09Mar 2010 by Nigel Ring

Time Management pt 10 – Organising your Organiser – 2

Administrative Skills, Equipping, Good Practice, Planning, Time Management
Having established the importance of different views in the time or diary section of the Organiser we will now consider the second element of the arrangement, the ‘Portable Filing System’. 2. Filing System Through the use of computers we are all familiar with folders and files. In past times we would have used a filing cabinet, but the principles are the same – drawers of folders each containing files or documents. Divisions Since we live life in a context of time it is helpful to consider how our storage system of information relates to the timeline of our lives. First, define the key divisions in your life. For instance, you may like to think in terms of 2 ‘drawers’ (there could be more) e.g. Home and Work. Alternatively you may…
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26Feb 2010 by Nigel Ring

Time Management pt 9 – Organising your Organiser – 1

Administrative Skills, Equipping, Good Practice, Planning, Time Management
Whether you are using a paper-based Organiser or an electronic PDA it is important to get some shape and system in place before you start. It is well worth giving careful thought to what will serve you best. You are laying a foundation;  if the foundation of a building is wrong the final structure will fail to perform in the intended way and however elegant it looks it will always be deficient.  There are three major elements to the Organiser, and some refinements. 1. Calendar and Diary The core is, of course, the time element. In the last posting we looked at the 2-page per day display where you have the whole day laid out before you including a) appointments, b) Do it list and, by the end of the day,…
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18Feb 2010 by Nigel Ring

Time Management pt 8 – Getting organised

Administrative Skills, Equipping, Good Practice, Planning, Time Management
So, what does the Organiser look like? You will remember that for the purposes of this training I am considering a paper system rather than a PDA. Personally I use a PDA but since there are so many varieties it is easier to communicate ideas this way.     I recommend the 2-page/day loose leaf variety of Organiser. This gives plenty of room for all that you need to do including a generous note page for making records of phone calls, meetings and so on.   But the important feature is not so much to do with the area of paper – that will be dependent on your particular lifestyle – but with having the relevant sections on view each day namely: 1. Do it list 2. Appointments 3. Notepad…
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11Feb 2010 by Nigel Ring

Time Management pt 7 – Paper or Electronic?

Administrative Skills, Equipping, General, Good Practice, Planning, Time Management
What is a diary? Traditionally diaries have been for recording history. Many books have been written as a result of people keeping diaries of their daily events and these have given us fascinating insights into life and culture in different eras and nations. Elizabeth Fry I have just been reading a biography of the great prison reformer in the UK, Elizabeth Fry, who lived at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. Without her diaries we would know far less about her. She was clearly a formidable woman – perhaps I should not admit that she was my great great great grandmother! But diaries have changed and now tend to be looking forward. They are the most common vehicle for making appointments, planning holiday dates and…
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04Feb 2010 by Nigel Ring

Time Management pt 6 – Prioritising Discretionary Time

Administrative Skills, Christian ministry, Equipping, Good Practice, Planning, Time Management
Its as easy as ABC! How did you get on with a ‘Do it’ list? I now want to help you complete the prioritising but first we need to unpack ‘Important’ in a bit more detail. Last time we saw how the definition of Important in this context was a matter of values and had a particular focus on your unique gifting and responsibility. However, there are other considerations and these typically relate to how you interact with others. Let’s consider an example. Suppose you have to write some ‘copy’ for a piece of publicity. This may not seem very important or urgent to you for today. You know it is not going to be printed for another month. However, when you have written that copy it has to be…
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28Jan 2010 by Nigel Ring

Time Management pt 5 – Discretionary Time

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Equipping, Good Practice, Time Management
Hopefully you have a grasp of appointment time. Now let’s look at discretionary time. As the term implies this is time over which you have discretion. Appointments are often determined by someone else; discretionary time is always for you to determine and use at your discretion. In any day this is the time where the battle of fulfilment and achievement tends to be won or lost (although, believe it or not, even meetings can be fulfilling and satisfying, though many see them as wasting hours to keep minutes!). Are you a list keeper? As one who lives by lists I am often amazed to find that about 50% of people do not use them to plan their time. Recently I was in Africa and my friend told me that typically…
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