Having the Time of Your Life – Part II

Last time, I told you about some of my approaches to time management — the things I do that help me live a less “cluttered” life. Today, I’m going to share some of the external resources I rely on to enable more efficient use of my time.

External Resources (Things I Use)

• For everything else I keep a running to do list. I use one that updates across all of my electronic devices (Remember the Milk). I add things on my iPhone or iPad that show up instantly on my lap top.
• I automate everything I can. I use ING Direct and Chase bank because they have great iPhone apps. I use them to manage/pay all personal and business bills. I automate anything recurring including retirement contributions.
• I spend a lot of time on the Internet. I use a program called Lastpass to store all of my passwords securely across all of my devices. More importantly, since I handle all of my families finances, I installed it on my partner’s computer and had her memorize the master password. In the event of my demise, she will have everything at her finger tips.
• If I need to do something, I ask myself if this is something I can hire someone to do? If so, is it worth it financially and personally? Lawn care, gardening, house cleaning, etc., are perfect things to hire out. I think of it as stimulating the economy.
• Social media at work has become increasingly important. I use aggregators for everything instead of going to individual websites. I like Tweetdeck (I can quickly review all Twitter and Facebook posts). For all the blogs I read, I use Google Reader instead of going to an individual blog site. If the blog doesn’t have an RSS feed, I don’t read it.
• Have lots of email? I pull all my accounts into Gmail. I make use of the Google Labs and use automated bulk mail/notifications folders and priority inbox. I have automated responses for many of the emails I receive and use Text Expander to fill in my responses with just a couple of key strokes.
• I have a personal assistant that helps me with tasks I consider to be time sucks. We do all of our communication by email. He books airline tickets, checks me in online, finds hotels, registers for races, orders specialty items, refills prescriptions etc. At Endurance Boulder Camp he even found a college student to do my errands and laundry.
• I signed up for Amazon Prime. They store all my info (shipping addresses, credit cards etc.) and buying is one click away with free shipping. Huge time savings.
• If I had a grocery delivery service in my area, I would use it. I buy the same things each week for or family. I think I will look into hiring someone for this task!

I mentioned in my last column that time management is about having the life you want and there is an inherent risk in creating space but learning the life you thought you wanted isn’t the life you actually want. You need to be prepared to answer the question of “What do I really want to do with my free time” before you create all the free time.

Time management is also about embracing the mistakes. I target 80% as my happiness ratio. If we get what we are trying to do right about 80% of the time, then I am happy with my outsourcing and my time management hacks.

First, find out what you need in your life. Second, implement strategies to attain it. Third, enjoy it.