Do you ever feel overburdened with too much to do and not enough hours in the day? Does your to-do list overwhelm you and do you feel that time just slips away? Do you need help with time management?
Growing up, being on time meant showing up early. My Dad, Jack went to Valley Forge Military Academy, so when he said we were leaving at 6:00 pm for the restaurant, it meant being ready at 5:45 pm, so we could leave early. But we all were ready at 5:30 pm, just to be safe.
When my wife and I built our wholesale bakery business together in the late ’70s and ’80s, I became a bit obsessive about time too. I didn’t want to work long hours since we had a young family – but I did want to be efficient, effective, and as stress-free as possible.
Time Management Mantra
I read books and asked other business leaders about time management topics. My desire was to wisely use my time to get the most out of each day. I collected these bits of wisdom throughout my career and kept adjusting and adapting my ideas to help me achieve my goals.
I’m conducting a lunch & learn session later this month for a client on time management and thought I’d share some of the key points from the work session. The purpose is to help a younger team learn a few ideas from someone who has gained wisdom through experience. By the way, that’s the definition of the word sage.
I hope you find one fresh idea that helps you.
The Benefits of Time Management
- Managing stress
- Improving my productivity and effectiveness
- Deliver work on time.
- Provide a better quality of work. Much less procrastination.
- Improved quality of life.
- More opportunities and career growth.
- More time for leisure and recreation
Ten Simple Steps to Improve Your Time
Management
1.ONE LIST: Have one master list for all your tasks. Don’t keep tasks in different places.
2.CALENDAR TASKS: Put tasks on your calendar so you block time to do your work. When you put a task on a calendar, you set aside time to move that project forward.
3.HARD STUFF FIRST: Always, always, always do the hardest tasks first each day.
4.FOCUS ON PRIORITIES: Prioritize ruthlessly – revise your list the night before or first thing in the morning. Even the most productive knowledge workers only have 3-4 hours per day for intensive, hard work. Block out 3-4 hours when you can best concentrate and focus on those top tasks.
5.LIMIT WHAT’S CRITICAL: I prefer to have 1-3 critical things I must do each day. I move them as far forward as possible before moving on to anything else
6.GET ALIGNED: Align your tasks with your managers goals for you each week. Being busy isn’t the goal, achieving results that align with your manager’s goals and the company’s goals is job one.
7.DISCONNECT FOR HARD WORK: If you have a particularly challenging project, go offline to write, read or speak to others. Don’t allow distractions in while you focus.
8.USE FIRM DATES: If I am asked to do work from my boss or a colleague, I ask for a “by when” date. Be specific so you know its true importance. ASAP isn’t on the clock or calendar.
9.DELEGATE OR DELAY: Can you delegate a task to someone else – or say that you can do it in two week. If you can do it – do it. If it impinges on your time, and will take time, get clarity from your boss which is the top priority.
10.CREATE A NOT TO DO LIST: You might have on your NOT to-do list not to attend meetings that don’t have agendas or where you can read a summary after the fact. Don’t say yes to every meeting – be more discreet or see if you can avoid the meeting through Slack or email. Find ways to get stuff off your plate. For example, can you ask an administrative assistant or intern to handle something that is ‘busy work’ and worth doing – but not by you? Can you negotiate with your boss to get some “virtual assistant” helping to take less important work off your plate? Work can be filled with wasteful activities – what can you politely and politically avoid so you can focus on the important projects?
What are other time management tips and advice can you share to help people manage their time more effectively?
Photo by Luis Villasmil on Unsplash
