| Some of us pride ourselves on our | | | | overwhelmed and accomplish even less than you |
| organizational skills; and that we never | | | | normally would. Know your limits. |
| waste time and accomplish everything we want | | | | |
| to in a day. If you fit this category; | | | | 5. Try to limit your drop-in visits. Those |
| congratulations! You are truly in the | | | | peers that just need a minute of your time |
| minority. More common for most people is a | | | | can rob you of hours in a day. You have to |
| level of frustration because we are not able | | | | develop the skills to deal effectively with |
| to get everything done in a day that we want | | | | these interruptions. |
| to. For those of you who have this problem, | | | | |
| here are some great time management tips. | | | | 6. Keeping your desk neat is the start to |
| | | | achieving more and you'll be less likely to |
| Time management isn't a new concept; it's | | | | suffer from desk stress. |
| been around for a long time. But it's a term | | | | |
| that's really not what it seems, because in | | | | 7. Stop procrastinating. The inability to |
| reality we cannot manage time we can only | | | | make a decision wastes a great deal of time |
| manage ourselves. So really time management | | | | so start learning to make decisions. Right or |
| is self management, so start by identifying | | | | wrong, at least you will have made a |
| your time wasters. | | | | decision. |
| | | | |
| There are many things that occur during the | | | | 8. Just say no. Don't let people dump their |
| day that waste our time. The telephone | | | | work; their projects; or their problems on |
| interrupts us, visitors interrupt, stress, | | | | your shoulders. You've got to learn to say no |
| fatigue, procrastination, trying to work | | | | and not worry about the feelings of those |
| without all the necessary information, | | | | using you. |
| unclear communication, poor planning, unclear | | | | |
| objectives, and disorganization all are time | | | | 9. It's a well known fact that meetings are a |
| wasters. Delegating tasks; dealing with | | | | big time waster so avoid as many meetings as |
| members of the team; and meetings also waste | | | | possible. Did you know the average manager |
| time. The following strategies will help you | | | | spends 20 hours a week in meetings and |
| better use your time. | | | | another 10 hours planning for those meetings? |
| | | | |
| 1. Learn to prevent the crisis before it | | | | 10. Analyze your time so you know where you |
| happens. That's called crisis management. If | | | | are being the most productive and where you |
| you can put the fire out before it occurs | | | | are wasting the most time. That way you'll be |
| you'll save valuable time. | | | | better equipped to make the needed changes. |
| | | | |
| 2. Control the telephone. Although there is | | | | 11. Make sure you know what your goals are. |
| no question that it's a great tool, it can | | | | By defining your goals clearly you are much |
| also be our worst enemy and biggest time | | | | more likely to achieve them and less likely |
| waster if we don't learn to control it. | | | | to drift around aimlessly. |
| | | | |
| 3. You need to learn to set your priorities. | | | | 12. You should always have a plan that is |
| Those who know exactly what they want to | | | | broke down to yearly, monthly, weekly, and |
| accomplish in a day do far better at | | | | daily goals. Of course there should be some |
| accomplishing long term goals, because to | | | | room for flexibility, but it will help you |
| meet long term goals a person has to meet | | | | stay focused. |
| their daily goals - a fact missed by many | | | | |
| people. | | | | These time management tips should have you |
| | | | managing yourself more effectively, which |
| 4. Don't bite off more than you can chew. You | | | | means you'll be accomplishing more and |
| won't get it done, and you'll feel | | | | feeling far less stressed. |