Time Management

The most difficult thing about time management is prioritizing tasks. Thanks to a lecture on this subject I watched by Professor Randy Pausch. I've found a logical, simple, and easy method for prioritizing tasks that both helps me get important items done while reducing or eliminating the unimportant busy work that often comes my way, thus saving me that potentialy wasted time.

Items should be organized on a 4 square table with Important / Due Soon in the upper left, Important / Not Due Soon in the upper right, Not Important / Due Soon in the lower left, & Not Important / Not Due Soon in the lower right. Here is an Example Time Management Chart. This chart / method of task prioritization came from a time management lecture by Professor Randy Pausch from Carnegie Mellon. He is also the author of The Last Lecture (book link at Amazon), here is the video of this lecture. This method struck a chord with me. Until seeing this method, I found most other systems for prioritizing tasks to be too combersome.