“Everyone should get this training to begin organizing his life,” said one Iraqi participant in a recent time management seminar conducted by GTD Principle, Brian Pinkowski. The seminar was held for 20 Iraqis Northern Iraq and covered the fundamentals of daily task lists and common systems used for prioritizing responsibilities. Prior to this seminar, more than 50% of the group did not make a daily to-do list for themselves or their family.
The training included an overview of how to use Microsoft Outlook, Franklin-Covey and other common calendar and task tracking systems. This seminar, covering only the fundamentals, was greeted with astonishing enthusiasm by the participants, all of whom signed up for Training of Trainer seminars on the subject.
In addition to formal training seminars for official groups, many of the participants wanted to learn the material to share it with their family, friends, communities and local mosques.
When asked who should receive this simple training:
High school teachers, students, housewives, admin clerks, and almost any manager.
University students, high school students and the Iraqi government.
Comments from participants:
I realized that a man who will not manage his time is losing it. I have created a phrase for the day – A man who will not manage his time will lose it.
This training came at the right time in my life. Thanks a lot.
I realized that we should all develop a plan to organize our life. I needed this now in my life.
By sharing this information with others, such as my family and friends, we can all benefit.
I walked away with new plans for my life and daily targets.
If I want to accomplish any task successfully, I have to be organized about time.
In addition to banking and legislating, we should include some basic life skills training as part of any development work.