Prioritise, prioritise, prioritise

Then estimate the time you spent on each activity, noting it to the right of each item. 3) Now rate each activity you did yesterday as an A, B, C or D ranking.

4) Consider the following questions:
- Was this a typical day? In what ways was it typical? In what ways was it not typical?
- What time did you spend wisely? What time do you think was wasted?
- What would you like to do differently?
- How could you put more ‘A’ or ‘B’ time into your day?
- How can you start making that happen now?

Every day, no matter how ‘busy’ or tired, make sure you spend at least some time working directly on a life goal. Build in time for your As every day!

2. The phrase 'I don't have time' is too frequent in the workplace. Many of us feel overwhelmed by the demands placed upon us, but still spend time chatting in long meetings knowing full well that we'll be staying late to deal with the debts.

However, being able to use a few personal time management strategies will make you more productive. Ultimately, career success is likely to depend on your ability to manage your time effectively, and the higher you go, the more urgent skill it becomes.

Where do I start?

For the next few days, stop your activity in 15-minute intervals and then review it for trends. Does your time spent reflect your goals and priorities? If you are uncertain about what your work priorities are, establish the minimum you must achieve in the next week.

If necessary, ask your manager – a good one will assure what you do isn't just about short-term management, and will include investing time in important long-term achievements. They will also create interim targets and deadlines: instead of just saying "I want the report completed in three weeks", they will add "e-mail me a plan by the end of this week and a draft in two weeks".

If your manager doesn't do this, suggest your own interim deadlines and make sure your goals are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based).

Plan your diary and day

A primary requirement for any system to be effective is to keep a strict record of future plans. Diaries and personal organisers are the traditional means of doing this, but there are also a wide variety of electronic planners and software packages to choose from. Whatever your preference, make sure you include all relevant information and, more importantly, that you don’t repeat the information in another place.

Set aside 30 minutes at the beginning of each month to update your diary, and take 10 minutes first thing on a Monday morning to set your weekly targets. Plan your next day's work, preferably the evening before, and make a 'to do' list of everything you must accomplish.

Prioritise, prioritise, prioritise

It is inevitable that you won't accomplish everything on your 'to do' list, or at some stage will feel overwhelmed by the amount of work you have to complete. Assessing and categorising these by importance and urgency will bring order to your efforts.

There are a lot of techniques, but the simplest ones involve determining whether your daily tasks are vital, important, or optional, and allocating blocks of time accordingly.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 749