Time Management: Are You Kidding Me?

Okay, so many of you are either dealing with traffic, waiting in line at the store purchasing your last minute Christmas gifts, or just generally stressed out over the holidays and our current economic malaise.  Perhaps now isn't the right time to discuss time management but let's face it is there ever a good time to broach the subject?  I don't live under a rock (although my friends who follow the Chicago Bears might dispute that) so I know that the last thing your thinking about now as you scurry around to get things done this week is time management; but hear me out, highlight this information, when things do finally settle down for you there just might be some tips here that you can use down the road.

There is never enough time to do all the things we want and need to do.  We must choose between competing demands on our time.  The choices we make reflect the fact that we are ultimately responsible for how we spend our time.  Some small tasks do not need to be completed to perfection, and others do not need to be completed at all.  Learn to recognize tasks you are spending too much time on.  You maybe spending too much time for too few results.

The most common problem with managing time is having too much to do, duh!.  Before you can begin to manage time more efficiently, you must recognize “time-wasters”.  Once these time-wasters have been identified, you must either minimize or eliminate them.  Listed below are some common time-wasters.

            Confused goals and objectives                            Procrastination

            Failure to listen                                                   Visitors without “official” business

            Inability to say “NO!”                                         Not well organized

            Meetings without goals                                        Misplaced items

            Attempting to do too much                                  Interruptions

            Unnecessary correspondence                              Waiting for referrals

            Using the telephone for social reasons                  Messy desk

Here are some tips on managing time more efficiently:

            1. Set priorities for tomorrow’s work.  At some time each day, take a few minutes to make a

                list of important tasks for the next day and prioritize them.

            2. Start with your most important task for the day and work your way down to the small ones. 

                Don’t start with the small ones and work your way up.  You may never get there.

            3. Divide tasks that are “impossible” to accomplish into smaller subtasks and finish them one

                at a time.

            4. Learn to delegate when appropriate.  Most of us believe “If you want something done right,

                you have to do it yourself”.  This approach does nothing for staff development however. 

                Explain fully what you want done and have someone else, when appropriate, do it.  This will

                not only save you time, but build confidence in the other person, if done properly.  If what

                you delegate was not done correctly, explain what went wrong and have the person try

                again.

            5. Read correspondence and memos when they come in and take appropriate action.  Strive

                to handle a piece of paper only once. 

            6. Try to eliminate unnecessary reports by keeping your supervisor abreast of what you are

                 doing.

            7. Establish a format for recurring reports.  Memos for travel reports, inspection reports, staff

                Meetings and so forth, all lend themselves to a standard format.

            8. Use the telephone when it can be reasonably substituted for written correspondence or a

                personal visit.

            9. Smaller, less important tasks can be saved for when you have a few minutes of slack time,

                before a meeting or appointment, or enroute to another location.

            10. “But, we’ve always done it this way” syndrome.  Some tasks may be accomplished just as

                  efficiently in less time by taking a new or different approach.  Analyze recurring tasks to

                  determine if this applies.

            11. Keep note cards in your pocket of important items.  This is not high school; you can have

                  notes to supplement your memory.

            12. Pass the torch!  How many tasks are you now working on that really should have been

                  done by someone else?

            13. Develop “Prime Time” for tasks.  Identify your most productive time of day-early morning,

                  late afternoon, or whenever-and attempt to use those times for your most demanding

                  tasks.

I hope you find something in here that you can use.  Do you have another tip on time management that works for you?  If so, please share it and thanks for reading my blog.  Until next time all my best, Jer.