The key to successful time management techniques is planning and then protecting the planned time. People who say that they have no time do not plan, or fail to protect planned time. If you plan what to do and when, and then stick to it, then you will have time.
In order to gain control of your time you must first make a commitment to change and then carry out the necessary action. Without doing this you will not change your habits and you won’t begin to influence others who are impacting on your time management. This involves conditioning, or re-conditioning your environment, rather than allowing your environment to condition you. If you tolerate, and accept without question, the interruptions and demands of others then you effectively encourage these time management pressures to continue.
Here are some time management techniques:
- When you’re faced with a pile of things to do, go through them quickly and make a list of what needs doing and when. After this handle each piece of paper only once. Do not under any circumstances pick up a job, do a bit of it, then put it back on the pile. Do not start lots of jobs at the same time.
- Be absolutely firm in dealing with time allocated for meetings, paperwork, telephone, and visitors. When you keep your time log you will see how much time is wasted. Take control. If you keep a weekly activity schedule you will be able to control the time allocated for your tasks.
- Review your work environment, layout, IT equipment, etc., and set it up for efficiency. Tidy up your work-space and keep all paperwork filed away unless you’re working on it. Keep a clean deskand well-organised systems, but don’t be obsessive, or spend all week adjusting the settings of your screen-saver.
- If you can’t stop interruptions then go elsewhere when you need time alone. Fight for your right to work uninterrupted when you need to.
- Review all the regular reports you write and receive for usefulness, and make or recommend changes. Set up an acceptable template for the regular weekly or monthly reports you write, so you only need to slot in the updated figures and narrative, each time. Why re-invent the wheel?
- Learn to say ‘No’, politely, and constructively. Don’t make a rod for your own back. Be careful about accepting sideways delegation by your peers to you.
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