I know friends and associates who use literally dozens of time management forms, micro-managing their day from an early morning trip to the bathroom to the perfunctory nibble on the spouse's ear at night. That would drive me crazy. And, if you compare my productivity level with that of my more purist friends, you'll find that we're both about equally productive in our chosen fields, in spite of all the time management forms they so carefully complete every day.

No, I'm not speaking out against all time management forms. There are several I couldn't get by without myself. What I am suggesting is that maybe we keep those vital forms that help direct our lives and do away with the "busy work" forms that dictate them.

Time Management Forms #1: Breakdown For Big Projects

If someone tells me, "Plan a birthday party," I'm intimidated. I'd hardly know where to start. Broken down into smaller components, the list seems much more manageable. (For instance, decide where party will be held, make out guest list, mail invitations, buy decorations). Any time you have a large project that feels overwhelming, turn it into several small projects instead.

You can develop these time management forms using paper and pencil or computerized templates that may already have most of the steps written down for you. Cross out each step as you finish.

Time Management Forms #2: Calendars

I usually have two calendars going, one that will allow me to see a month in advance ("Oh, my niece's birthday is coming up, I need to get her a present.") and one that will allow me to see a week in advance. ("Neat. Cheryl's coming for dinner on Thursday." Because I spend a lot of time looking at these calendars, I like to choose the ones that are cute and whimsical. Others prefer the more basic black, navy blue, or brown of traditional business.

I tend to be more of a paper-and-pen person, but if you you're a techie, you can always find these basic time management forms on the computer—Microsoft Works offers any variety of calendar you could imagine, and Outlook offers a good, basic calendar as well.

Calendars are used to schedule appointments, events, and deadlines, especially small deadlines you've set for yourself as part of a larger project, but don't use calendars to schedule daily activities. For that, you'll need a different form.

Time Management Forms #3: Daily To-Do List

A daily to-do list can be as simple as a piece of paper and a pen or as complicated as expensive software that tracks the percentage of progress you're making on larger tasks. Ideally, a daily to-do list should include all the tasks you have to do on a daily basis (washing dishes, making the bed, brushing the cat, etc.) as well as any extra tasks you need to accomplish. For instance, calling the caterer with the final menu for your husband's wedding or stopping over to take care of your friend's dog while your friend is on vacation.

Time management forms can improve you ability to organize in a number of ways. Just don't fall into the fallacy of thinking that if a few are good, more must be better!