Time management is a skill that you constantly have to work on. As soon as you think your on top of it and relax the Inbox and Task list will start to pile up again. Unfotunatley, I like most other people, operate in a very start/stop fashion where we let things build up until we have to spend long hours, with increased stress on us and others, to get back on track.

Every time you get a new task, request, idea etc… you should decide which of the 4 D’s does it belong to. Next time you get an email, call, idea ask should you:

• DO it immediatley as it is important and will save you and others considerable time in the long run
• DELEGATE it to somebody else who can complete the task. Delegation requires a communication and management overhead so make sure the effort is less than the task its self
• DEFER it until a specic later time. Defering things indefintley should be avoided by setting specific deadlines
• DROP it. Do you really have to do this? If not, and you do not need to delegate or defer this, then you should delete it or say NO. Saying No can be very difficult but its better to use your time on things that matter and will male a difference.

Try to practice the 4D’s by starting on your inbox. This technique will hopefully establish better time management habits so that you can do more fun things like blog or pay your expenses :)