I look forward to every New Year’s Day on January 1. Sometime when I was in my early 20’s my
mother-in-law bought me a Day-Timer leather calendar with the annual insert. It was the A5 size and I used it almost
religiously for years until the upgraded electronic gadgets and calendars took
over. I can remember using both Day-Timer
and the Franklin Covey planners simultaneously trying to keep up with time management. During those days, you had to order them with
a catalog usually by late October and early November so you would be able to
have it ready by January. I can remember
when they went from the basic calendar packages to themed settings—leadership,
patriotic, travelers, and so forth. The Franklin
Covey inserts were really high end and would be sent to you in a metal tin box
so you could save them after the year had ended. I have several of them packed away from years
ago.
Another thing that I started doing was around the beginning
of December, I would start mapping out a list of sorts to sort of move me in a
direction to accomplish some goals. I
can remember reading Stephen Covey’s books about the seven habits of highly
effective people and what he later wrote about—the eighth habit. Other time management authors like David
Allen, Peter Drucker, Brian Tracy, Ken Blanchard, Spencer Johnson, and Jim
Collins were books that I found myself tracking through. Somewhere along the way I picked up the idea
that however you spend your time is how you spend your life. I know that might not be so profound, but its
simplicity makes it worth digging into.
