"Great looking list," I commended. "So, how do you work it?" We had been talking about Marie's project list and her daily to-do lists.

Her brow furrowed. "I look at the list, and really, I just start working on whatever I think is easiest to get done right then. Or I try to pick off an A priority. But here's the rub. We just spent half an hour working on this list, and it's likely I won't even look at it again until next Tuesday. I don't use it to focus, I mean, I don't even look at it. And I don't know why. And then something falls through the cracks."

"What do you use to focus?" I asked.

"My calendar. I have a lot of meetings," she replied. "I live and die by my calendar. I look at it ten times a day."

"Then, stop making to-do lists," I challenged.

"But, I thought, as a manager, that I had to make to-do lists? It's one of those big Time Management ideas."

I smiled. "That's the trap everyone falls into. There are only about seven Time Management principles and the dirty little secret is that you cannot use them all, some principles won't work for you and you won't work some principles. So stop. Stop doing what doesn't work and stop feeling guilty about it."

"So, if to-do lists don't work for me, how do I keep things from falling through the cracks?"

"What do you use to focus?" I repeated.

"My calendar?"

"Then, everything goes into your calendar."

"Won't my calendar get kind of messy?"

"What does it matter? You look at it ten times a day. It's what helps you focus."

"You are actually suggesting that I don't prioritize?" Marie was having trouble with this.

"I know it sounds like heresy, but think about this. What is the biggest difference between an A priority and a C priority?" I nodded slowly.

Marie hesitated. "Well, it's either more important or it has to get done first."

"Good guess, but tell me, have you ever approached a deadline on a C priority and had to complete it before an A priority?"

"Sure, it happens all the time."

"Then what does that say about your priority system? And bottom line, it all has to get done sometime, just schedule it. If it doesn't have to get done, it shouldn't be on your list in the first place."

Marie was still trying to protest. "But, if I work hard all day and if something doesn't get done, at least it was the C priority."

"You are a manager. If there is something you can't get done, it should be assigned to someone else. At the end of the day, don't tell me something didn't get done because you ran out of time. It did not get done because you did not manage it correctly."

I had a hot tip to stop by and visit with Brent. As I entered his office, I noticed his eyes were sunk in. It was Friday, but he didn't look like he was ready for the weekend.

"You look like crap," I observed. "When did you get here this morning?"

Brent sat up, a bit startled. "Oh, man," he said. "I rolled in around 5:00a. I just had to get some stuff done."

"And when did you leave last night?"

"Well, I got out of here about 9:45p. I don't know what it is. This has been going on for the past three weeks. On Monday, things don't look so bad, but come Thursday and Friday, the work just seems to pile up. I have worked the last three Saturdays and last week, had to come in on Sunday. Missed the football game."

"So, this is not some special project. Just your regular work," I inquired.

"Yeah, in fact, if I had known about it ahead of time, I could delegate some of it out and it would already be done. But I don't know about some of this stuff until it's too late, or don't realize how long it is really going to take. All of sudden, the pile is stacked up and everyone has gone home. The work's gotta get done."

"Brent, what if?" I started. "Brent, what if I don't believe you."

How we think about Time is everything in management. It is always a trade off between pace and quality.

Next Monday, we start, Managing Time, Managing Yourself, the next Subject in our Working Leadership Online series. First, the offer.

We are offering ten scholarships to this next Subject area. If you would like to participate in this program starting next Monday, send me an email. We will take the first ten people ($250 value). Here is your commitment and the schedule.

May 18 - Read the Presentation - Managing Time, Managing Yourself. This read will take approximately 30 minutes. At the end of the Presentation will be a Field Work Assignment. The Field Work assignment will take approximately 30-90 minutes sometime during the week.

May 25 - Sometime during this week, post your Report based on the Field Work assignment. Time required, approximately 20-40 minutes.

June 1 - This last week is reserved to read other participant's Reports and post Comments, questions, helpful advice or to share a story.

I look forward to seeing you online.

Greetings from Dickinson, ND.
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"Everything important is in my INBOX. That's why it's so clogged up. And things that need a response get lost," Diane explained.

"And you said Outlook allows you to set up folders?" I asked.

"Yes, in fact, I set up some Project folders, but I put things in there and forget I need to respond to something in a Project folder, and then it's too late. So, I stopped using them."

"So, you have a Business folder and a Personal folder, those came with your system and you set up a bunch of Project folders, but you don't use them anymore," I confirmed.

Diane nodded.

Let me suggest the following. Delete the Business folder and the Personal folder. They are empty and useless, anyway. Set up these three folders.

• Important, Due Soon
• Important, Due Later
• Information Updates

If you decide to keep your Project folders, I would recommend you keep them only for your bigger projects, and don't put anything in there that needs a response or a decision, at least until you have responded or made the decision.

Instead of sitting at your computer all day, combing through your emails, set 2-3 times per day for a short period. Keep your INBOX empty and by the end of each day, empty out your Important, Due Soon folder. The only folder you need to comb is your Important, Due Later. Decisions that get close, you can move to your Important, Due Soon folder.

Keeping the INBOX empty is the key to this system. When your INBOX is empty, your head is clear to respond and make decisions."

This is a big time subject in Managing Time, Managing Yourself, (begins May 18) in Working Leadership Online.