Thursday, November 24, 2011

Top 10 Tips for Time Management

The most popular topic that I am asked to conduct training about is time management. I'd like to help you save some of your training dollars in 2012 and tell you that you and your staff do not need training on time management. So what do I tell people who ask me about time management? You don't need training. The first thing you need is discipline!

It takes discipline and a strong desire to be productive in order to best manage your time. Here are my top 10 tips for better time management. By implementing these strategies you will find yourself getting more done each day and doing things that are more purposeful to your company.

The first thing to understand about time management is this... We do what we like to do and we do what we are good at. I do not like doing expense reports and I am not as good as I would like to be at using Excel. So that's why doing expense reports falls to the bottom of my list and I never seem to get them done. If something else better comes along, I will gladly put my expenses aside for ANY other task.

It is critical to know what you don't like to do and what you are not good at. Those things will go to the bottom of your list and usually do not get done. Develop a plan to become proficient at those things and then once it is easier for you to do, you will also like doing it more. And when you enjoy doing something, you tend to do it faster.

Get mentally prepared for things you don't like to do and force yourself to do them when they need to be done. As I am driving into work in the morning, I will tell myself "I have to do my expenses as soon as I get there." I have to be disciplined to make sure that I keep my commitment to myself. Being disciplined is half the time management battle.

Do the things you don't like to do first thing so that you can treat yourself to the things you do like to do later in the day. I get the monkeys off my back first and then I treat myself to doing something that I do like to do. My best friend when it comes to time management is an egg timer. I will set the timer to a specific amount of time and will push myself to get something done in a certain length of time. It is like having a race with myself to see how fast I can get to the finish line. Then after I am done, I will go back and review the quality.

Put items on your calendar rather than just making a to-do list. To-do lists are endless and you may feel discouraged because you still have things left on your list at the end of the day. First thing in the morning, get out your calendar and put the things on there that are already scheduled (meetings, conference calls, interviews, etc.). Then put the items on there that you need to do like coaching your employees. If you actually schedule time for coaching your employees, you will find that you will get that done.

Now set time aside on your calendar for items that need to be done and make a specific list of them- Send emails to the following people. Make the following phone calls and write the following memos. Block that time on your calendar just like it is an appointment.

Put into effect the "10 minute rule". If something is taking you 10 minutes or more to figure out, you have probably exhausted your resources and it is time to step back and get creative. Is there someone else who may know where to find this information? Is someone more knowledgeable about this topic and would be able to show you the short cuts? Sometimes we get so focused on finding the answer that we forget to use other resources to get things done faster.

Put all similar tasks together. Reply to all emails at one time, call all of your clients back during one period of time and coach all of your employees during back to back sessions. You will find that you are much more productive if all of the similar tasks are lumped together rather than making one phone call and then sending one email and then meeting with one employee.

I have two rules when I conduct meetings or training and one is, "In on time, out on time". What this means is that we will start the meeting on time and we will end the meeting on time. How much time is wasted sitting around waiting for everyone to get assembled for a meeting and how much time is wasted standing outside of a conference room waiting for the existing meeting to end? Don't waste any more time standing around!

Ask the question, "Is this purposeful to what I am doing?" How much of what we do during the day is actually meaningless and not focused to helping us achieve our goals. I want to challenge you to ask yourself, "Is this a purposeful way for me to spend my time?" If it is not, look at other possibilities of what would be purposeful.

Meetings, meetings, meetings! Look at ways to make meetings more meaningful. If the decision makers are not in the room, what is your purpose for meeting? If you are unprepared, what is the purpose of your meeting? I have no problem telling people, "We do not need to meet until these decisions have been determined." Have meetings because you have a problem to solve, not just to meet.

Especially as leaders, and especially when we are always called to do more with less, time management is critical to our success. I encourage you to review this list, consider the ones that you are not currently doing and put a plan in place to make these items happen. Every minute that you sit thinking about whether this will work, is a minute that you could be doing something purposeful and productive!

Kimberly Mitchell, president of InterWeave, focuses companies on behavioral management and servant leadership. Her passion for coaching is contagious and her commitment to her clients will get you performance results. Kimberly can be reached through her blog at http://www.wowperformance.com.

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