I'd love to hear more input on this. I think that the notepad idea is really neat, by the way. I've used time logs and not used time logs and now I'm sitting on the fence between the two. I think that free form time management has the potential to be much more effective BUT you almost have to start with the structure of a time log or schedule of some sort. It's kind of like learning the piano. First you learn the scales. Then you play from the sheet music. Eventually, you just sit down and play and discover all this other stuff you can do. This is probably a bad analogy for me, since I'm not musical at all....but it's the only one I can think of. The frustrating thing for me is that, every time I start a new project, I find myself going back to playing the scales...after I've gotten used to flying over the keyboard. I don't know why this is. On the days that free-form is working, it's awsome. I get so much done because I'm fitting this big puzzle together (oh, yeah, that's Don Aslet's analogy, isn't it?). On other days, I'm lost without structure and lose half the day. I would love to hear what other people are doing that is working (or not working) for them. Oh, and nice article, Phil!  |