Todd Lovelace

The ups and downs of my task management past

How many people out there use a task manager or write down their to-do’s in a memo pad or anywhere else for that matter? I used to use a small memo pad (it always had to be red and I don’t know why). My life changed with the purchase of my Palm Treo 700P about 2-3 years ago. All of a sudden I didn’t need my nerdy memo pad anymore. I could record all of my tasks in my handy phone task manager. It was awesome. The palm software for task management was the best. If I had something to schedule I would just open it up and type it in. How many of you use some sort of task management softw are on your Blackberry, Palm, computer or memo pad? If you’re anything like me, you do. My wife will ask me what I am doing tomorrow and she’ll know that I will have to check my phone first. Without it, I am lost. Now, how many of you have scheduled a task or to-do only to push it back another day because you just don’t have time to do it? You may have scheduled it like 3-4 days earlier just so you knew it was coming up. Now all of a sudden that thing to do is like two weeks old and you are still pushing it back? I would schedule something and then I would instantly start worrying about being able to get it done. When the t ime came for it to be done, it wasn’t, and I still pushed it back farther. Now I would start thinking how bad it was that I am pushing it back until one day I might even erase the task entirely and hope that it didn’t bite me in the behind. I used to do that all of the time until I suddenly changed my way of thinking.  It was actually during the YP Conference after hearing one particular speaker. My new process is that I schedule my tasks and to-dos on the very latest day that it must be done. It’s not procrastinating, it’s called better time management. And it doesn’t work for everybody. When it appears, I do it. I get it done. I know that I can’t put it of f anymore because I have already scheduled it for the latest possible time. It’s awesome and I feel better about that way that I work and schedule things. This story is too good to be true and I will tell you why. About 5 months ago my Palm got some sort of virus or something and I upgraded to the Blackberry Curve. I like the new phone but the task management software that came with is horrible. I’ve thought about purchasing another program but there are tons out there and who knows which one is better? If anybody out there would recommend a great task management program for the Blackberry, that would be awesome. I almost went back to my red memo pad.

Starting a Young Professional Group from Scratch

After attending the 2007 YP Iowa Conference my friend and I decided it was time that we start our own YP Group in Webster City.  I just want to share where we are six months later.  WC HYPE (Helping Young People Engage) was organized in November, 2007 when I put a board of directors together and starting the ground work for setting up our group.  In only 6 months we have signed up 84 members making us the biggest organization in Webster City. We also have 35 sponsors, three of which supported us with over $1,000 sponsorships.    We have set up four committees (Philanthropic, Family Activities, Events and Fundraising) and have been busy setting our schedule for the rest of the year.  We hosted The First Annual WC Chillympics (Chill-im-pics) in February and it was a huge success.  We were able to raise $750 for the Fuller Hall Scholarship Fund to help with program funding for parents who can’t afford activities such as t-ball registration, swimming passes or other athletic events.  Last month we hosted a Comedy Night and sold more than 120 tickets.  It was the first time in 12 years that Webster City had a comedian in town.  Other events that we have planned for 2008 include a Family Fun Day and Campout, 2-Day City Wide Golf Championship, Raspberry Festival Beer Garden, Boone Bash River Dash Involvement, Boone River Cleanup Day, Iowa-Iowa State Tailgate, Haunted House, Monthly Meetings and a series of “Friday After 5:00’s” at City Park Plaza.  I am not going to say that it has been easy but it has really been fun.  We have created a lot of excitement in Webster City and people can’t wait to see what this group does next.  If you would like to ask me a question feel free to email me at wchype@gmail.com or check out our website www.wchype.com.  Do you have any suggestions or ideas that might help out another YP group?  Add a comment below.