Time Management Tips

How was your day?

Did you do all the things you planned to ... did you do any of the things you'd planned to?

What about yesterday ... the day before ... last week...

Do you ever think your life has become like one of those cartoons: you set off running full pelt in one direction, only to get diverted somewhere else, and you're only a few steps down that path when something else pops up demanding your attention. What do you do? Abandon the task you’ve started for the new one? Stick with the decision you made? Get a cup of coffee and hope it will all go away.

Get a cup of coffee — that's a laugh! You sometimes wonder how you find time for an essential comfort break let alone a lunch or coffee break. You're definitely getting used to the taste of cold coffee, and sandwiches may not be the most exciting of lunches but at least you can eat them at your desk.

At the end of the day what have you got to show for it: your headless chicken impression is coming along well, but you're amazed you could take so much time to achieve so little.

It's high time to add another item to the very top of the list:

Learn time management tips

Time management isn't a hard skill to learn. In many ways it's not so much time management as task management — planning how to do your work so that you manage the time you have available as efficiently as you can. It's also about understanding that the majority of people can have some control over your time at work.

Time management is also about respect — self respect. Too often the reason that people struggle to keep on top of their work is because they feel they have to respond to the requests of others rather than do their own work. Having the confidence to say 'no', or to negotiate with people who are asking you to do things for them is also important.

Simple Time Management Tips

Here are some time management tips to help you stay in control of your work:

List ALL the tasks you know you need to complete: For each one, identify the deadline (with interim deadlines if needed), how important it is (it may be more important to someone else than it is to you), and how long you think it should take. Don’t spend a lot of time thinking through the whole task, but do be aware of roughly what's involved so you don't significantly under or overestimate it

Find out where you fit in the jigsaw: Maybe your task is part of a bigger one, or someone needs to review your work before they can use it. Know where you fit into the big picture and you can make sure you don't suddenly find the deadline you were given was someone else's, and yours was actually last Friday

Prioritize: What must be done today ... this week ... this month? What's most urgent? According to whom? Discuss any conflicting priorities with the other people involved and agree compromises if needed

Don't put all the urgent tasks at the top of your list: There may be something less urgent but quick to complete that you can fit in between two more urgent ones. You'll get a break from always concentrating on the more pressurized activities, and the satisfaction of knowing you can tick something off your list

Don't try to fool yourself: It’s human nature to try and avoid things you don’t want to do, but if this means you give an important task a lower priority than it deserves you're only fooling yourself, and you're the one who will suffer for it in the long run. The sooner it's started the sooner it's finished

Save some time for the unexpected: There will always be the task that's so urgent it can’t be put aside and you need to be ready for this. Don’t plan out every minute of your time so you'll have time to deal with anything unavoidable. And you'll also have time in hand if something takes longer than expected

Get started on task 1: Work until you've completed this, or done as much as you can for now, before moving on to the next task. Reprioritize task 1 within your list if necessary before you move on to task 2, or you may forget to allocate time for the next stage

Do your best to stick to your list: If a new demand is made on you, don’t automatically stop what you are doing to attend to it unless you are given absolutely no choice in the matter. Decide where it fits into your existing priority list, advise your colleague when you are likely to be able to complete the task, then go back to what you were working on

Others may feel you should give them time when they want it, or put their needs ahead of your own but you need to be firm and defend your precious time. Explain the priorities you're working to and, if necessary, get them to help you renegotiate deadlines or other commitments

Respect yourself: Constantly putting your own tasks aside to help others sends a clear signal that you believe their needs are more important than your own. Of course there will always be the exception, but in reality most urgent tasks aren’t that urgent. As well as protecting your own time, you'll be clearly telling your colleagues that you aren't responsible for their inability to manage their own time effectively

There's no time like later: It's amazing how any little thought has the power to distract you from the job in hand. What you need to buy for dinner, booking a haircut, arranging to go out next weekend, not to mention things that are actually work related! Get used to using a notepad and scribble them down so you can deal with them later. The world will not end if you don't get to those tasks until later

Time Management Tips for Email and Telephone

Email and telephones — a blessing or the devil in disguise?

It would be so much easier to get your work done if you didn't have so many interruptions. If you're lucky you can close the door or put up a 'DO NOT DISTURB' sign and people might just respect it. But what about that sneaky pair: email and telephones? In theory they should be easy to banish — just take the phone off the hook and close down that mail package — but in reality they prove far more resilient.

Here are some time management tips to get them back where they belong:

It's NOT good to talk: You may have to answer phone calls but you don't have to get involved in long conversations. Explain politely to your caller that you're in the middle of something and agree when you can speak, if you need to. Suggest they send an email or written note you can look at when you do have time. They may need to ask the same of you one day

Get rid of the unpaid help: Software developers are eager to enhance their product with lots of gimmicks that may look good but often just waste your time. You don't have someone telling you when the mail man called, so why do you need something telling you new email has arrived? Find out how to switch it off — and don't forget the sounds as well, or you'll find yourself stopping what you're doing to find out who's just mailed you

Stay focused: You may need to check emails or make phone calls in relation to the task you're doing. That's fine but stick to the point. It isn't an opportunity to just peek at the latest message from your pal in the next department, or ask a colleague how their holiday was. These things can easily wait until later, honestly

Don't waste words: Don't reply to emails automatically or you can find yourself in unnecessary — and probably meaningless — communications. If a reply isn't needed, don't send one. A few people will think it's odd, but not many

Treat emails and phone calls like your task list: When you do review your messages and calls, scan, plan, and prioritize as appropriate — and delete all the 'spam' straight away

Show some respect: Probably the most effective way to keep email and telephone calls at bay is to recognize that you do have to deal with them sometime, so allocate some time into your schedule when you can focus on this. But don't choose first thing in the morning as you'll get caught up in distractions you don't need. Aim for mid afternoon — anything that was really that urgent will have found its way to your attention somehow, despite your defenses

These simple time management tips are all within your control. Apply them consistently and you'll benefit from more time and more satisfaction in your work