yourself.
• Transfer unfinished tasks to the next day.
• Consolidate tasks.
• Learn to say no with finesse.

It has me thinking that perhaps analyzing time, could be quite time-consuming in and of itself. Anyway, I'm hoping to make the most of my time so I can enjoy the time I spend with my family.

And that's all good.

Perhaps I'll even get to the point where I'll keep only ONE organizer. (Just think of the time that would save!)