How to Manage Your Time

What Is Time Management?

To manage your time is to use a system of procedures and routines (recurring tasks) that allow you to think systematically; it is to identify and prioritise tasks and objectives which enables you to become better organised, be more effective and feel more in control.

Two key questions:

·      How do you feel when you spend time poorly?

·      How do you feel when you spend time well?

Tips for Controlling Your Time

“Time is life. To waste time is to waste your life.

To master your time is to master your life.”

1.  List goals, set priorities

• What are your long-term goals?
• What do you really want out of life and your job?
• Then prioritise, using the ABC system (A-high value; B-medium value; C-low value).

2.  Make a daily To Do list

• Make and update it at the same time every day.
• Use any type of list that suits you.
• Prioritise using As, Bs, Cs or any other rating system.
• Keep the list in sight in a prominent place.

3.  Start with As, not Cs

• Concentrate on high value goals and activities - 80% of everything in this world is a ‘C’ but that doesn’t mean you should spend 80% of your time on them!
• Ask yourself frequently what might happen if you didn’t do this ‘C’?  If the answer is nothing, then don’t do it.
• Make yourself a “Standby List” of small tasks to do when a few spare minutes arise or you need a break.

4.  Frequently ask yourself ‘What is the best use of my time right now?’

• Handle each piece of paper and each email only once.
• Don’t pick up a piece of paper unless you intend to do something with it!
• Problems usually escalate if you keep ignoring them.
• Use the ‘Swiss cheese’ method to get started on those overwhelming ‘A’ jobs, instead of doing nothing or doing ‘Cs’

Increasing Effectiveness:  Planning

• Start by looking at your goals and list all activities needed for their completion.
•  Put these in sequence.  For each goal, allocate a deadline.
•  Where others are involved, agree (and record) who is responsible for completing each activity.
•  Priorities your activities according to the goals.
• Plan ahead: write activities in your diary for long term overview with both start and finish times, including time needed to check on others’ progress.
• Plan time to plan: allocate time for meetings with yourself.
•  Plan:

·    For tomorrow, at the end of today

·    For next week, at the end of this week

·    For a meeting, project or presentation as soon as it is agreed.  This leaves you free to be creative and gives you time to add new ideas and extra points as they come to mind.  It avoids last minute rushes when little - but important things - get forgotten.

• Don’t postpone important or disliked things.  Do them first so that you can feel a sense of achievement (not guilt!) for the rest of the day.
•  Ensure that you regularly include some activities that make you feel good.
• Start major activities when you are at your peak performance, leaving shorter tasks to fill the gaps.
• Be realistic in your assessment of your available time.  Allow contingency time for interruptions, delays and problems.  Limit your daily To Do list to one that is achievable that day, so that at the end of the day you leave feeling good about what you have accomplished, not frustrated or depressed about what you have not!
• Ensure that you regularly do some activity towards your longer-term goals or the massive, unpleasant tasks that otherwise just never get started.

Building a Focused Daily To-Do-List

Check once mid morning and once mid afternoon:

• Review:  What do I need to do to get back on track?
• Take the time out to retrieve your day
•  Transfer:  Sometimes an emergency throws your day
• Tackle them in the same way

Check           

• Your ‘pending’ file, your ‘holding‘ file and your ‘tickler file’
• This Week - Pending
• Next Week - Holding
• Beyond - Tickler

Add                

• New tasks at any point

Collect together your ‘to do list’ into groups; for example,  ‘Administration’, ‘Clients’, etc.  When using your diary to plot out time always add an extra 15 minutes to every hour of estimated time.  Build in time for emergencies and interruptions and schedule in ‘time to think’ or ‘meetings with yourself to plan for the future and review work completed.

Requests For Your Time

From People 

• Always say it early - Do not wait until the deadline to say no, you will lose trust.
• Acknowledge - Keep people informed of your schedule, acknowledge the importance of the project that you have been asked to complete.
• Assertively decline - Be very brave and say “I am unable to do this task for you within that time.”
• Account for resources - Give 1 or 2 reasons why, “I have one or two priorities to work on right now, it is important that I . . .”
• Alternative solutions - “Let’s see if we can re-schedule, re-shuffle, propose some other solutions. . .”
• Decide and communicate the options – give yourself time to think/refer to your list, look at it realistically, “I can draft it for you now or finalise it and proof it by tomorrow, which would you prefer?”

 Tips for Shaving Time Off Phone Calls

•  Summarise: “Well, before we hang up, I just want to...”
•  Ask questions: “How can I help you?”
•  Use statements: “I know you’re busy, so I’ll just....” 
• Set a time limit   
•  “I was just on my way out...”
•  “I have a meeting in five minutes...”
• Schedule for a block of time convenient to you

Fresh Learning offers a range of training and support with delivering excellence in Time Management. If you would like to contact send us a message using the contact form on the right-hand side of this post.

Fresh Learning Team

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