by Barbara Lee Norris

Created on: March 09, 2009   Last Updated: October 14, 2010

Anyone working from home knows that distractions clutter our minds and squander our time. They're like undisciplined children. They shout for attention and break concentration: You need to wash the clothes! When are you going to do the taxes? Your telephone messages are stacking up! How about a game of solitaire?

Distractions leave us side-tracked and unproductive. We tell ourselves there aren't enough hours in a day. In truth, we all have the same number of hours to work with. The people who master time-management skills are able to combat distractions, reduce stress levels, and enjoy greater productivity.

David Allen, productivity consultant and the creator of the "Getting Things Done (GTD) Time Management Method" said in a GTD lecture, "your ability to generate power is directly proportional to your ability to concentrate. Your ability to concentrate is directly proportional to your ability to eliminate distraction. Your ability to eliminate distraction is directly proportional to your use of effective time-management skills."

 Randy Pausch, former computer science professor from the University of Virginia, agreed with Allen. Most of us remember Pausch for his profound "The Last Lecture," given shortly before his death from pancreatic cancer. Pausch also gave a Time-Management lecture in 2007. He said, "time is a commodity more valuable than money. We can never earn time back; we can earn money back."

Following are time management strategies gleaned from the teachings of Allen and Pausch. They recommend ways to control distractions, to combat clutter and to manage time.

CONTROLLING DISTRACTIONS

Allen says the mind stores up distractions and reminds us of them at inappropriate times. For instance, we wake you up in the middle of the night worrying about something that we can't resolve until morning. He says the solution is to provide our minds a better system, so that it can let go of the distractions and let us sleep.

Allen says a better system comes by identifying the distractions and listing them. We want to be conscious of all the things we can choose to do at any time and place. He calls this "control." He says gain "perspective" by prioritizing our options, choosing our direction, and then working the list1 by 1. We are then able to relax and work on the things most important to us.

Pausch ranked commitments in this way: #1 due soon, important #2 not due soon, but important #3 not important #4 not important, not due soon.This ranking is the beginning

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