Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch gave a lecture on Time Management at the University of Virginia in November 2007. Randy Pausch is a virtual reality pioneer, human-computer interaction researcher, co-founder of Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center and creator of the Alice software project.
1. Do something with every piece of paper that reaches you and put it in its proper place not just back on the pile.
2. Have a “One Paper Once rule”
3. For items that will reach you,
4. Take print-outs only and only if you cannot do without a print out.
5. Avoid the "I'll just put this here for now" habit.
6. Create a block of time during non-prime hours to handle paperwork. Schedule this in your planner and stick to it.
7. Sort through and handle the papers in your in-basket no more than twice a day.
8. Throw away previous drafts. They serve no purpose.
9. Ask subordinates to submit recommendations along with important reports. Nothing should be sent to you without a summary or indicated action.
10. Limit the length of letters, recommendations, responses, meeting requests and other correspondence to one page.
11. Review all forms and reports. Try not filling out redundant sections of forms, to see if anyone is really using them.
12. Ask people if reports they prepare (or you prepare) are really necessary. Prepare them only when needed, not just as a regular routine or culture.
13. Don't keep copies of all your requests to others, unless there are legal or personnel reasons to do so.
14. Handle routine requests or tasks immediately whenever you can.
15. Cut back on sending memos. Use a phone call / email instead.
16. Reduce the number of memos you keep. After all, memos are primarily for short-term information. Record the information you need and toss the memo.
17. Don't keep business cards tucked away in a drawer. Enter them on a contact manager database, and then throw out the card.
18. Create different file folders:
19. Throw out last month's copy of a magazine when this month's copy arrives. If you must save them, only keep a year's worth. Stop subscriptions to magazines and newspapers you don't read anymore. This saves you money as well as time and guilt.
20. Schedule major reading for twice a week during non-priority times. Try reading on the way, bus or train, while waiting for appointments, or at breakfast instead of reading the paper.
21. When you find items you keep putting off reading, ask "How likely am I to read this and how valuable is this information?" Throw it out.
22. Extra storage space ends up getting filled up quickly. Try reducing or throwing out extra paperwork collectors. Limit your stacking trays to two: one for incoming papers and the other for outgoing papers.
23. Reduce your debit card or credit cards to one per adult, two if you use one for home and one for work. This reduces statements and bill-paying time.
24. Reduce your bank accounts, if you have several. If you find yourself dealing with multiple bank statements every month, this is a good place to start.
25. Pay bills by automatic deduction. Most utility bills can be handled this way.
26. Put all your small receipts/bill/challans/ in a small respective envelopes.
27. Are you going to take a print out this..tooo?
Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task. ~William James
Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday. ~Don Marquis
Only Robinson Crusoe had everything done by Friday. ~Author Unknown
Every duty which is bidden to wait returns with seven fresh duties at its back. ~Charles Kingsley
The sooner I fall behind, the more time I have to catch up. ~Author Unknown
If it weren't for the last minute, I wouldn't get anything done. ~Author Unknown
Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment. ~Robert Benchley
There are a million ways to lose a work day, but not even a single way to get one back. ~Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister
It is an undoubted truth, that the less one has to do, the less time one finds to do it in. ~Earl of Chesterfield
The two rules of procrastination: 1) Do it today. 2) Tomorrow will be today tomorrow. ~Author Unknown
One of the greatest labor-saving inventions of today is tomorrow. ~Vincent T. Foss
You may delay, but time will not. ~Benjamin Franklin
Someday is not a day of the week. ~Author Unknown
To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing. ~Eva Young
Don't fool yourself that important things can be put off till tomorrow; they can be put off forever, or not at all. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960
Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. ~C. Northcote Parkinson, 1958
Procrastination is opportunity's assassin. ~Victor Kiam
If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it. ~Olin Miller
What may be done at any time will be done at no time. ~Scottish Proverb
There's nothing to match curling up with a good book when there's a repair job to be done around the house. ~Joe Ryan
Procrastination is something best put off until tomorrow. ~Gerald Vaughan
The best way to get something done is to begin. ~Author Unknown
You know you are getting old when it takes too much effort to procrastinate. ~Author Unknown
I do my work at the same time each day - the last minute. ~Author Unknown
Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week. ~Spanish Proverb
The time to begin most things is ten years ago. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966
Putting off an easy thing makes it hard. Putting off a hard thing makes it impossible. ~George Claude Lorimer
Tomorrow is the day when idlers work, and fools reform. ~Edward Young
Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow. ~Mark Twain
Tomorrow is the only day in the year that appeals to a lazy man. ~Jimmy Lyons
A year from now you may wish you had started today. ~Karen Lamb
Procrastination is like masturbation. At first it feels good, but in the end you're only screwing yourself. ~Author Unknown
One of these days is none of these days. ~Attributed to both Henri Tubach and H.G. Bohn
Procrastination is the thief of time. ~Edward Young
