“Either you run the day or the day runs you”
goes a saying. This is true of most of us who have a somewhat volatile
relationship with time.
Often we feel that twenty-four
hours are not enough in a day. “So much to do and so little time”, goes our pet
complaint. Most of us struggle to fit in our work within the time limits
specified to us, and end up complaining that even after trying our utmost, we
are still running short of time. Managing time effectively is a skill that
needs to be acquired with careful and continuous practice. The secret of
professional success of most people lies in the fact that they have learnt
effective time management.
The moment you hear of time management what
comes to your mind? Let me guess. You think either one of the following:
a) I know all about managing my time. No one
needs to tell me how to use my time better.
b) Oh, I am hopeless at managing my time.
Nothing can really help me do better.
If you have ticked a), then let
me tell you that the best of managers often fall into time traps that lower
productivity and eat away into their packed schedule. For example, an urgent
mail comes in, and you rush to answer it. Your work-in-progress remains just
that…in-progress. Or an urgent summons comes in from the boss, and you leave
everything to attend to it. Or some coworkers start discussing some juicy topic
and you are sucked into the conversation, and before you know it, it is time to
submit your work and you are way behind. So don’t you think you stand to gain
from pointers on time management?
And if you are the sort that has
ticked b), then there is hope for you yet. All is not lost. Time is a resource
that always seems scanty for your type, though it is not always your fault.
Either you are overburdened with work or are simply not organized well enough. Whatever
it is, you can most certainly benefit from some well-timed tips on managing
time effectively.
Time is a resource that is
usually very much in demand, and consequently, very much scarce. Most of us are
constantly running against time, or trying to fill in as many things possible
in as little time. Paradoxically, some of us are trying to fill in time, as we
have nothing much to do. For such people, without meaningful employment, the
day seems to stretch on and on.
Whatever our relationship with
this valuable resource is, it is never ideal. Have you ever met a person who
has said “I am managing my time fine. Every moment is well utilized.”? My guess
is no. Even the most successful CEOs and leaders have become flustered trying
to manage their time efficiently.
One of the reasons for time being
such an invaluable, much in-demand resource is that it cannot be replenished.
Once gone, it is gone forever. No amount of effort or money will bring lost
time back.
Proper time management helps
improve the overall quality of our life, besides giving us better job
satisfaction and work performance. Our work life becomes more efficient and we
can enjoy our leisure more if we can manage time. Let us see how we can use
this resource optimally at the workplace to boost our productivity and
satisfaction.
W
Prioritize. Not all work that comes to your
table is equally important. You need to know what is of priority. Ask yourself:
o
What do I need to do?
o
When do I do it?
o
How well do I do it?
All papers or
mail marked urgent need not be read then and there, disrupting your work flow.
You must prioritize your work in order of importance and urgency. Or you can be
in danger of making someone else’s priority your own.
If you have more
than one important task pending, plan how you are going to finish these. Decide
on the sequence of tasks. Don’t allow disturbances or interruptions throw you
off track. Keep your schedule in front of you, with a tasks-to-do list. Tick
off items as and when they are finished. Prioritizing helps you focus on
tackling the important things first, and then handle the routine matters.
W
Plan your day. Reach office or your workplace
before the specified time, a little ahead of others. Sit down calmly and plan
your day ahead. Digital organizers can help you in scheduling tasks and
reminding you of these. Keep aside a time for meeting internal and external
clients, and a time for interaction with colleagues and your team members. Of
course, your schedule will not go exactly like you plan it, so make allowances
for minor variations.
W
Try to complete work within a definite time
span. Time your work duties, and stick to the time plans. Don’t overstretch
your work day, or carry work home. Try to complete things within the specified
work hours. Group tasks that have overlapping time spans. For example, if you
go to meet a client, use the waiting time to fill routine formats. Make ticket
reservations online while paying your bills. If there is a meeting scheduled,
keep it focused on the agenda, and write down points discussed. When people see
you sticking to time schedules they tend to respect your time too.
W
Limit multi-tasking. Yes, multi-tasking looks
very good on paper, in reality it gives you more anxiety and heartburn than
concentrating at a single task at one time. You think you are attending to ten
things at once, but actually you are leaving all tasks in different stages of
completion. The market report is incomplete, your customer is waiting, your
coworker requests your response, and your boss wants the file you promised to
finish work on. You started work on all of these, but soon got overwhelmed and
utterly confused. Finishing tasks one by one gives a sense of satisfaction and
control.
W Delegate some work. You need not do everything
yourself. The minor tasks can be delegated to junior staff. Ask the telephone
operator to make cold calls for you. Get a peon to oversee the printing and
photocopying work. Routine office work like mailing, following up, etc. can be
delegated to assistants. Concentrate on the bigger and significant tasks. Make
sure the delegatees report their progress to you, however. Else you will have a
bigger problem repairing work that was incorrectly done.
W
Do the unpleasant tasks first. None of us really
want to do what we dislike, but work must be done. Spend some time in the
morning planning how and when you will tackle the unpleasant tasks. If you have
been avoiding meeting a cranky customer, schedule it for some time in the day
and get it over with. That tedious report you have been assigned? Start work on
it and get it off your mind. Unfinished work tends to occupy space in your
mind. The more you procrastinate the more cumbersome these tasks become, and
the more reluctant you feel about starting them. Do not put off these tasks.
Tackle them one by one.
W
Don’t check your messages and e-mails through
the day. Set aside a time for checking these, and keep your notifications off
for the rest of the day. Don’t check your e-mail every now and then. Checking
e-mails and replying to these eat away a lot of our working time, so do it only
in the scheduled time, and not during the remaining work hours. It distracts
you and before you know it you will be spending all day replying and responding
to non-urgent mail and texts.
W Set aside a block of time for paperwork and letters.
Instead of reading things as and when they find their way into your in-tray,
keep aside a time, preferably in the afternoon to do your reading. The period
after lunch time is a slack one, read your mail and letters at that time. Use
this time to write memos or letters. Except for highly urgent mail that needs
to be responded to immediately, everything can wait till afternoon. Write your correspondence
at a time when you are not pressed with other urgent work or phone calls.
W Learn to say no. This is an important tactic all
of us need to adopt. We should be able to say no to unreasonable demands on our
time. Most people follow an ad hoc practice of making demands and requests to
get jobs done. Make it clear that your time is precious, and people need to
respect it. Say no to people when they
come to you with unplanned requests. When you are busy with an assignment, make
it clear that you will not entertain any sudden changes in your schedule. The
prime reason why we always feel short of time is because we spend most of it
doing work we hadn’t planned or scheduled earlier. Learn to refuse people
politely.
W Seek help of supportive coworkers in managing
your time. Ask a helpful colleague to help you stick to your work schedule.
He/she can remind you when you go off track and help with some of your work
load when things get unbearable. The support of coworkers often inspires us to
stick to our time management plans.
Creating a profitable
relationship with time takes time and constant practice. Time management
requires an awareness of ourselves and our daily habits, and the actions that
lead to time wastage. If we can consciously review our lifestyle and habits, we
can detect and eliminate a number of time wasting activities.
So make time your friend and
ally. Establish a rewarding relationship with this resource and improve your
work output and quality. It requires some self discipline and control. Soon you
will find yourself racing ahead of time and delivering better work than your
counterparts.
All the best!
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