Time Management Information |
Time Management - Working Smarter at Work
Let's look at your time management skills. Most of us have to work, and the more you can do in the least amount of time, the better. Working smarter frees you up so that not only do you have a job, but you have a life too! Getting Back To Basics The most useful "little helper" for business people must surely be the daily To Do list. You have a couple of choices: Write your list in the morning, as the first task at the commencement of your working day. Step back a bit and take the time to do it before you finish up the night before - as your final flourish for the day. This helps to free your mind so that you don't take your work home with you. Instead, you just leave it there to stew, all by itself, until you arrive next morning to take up the reins. Write It Down Effective time management means writing things down so you don't waste your time worrying about what you've forgotten. Avoid trying to create a To Do list in your head. It must, must, must be written down. And then left somewhere highly visible, such as your desk top. That's why I suggest writing it in your diary, so you can juggle it with your other commitments. An effective To Do list will almost always be updated during the day. It is not a static document. As your priorities alter with each crisis, your list will be a work in progress. First of all, don't be unrealistic. Steel yourself to list only the achievable projects and activities. If you are unable to complete a task on the designated day, simply transfer it to the next day or another suitable time in your diary. Look at the daily To Do list as the map that keeps you on track. When you have written your list in the diary, go back and number each item in order of importance. Then, you can simply start with No. One and work your way through. Your Work Book In our busy working lives today, we are bombarded with so many different distractions that it is sometimes difficult to keep track of everything that's going on, particularly if you work in an open-plan office. Instead of recording on scraps of paper or sticky notes all the zillion thoughts that pass through your mind during these stressful periods, use an inexpensive spiral note book. Anything of importance that you write down can then be found again at a later date. Use it as an adjunct, or a companion, to your diary and as a great memory jogger. You'll find using a Work Book will help you focus your thoughts, remind yourself of past conversations and save time as you'll no longer have to search for all those "back of envelope" notations. Taming the Telephone Murphy's Law of Telephones and Deadlines means that when you are really pressed trying to complete a project on time, the telephone will take off, with a mind of its own. The pro-active person will rejig their answering message to say something like this: "Hi, it's Joe Bloggs. I'm unavailable right now however if you leave a message stating what your call is about, and the best time to phone you back, I'll get in touch later in the day." On the other hand, if you have someone working with you who can screen your calls (lucky you) word them up to give a similar message. Asking what the call is about will help you assemble any relevant information before you call back. This will enable you to better plan your day, to return all calls sooner and more effectively. The Final Word Keep your time management systems simple because the simpler they are the more likely you will use them. Doing the basics will help you work smarter, not harder. Have a great week! Lorraine Pirihi About The Author Lorraine Pirihi is Australia's Personal Productivity Specialist and Leading Life Coach. Her business The Office Organiser specialises in showing small business owners and managers, how to get organised at work so they can have a life! Lorraine is also a dynamic speaker and has produced many products including "How to Survive and Thrive at Work!" To subscribe to her free ezine visit http://www.office-organiser.com.au This article may be reproduced providing it is published in it's entirety, including the author's bio and all links. For further information please contact Lorraine Pirihi; lorraine@office-organiser.com.au
MORE RESOURCES: Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting |
RELATED ARTICLES
Procrastination. Id love to but... When a good friend asked me to contribute a little something for her newsletter it seemed like a great idea. When I cleared the decks and sat down to write it seemed a great time to color-code my closet or whip up a crab casserole. Where Do Your Priorities Fit? An expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students when he decided to do an experiment. He pulled out a large mason jar, a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one by one, into the jar. The Power of Limited Time The most powerful resource that we have is time. Everything we do is time-dependent and changes forever with the passage of time. Time Management: How to Stay Motivated and Get More Done If you can motivate yourself at will to get any task done, you'll have taken a huge step towards managing your time better. There are several practical ways to increase your motivation. Use Your Time Wisely! When I was small, I have never considered the importance of time.I would just laze around, watch TV, lie in bed, and play videogames. Because Its Been Years Since Youve Seen a Blank Calendar If you have ever missed an appointment, forgotten to pick the kids up from soccer practice, or lost a sticky note with an important phone number on it, this is your year to get organized. There is no better time than now to recommit ourselves to bringing some order to the chaos that is our modern lives. How To Pack 48 Hours Into Your Day Too much to do, too little time, constant stress. Most of us have been there. Dont Forget To Take Time Out For You! As mothers we play so many different roles and most of us don't take time off that we deserve. Just think about it we play doctor, cook, chauffeur, teacher, lawyer, and the occasional referee as well. The Keepers of Time I give presentations on organizational skill building as it relates to paper, time, and computer file management. It seems that we all have too much paper, not enough time, and more than enough information stored in our computers if we could just find it!Part of my job is to help identify the challenges an employee or organization is facing and suggest solutions. Time Management - Working Smarter at Work Let's look at your time management skills. Most of us have to work, and the more you can do in the least amount of time, the better. 24 Time Management Tips Where does your time go? We all know we are busy, yet we feel behind and don't get to do the things we really want to do.Planning is the best time saver there is. Webmaster or Web Slave? Time Saving Tips for Cyberpreneurs Time is money in your online business, just as in the offline business world.Problem is, the typical Internet entrepreneur is in a race against time: Often snowed under with many things to do, trying to achieve maximum results (income) within the precious, very limited time available. Time is Money - Dont Waste It "If you control your time, you control your life" - Alan Lakein (1973)Time is Money. Time is a precious commodity and everyone gets an equal share, but we use it differently. Time Management: How to Make Your Meetings More Productive In most organizations, meetings are often the biggest time-wasters. With a bit of planning, it's possible to both shorten the time spent in meetings and to make that time more productive. 7 ways To Win The Time Crunch Are you working a "day job" while building your home-based "dream business"? Do you find it difficult to manage your time? Follow these seven tips to get more done growing your business, and have the time for other important things in your life, too.(1) Make and use a 'to-do' list daily. Mercury Retrograde and Time Management The concept of Mercury Retrograde is very well known even among non-Astrologers.It is an excellent example of the use of Astrology as a planning tool. Time and Life, Bit by Bit Looking out through my picture window during a recent winter storm, I felt like I was in a giant snow globe. Big, fluffy snowflakes were falling, covering everything with a nice wintry blanket. It's Not The Same Old Routine We are constantly inundated with routine (often boring!) tasks around the house. This can cause major frustration because many of us don't do them efficiently, and most of us fail to complete our entire list of chores! You may take comfort in comment from a commiserating colleague: "A creative mind always has more ideas than the physical body is able to carry out. The Kaizen of Goal Setting There is an old way of goal setting and a new way of goal setting!The old way of goal-setting involved setting yor goals, preparing a list of sub-goals, and then carefully checking them off one after another (as and when they were being accomplished). Am I trying o pour cold water on the goal setting method many of us grw up on?Not necessarilyWhile I am not saying the step-by-step approach does not work, I am advocating a flexible-goal setting approach. The Ultimate Time Management Tips: 5 Steps To Reaching Your Goals With Minimum Work Would you like to know how to get 10 times more done in a day than most people do in a week, with less work?Then listen closely. You're about to discover the ONE time management and productivity secret that really works. |
home | site map | contact us |