You’re obviously an organized person. I can tell just by looking at you! That hair, the way you click the mouse, that focused glaze on your eyes … Just kidding! The real way I can tell you are organized is not through your hacked webcam (they are watching), but by the fact you are reading Best Time Tools.

Over-organization is a curse

So, like all organized people, you probably run the risk of over-organizing – spending more time creating, updating and checking off lists that organization itself is costing you time. Of course, not making lists isn’t an option! I, for one, get the cold sweats if I don’t open one of my lists on Outlook within the first few minutes of having the computer on. Well, sometimes, any way .

There is a balance – so today we’re going to share with you a simple method for using Microsoft Outlook to ensure you Get Things Done, and maintain the balance of power between the evil List god and real life. Thanks to Tim, one of the web’s finest GTD thinkers, for the tips.

Outlook is for more than just mail

Currency

Outlook is huge and addictive. One of the dangers of its sheer size and the number of places you can put things is that you lose track of, well, everything. This means that little bits more often are always preferable to big bits, less often. Review your tasks daily, tick off completed tasks and add new ones. Incidentally, I never use the percentage complete function except to indicate that something is 100% complete. This function is better for reporting to superiors than to yourself.

Categories

You can assign a category to tasks in Outlook by highlighting an item after it has been created and going to Edit-Category, selecting the category(ies) that it belongs to.

Keep your categories simple, if you want to save time on your organization. One idea we’ve heard is to use:

ACTION – Work related items requiring action

AGENDA – Work related topics to think about and discuss at meetings

HOME – Personal tasks

SOMEDAY – Ideas for the future. Not urgent, but you don’t want to forget them.

Create a new category in the Master List (Edit-Categories-Master Category List button), if you don’t want to use the default ones in Outlook.

Of course, you may choose to create your categories differently (perhaps according to the department that a task belongs to, or using an Urgent/Non-urgent scheme). The key to saving time with them, though, is to try to have as few as possible.

Finding your tasks again

Use the ‘Customize Current View’ option on the left hand panel in Outlook’s Task view (click Tasks on the bottom left menu)

to sort your tasks according to priority. Choose to:

• Group by categories (ascending)
• Sort by Due Date (descending), and also by Subject (ascending)
• Fields – use Priority, Subject, Notes, Created, Due Date, Complete

As we mentioned, Outlook is huge – so we’ll have to get into the Calendar and Notes functions another day!

Sometimes I can feel the neurons jumping from one side of my brain to the other … a task will remind me of something else I have to do, which triggers another internal reminder, and another … like pushing over a line of people in a bank queue, or a bunch of phone boxes. Only maybe not quite so fun, and a little more frazzling!

Phone Boxes Triggering Reminders - Keep your mental phoneboxes in order!

I have a great memory, and it is rare that I forget to do something – but I also find the hours melting away from my workday quite often because of this internal reminder system that I have going. Research has revealed that it can take anywhere from 8 to 20 minutes for you to regain proper focus for your task after an interruption … and internal interruptions are just as insidious as annoying colleagues! Perhaps even more so, as you can’t lock them out and pretend you’ve gone to lunch. So what’s the solution? Make a list!

Lists are one of those love or hate items, and almost all people who hate them don’t know how to use them properly. If you feel that lists take up more time than they save, we have a list of lists of lists (ha ha! Made you look ), that will actually SAVE you time, as well as mental space. Check them out after the jump.

Read More…

If we’re lucky, learning continues for our entire lives, and doesn’t stop after those tweed-wearing, coke-bottle spec-faced, 80s haircut-ed teachers stopped telling you to ‘face front!’ and ‘get that chewing gum out of your mouth, you derelict!’.

We've got much more effective - and time-saving - ways to learn!

However, we all learn in different ways, and if you’ve ever tried to force information into your brain in a way that doesn’t suit, you’ll know how long it can take. Whether you have a work training course coming up, an exam on the calendar, or just love that new-textbook smell for your own, private reasons (!), we have some time saving tips to study smarter, not harder or longer.

Of course, when it comes to learning, the quickest way is not necessarily the best. In fact, nor is it always the way that will save you the most time in the long run – skim over a page, and see how many times you can re-read the same thing quickly, without it ever sinking in. So these tips will sometimes take a bit of time – that old spending-to-save conundrum. Overall, though, you’ll assimilate the new information faster and better. These holistic learning tips are from the Stepcase Lifehack guys – thanks!

Use Metaphors

Metaphors are a great learning tool. Don’t try to memorize your textbook’s definition of a neuron, or Adobe’s Help menu text on how to adjust colors in Photoshop. Atoms can become tiny solar systems, or a game of totem tennis with several balls. Computer networks become like city road networks. And you become, like, a genius!

Sony, the metaphor kings - you sure get the message!

Use different senses to remember information

Some people learn best through seeing pictures, some through hearing, and some through doing. You can either imagine yourself ‘doing’ a task related to what you’re trying to learn, draw a picture of it, or find an audiobook or lecture about it.

Teach what you are trying to learn

Teach what you are trying to learn - it doesn't matter if your subject understands it as well as you do

It sounds counter intuitive, but it is a great way to cement information in your brain. The teaching doesn’t have to be formal – ask your husband if you can explain the theory of quantum physics to him, or ask your room mate if they mind you teaching them about cell division and reproduction. Just remind them it will be an auditory lesson only!

Connect ideas

Ideas should all connect to another idea, if you want to be able to remember them. If something seems like just another fact you have to cram into the packed closet of your brain, find something that’s already inside to hook it on to. (There you go – I’ve taken the metaphor learning tip to heart already!).

Build from a large foundation

Every different book, article or story you read on a subject adds to your understanding of it in a different way. You never know what is going to click with you – build your house of knowledge from the largest possible foundation.

Don’t Force It!

Just like Mom said – forcing it will only break something inside your precious, precious brain! (Mmm … must eat brains!). Studying something should be a slow process – even those who do well on exams cramming the night before actually need to learn slowly. If you want proof, just ask them how much of the test material they remember the next week … and then imagine how much time they’ll have to spend going over more basic concepts when they want to move on in their learning.

Organization is the key, not memorization. You can really make your memory work for you … if you just give it a frame to build on. Especially if your memory really likes to work as a builder’s assistant, with you as the framer! Non-carpenters, sorry – you’re out of luck ;-D !