Managing your time effectively

Managing your time effectively

BE CLEAR ABOUT YOUR OBJECTIVES

• Are you allocating sufficient attention to your current activities, reviewing past performance and future planning? In particular, are you devoting sufficient time to planning for the future?
• Are you allocating your time correctly between different aspects of your job? Are there any parts of your job on which you are spending too much time?
• Who are the people you ought to be allocating time to? Are you spending sufficient time with them?
  

CONSIDER YOUR WORK

• Do you organize your working day and week according to your priorities? Or do you deal with problems as and when they occur without stopping to think if there is something more important that you should be focusing on?
• Are you able to complete tasks uninterrupted or are you constantly interrupted? Are the interruptions an essential part of your work or part of your own making?
•  Are you certain that you are not working on tasks or issues that you could delegate? Remember, many people say they could do more if they were only allowed to by their managers.

Try considering the following as potential targets for managing your time. How possible would it be for you to achieve them?

• Reduce your working week by ten hours.
• Reduce daily interruptions by 50%.
• Reduce the time you spend on phone calls by 50%.
• Reduce the time you spend on e-mail and correspondence by 30%.
• Double the time you allocate to planning and thinking.
• Allocate at least 30 minutes each day for quality thinking.