I reread my previous post about a simple to-do list and realized I’d heard all of it somewhere before ;). It would probably be wrong to credit these methods to Mark Forster alone, let alone to me ;). So I decided to share a list of my sources of TM inspiration. Everything I know on the subject comes, one way or another, from the work of these authors:
(in no particular order, as they say)
David Allen, the author of the GTD method.
Armen Petrosyan: an incredibly interesting person who inspires me. At the link you’ll find his blog about living an interesting life (that’s what it’s called: “Zhit interesno!”, “Living is interesting!”), productivity, goals, “living in the moment” and much more. Warning: not recommended for beginners. It may look like highbrow gibberish ;)
Mark Forster: the British version of Allen. His book Do It Tomorrow struck me as very easy to understand and right, but rather hard to put into practice. I’d say I’ve mastered 10% of its advice at best.
Steve Pavlina: my study of time management began with him. I can’t say I support all his ideas, but I still recommend his book on personal development.
Leo Babauta: another popular author, with a leaning toward minimalism. How to get rid of what you don’t need and focus on what matters. His blog: http://zenhabits.net/. His latest book (not his last, I hope), The Effortless Life: A Manual for Contentment, Mindfulness, & Flow, has nothing to do with time management (it’s more like life management), but it made a huge impression on me.
Gleb Arkhangelsky, Time Drive: How to Find Time to Live and Work: a good book for beginners. Simple and accessible, with methods that work. Gleb himself is a true evangelist of the time management movement in the post-Soviet space.
And finally, the wonderful The Power of Focus by Les Hewitt, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. A very systematic, sensible book about goals and habits. True, it has quite a lot of “Americanisms”; I don’t even know how to explain it. Maybe it’s the book to start the subject with. But if drawing up master plans for 100 years ahead, or writing your own epitaph, seems too much for you, try Mark Forster or David Allen after all.
P.S. You can write endlessly about time management, and no less about the work of the authors above. It’ll all come. Stay awake.