by Gray Rollins
http://www.timesmanagements.com/
© 2006
Some of us pride ourselves on our organizational
skills; and that we never waste time and accomplish everything
we want to in a day. If you fit this category; congratulations!
You are truly in the minority. More common for most people is
a level of frustration because we are not able to get everything
done in a day that we want to. For those of you who have this
problem, here are some great time management tips.
Time management isn’t a new concept; it’s
been around for a long time. But it’s a term that’s
really not what it seems, because in reality we cannot manage
time we can only manage ourselves. So really time management is
self management, so start by identifying your time wasters.
There are many things that occur during the day
that waste our time. The telephone interrupts us, visitors interrupt,
stress, fatigue, procrastination, trying to work without all the
necessary information, unclear communication, poor planning, unclear
objectives, and disorganization all are time wasters. Delegating
tasks; dealing with members of the team; and meetings also waste
time. The following strategies will help you better use your time.
- Learn to prevent the crisis before it happens. That’s
called crisis management. If you can put the fire out before
it occurs you’ll save valuable time.
- Control the telephone. Although there is no question that
it’s a great tool, it can also be our worst enemy and biggest
time waster if we don’t learn to control it.
- You need to learn to set your priorities. Those who know
exactly what they want to accomplish in a day do far better
at accomplishing long term goals, because to meet long term
goals a person has to meet their daily goals - a fact missed
by many people.
- Don’t bite off more than you can chew. You won’t
get it done, and you’ll feel overwhelmed and accomplish
even less than you normally would. Know your limits.
- Try to limit your drop-in visits. Those peers that just need
a minute of your time can rob you of hours in a day. You have
to develop the skills to deal effectively with these interruptions.
- Keeping your desk neat is the start to achieving more and
you’ll be less likely to suffer from desk stress.
- Stop procrastinating. The inability to make a decision wastes
a great deal of time so start learning to make decisions. Right
or wrong, at least you will have made a decision.
- Just say no. Don’t let people dump their work; their
projects; or their problems on your shoulders. You’ve got
to learn to say no and not worry about the feelings of those
using you.
- It’s a well known fact that meetings are a big time
waster so avoid as many meetings as possible. Did you know the
average manager spends 20 hours a week in meetings and another
10 hours planning for those meetings?
- Analyze your time so you know where you are being the most
productive and where you are wasting the most time. That way
you’ll be better equipped to make the needed changes.
- Make sure you know what your goals are. By defining your
goals clearly you are much more likely to achieve them and less
likely to drift around aimlessly.
- You should always have a plan that is broke down to yearly,
monthly, weekly, and daily goals. Of course there should be
some room for flexibility, but it will help you stay focused.
These time management tips should have you managing
yourself more effectively, which means you’ll be accomplishing
more and feeling far less stressed.
Credit:
About The Author: Gray Rollins is a featured
writer for TimesManagements. To learn more about time management,
visit us at http://www.timesmanagements.com/
and http://www.timesmanagements.com/timemanagementsystem/
Related
Information:
NBA
Benefit Provider - PostcardMania
NBA
Resource Article - 7
Tips To Recapture Time
NBA
Resource Article - Time
To Play
Reprint
of this article does not constitute an endorsement by the National
Business Association; the article is for informational purposes
for our members and viewers of our Web site.
|
| |
