Getting Things Done – Time and Task Management

As part of my blog, I like to provide you with information about marketing, public relations and social media, but all of us who are entrepreneurs need to allocate the appropriate amount of time to get our regular work done.  When you get the day to day work done efficiently you can then spend more time marketing and thinking creatively.

William J. Corbett, Jr.

I needed to find a way to help clear my mind and focus on what was important and get this all down on paper and on my computer.  If you can believe it, today I have about 250 tasks on my “to do” list.  This may sound too insane or impossible to manage.  However as a professional in public relations with 15 plus clients the tasks can accumulate quickly.  For example, if I have 3 or 4 or up to 10 tasks per client, it’s not surprising that I can quickly rack up 100 or 200 tasks.  All of these tasks do not have to be done at one time.  Some are simple and some will require significant time.  Some tasks can be done today, tomorrow, two weeks, or just put on the list for the future.

I looked around for several months, actually almost a year, for a system that would help me get all of my tasks and action items in one place and organized.   Being a professional who is on the run (in and out of the office for hours and days at a time), I wanted to get an IPhone application or a software package that would allow me to track what I’m doing both at the office and on the road.

I was very happy to come across a system that has helped me with this process. I was referred to www.Toodledo.com.  Toodledo.com is just one of a number of online and mobile applications that can be used to manage time and tasks very efficiently.  I have to say that in just using this system for three months I’ve been able to organize my tasks by client and prioritize them much more easily than I have ever done in the past.  This effort has taken tremendous stress out of my life and has allowed me to really get more organized.  With this system I can look at all the tasks I have to do for one client and I can look at them in terms of priority and due date.  This is very helpful, especially in a business like mine where I have to rely on working with the media, working on deadlines, and getting information to people on time.  There is a lot of work that has to be done ahead of time so that deadlines are met and kept.  We really can never be late, so being on time is extremely important to me and the members of my firm.

Any business that can meet their deadlines and bring projects to fruition on time will succeed.  Public relations is not unlike other businesses; we all have stress, demands of clients and deadlines.   We have to provide services and meet expectations.  Why is being organized important for marketing?  Knowing what you need to do allows you to plan and when you plan, actions get done more efficiently.  This allows executives and managers to finish projects and then use free time (or more scheduled time) time for marketing activities.  An organized company will have the ability to market better, stronger, and more effectively.  Why? Because they had the time to focus on marketing and creativity.

In addition, by including marketing tasks in the overall tasks for a small business, the individual business owner or the person in charge of marketing can keep track of what needs to be done so it doesn’t get put on the back burner.  Procrastination and not attacking marketing activities can be and is a serious problem for a small business.  Marketing is not an urgent activity and often is put on the back burner. The longer it takes to implement marketing activities, the longer the sales cycle will take.  In our busy society and business world, we need to prioritize our activities, and again, marketing needs to be one of those activities we emphasize.  If you do not set aside time for marketing and include marketing tasks as a priority, business growth will be slower than it should be.

I hope that this information about time management was helpful to you.  I strongly encourage you to consider organizing all of your activities to keep track of what you’re doing and get your marketing program moving forward.   Below are links to several web pages that I thought would be helpful to you.  I have chosen to use the pro version of Toodledo.com, which only costs about $40.00 a year.  I recommend checking out the free version.  Let me know what you think.  I want to know how you’re using it, what you’re using it for, and if it’s helpful to you.  Was it worth your time and your investment.  Remember, it does take a little time to get organized, maybe a day, maybe two or  up to a week, but once you get a task management system in place you’ll really feel more comfortable and you’ll be better able to reach your goals and objectives more easily.  Reaching these goals and objectives will impact your life as well as your bottom line.