Time Management: Who Needs it in Retirement?

by Windsor Augustin

Time management tools, strategies and even software are useful to goal-oriented managers in the corporate environment, right? If you’re in your retirement planning years, isn’t it a waste of time (no pun intended) to focus even an ounce of energy on time management skills? After all, time is the one thing you’ll have plenty of, right?

Not exactly. Even in retirement, you’ll still want to get the most out of your day. Time management happens to be one of the most valuable skills with which you’ll leave the workforce in order have a successful retirement. If you haven’t mastered it yet, there are many benefits to getting started today.

Here’s why: The fear of no longer being needed, or the sense of not accomplishing anything can be stressful in retirement. To compensate, there may be a natural tendency to ‘think’ of a bunch of things you’d like to do. Without good time management skills, the majority of these things will never see the light of day. You’ll tend to procrastinate thinking that there’s tomorrow…until too many tasks build up and become overwhelming. This will inevitably lead to frustration, a sense of emptiness instead of accomplishment, and even missed appointments with friends and family.

However, your personal life in retirement can be as successful as your business life if you practice time management strategies. As such, it is highly beneficial to learn how to organize your day, how to schedule your time in order to accomplish more without feeling overwhelmed.

A daily or weekly ‘To-Do’ list is still as valuable in your retirement as it was in the office environment. The reason is you don’t want to trust your memory to keep track of things that should be committed to paper and ink. Further, your to-do list will always form a profile of tasks you need to keep track of in order to see where you’re spending the majority of your time.

Above all, you need to learn the importance of time. Although it may seem to be plentiful at first, it remains even more so a precious commodity. It is important to make your list and your schedule around your own concept of time.

Your mastery of this important skill will serve to put your own life in perspective as well as help you avoid the stress associated with the feeling of accomplishing little to nothing in retirement.

Notice you will not need much in terms of tools. Sophisticated software or bulky planners are not necessary. As long as your chosen tools work for you and you are comfortable using them, you’re all set. But at the bare minimum you should have:

• an activity log to track your activities (however frequently you wish to track them – daily or weekly)

• the habit of scheduling important events in your life (especially leisure time – because contrary to popular belief, all your time will not be leisure)and,

• a sense of your priorities so you can assign a time barrier to all the tasks you want to accomplish that are important to you.

Don’t forget to stay flexible. You’re no longer doing this to climb a corporate ladder or to prove your competence.

There’s no need to plan every minute of every day of your life. But at the same time be mindful that you are playing with the most precious of all commodities you’ve got left. Make it count.

About The Author
Windsor Augustin is a Financial Strategist and a Home Equity Management expert. His mortgage planning practice in Naples, Florida focuses on the needs of the entrepreneur, the small business owner and the soon-to-retire with strategies that allow them to retire earlier with zero mortgage debt. Visit him at www.trusted-retirement-planning-tips.com.

Top 10 tips for planning your day

Whether you are a busy corporate professional who needs to make better use of your time both at the office and at home, an entrepreneur who works with a variety of vendors and projects or a stay-at-home mom who needs more structure to get things done, the right tools can help you work more effectively and take control of your time.

1. Throw away the sticky notes. Is your desk cluttered with sticky notes reminding you of appointments, to do items and notes for projects? This is not an effective way to stay on top of projects and meetings. Sticky notes can easily be thrown away or misplaced.

2. Similarly, keep a notebook with you to jot down the things you have to do, notes to yourself, shopping lists, etc. When you have a consistent place to record new to-dos or ideas your workspace will be clean. It also removes the temptation to start new projects right away.

3. Plan your day each morning or the night before. Try to spend 5-10 minutes each day on planning your activities with a daily to do list.

4. Manage your e-mail. Reading and responding to e-mail can quickly consume your day. Establish a time for reading and responding to email. Pencil that time in to your calendar and treat it like a meeting. For example, from 1:30 to 2:30 you will take a break from projects and address emails that require an immediate response. Choose a less productive time of day to read “important-but-not-urgent” e-mails such as newsletters and general information items. Flag messages after you read them to remind yourself of any necessary follow-ups.

5. Place your phone on do not disturb when you need to focus on a project. Like email, schedule a time each day to return calls and try to return messages within 24 hours.

6. Use one planner for both work and personal appointments. This will minimize confusion or double booking.

7. Check off items as you complete them. By placing a check mark next to completed items you will most likely feel a sense of accomplishment.

8. Arrange your work time to keep interruptions to a minimum. Set boundaries or close your door when you need uninterrupted time for concentration.

9. Learn to say “No” to commitments that don’t match your priorities, without guilt! Maybe you can’t be PTA president or the soccer Team Mom, but perhaps you could volunteer for snack duty one day a month to remain involved in your child’s activities.

10. Conduct a time study. The easiest way to do this is to print a daily calendar. Write down what each family member is doing during the day. Identify any problem times where schedules might overlap, and think about how the schedule can be re-structured to eliminate problems.

Angela Shipp has learned to balance a hectic career and stay organized at the same time. She is the author of bluehealer® diary, a personal command center for personal and family schedules. The bluehealer® diary can be found at www.bluehealeradiary.com.