Comments on: Time Budget: An Easy Way to Avoid Prioritization Dilemmas and Keep Your Life Balanced

By: Luciano Passuello

Luciano Passuello — Tue, 06 May 2008 18:22:50 +0000

Alan: Thanks for the recommendation. However, I had already tried Life Balance in the past, and despite its great balancing features, I end up choosing MyLife Organized. This is the tool I do all my low-level task managing and planning and it is absolutely great. It’s similar to Life Balance in many ways, but has many great features and the developer is a very responsive to user demands. (I will probably write an entire article about it someday). Be sure to try it out!Alan, also thank you for reminding us about the many facets of productivity. I keep forgetting about them, too!Julian: You’re right about the importance of discipline. One interesting thing I noticed, though, is that following a time budget brings a unique awareness about how you spend your time. This awareness, alone, is enough to boost your motivation towards your goals and make the 'discipline part' much easier.

By: Alan Baljeu

Alan Baljeu — Sun, 04 May 2008 22:36:27 +0000

Not so, Fier. Space management, emotional balance, and working effectively also influence productivity, but are separate from “time managing”.

By: Fier

Fier — Fri, 02 May 2008 14:32:05 +0000

All in all, everything in productivity is about correct time managing. Isn’t it?

By: Kelley Ann Hornyak

Kelley Ann Hornyak — Fri, 02 May 2008 09:35:42 +0000

Great article. I’m about to check out time boxing, Klok, and RescueTime. I can never seem to balance all the areas of my life, and just when I think I’ve got them all on the table in front of me, one slides off and I’m left picking up the pieces again. There’s my business, my creative endeavors which I hope to turn into a career, my relationship, my home, pets, fun time (when is that exactly again??)… There are just so many areas and there’s always one that I’m neglecting or forgetting about completely. You’ve opened my eyes to the fact that there are solutions out there if I’m just willing to implement them and stick to them. Again–great post.

By: Pinky

Pinky — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:38:00 +0000

I really appreciate the pointers to different productivity tools. Time management and productivity are plaguing me right now and the tools I’ve employed for years are not working for me. It’s great to encounter other folks’ thinking, as well as tools they find useful. One thing I’ve learned about time management through the years is that different things work for different people. Viva la difference and thanks for sharing!

By: Julian

Julian — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:19:08 +0000

Interesting article, the hard part is discipling yourself to actually follow your plan.

By: Alan Baljeu

Alan Baljeu — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:10:05 +0000

The most awesome tool to keep your life balanced is Life Balance. Produced by a family at their llama farm (seriously! Their site is http://www.llamagraphics.com), this simple program has been in development for years. Basically the software does time budgeting and neglect-based prioritizing for you!

You enter all the things you need to do, categorize them, and then decide what percentage of time you want to spend in each category. The software automatically organizes your tasks according to what tasks are more urgent, or more neglected, and encourages you to balance your tasks in your different life areas.

By: B Smith at Wealth and Wisdom

B Smith at Wealth and Wisdom — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:55:04 +0000

Great post. I always seem to find myself unbalanced. Your idea of a time budget is great. I also like how you advise leaving 50% free to deal with all the tasks that pop up.

This fits well with the big picture view we strive to maintain. Tie your goals/priorities to what you want to achieve. Focus on the important. finish your task and then let it go.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 21:42:18 +0000

Good post. I agree. I think it’s all about how you assign priority to things you value.

Ryan
http://www.mofata.com

By: Luciano Passuello

Luciano Passuello — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:48:14 +0000

Talal: Thanks for the recommendation. Another great option, which seems similar to TimeSprite, is RescueTime. It’s free and it also records your activities automatically. The one I use is TimePanic. It doesn’t have automatic recording (neither is free), but it has a boat load of useful features, including a PDA version which I use often.