Time Management: A Platform For Planning
by Julie Peters
If I only had a penny for every time somebody said, "I don’t have enough
time". I’d be so rich, I could buy more time. Problem is, time can’t be
bought. But then why are so many people getting rich off of books and tapes that claim to
show us how to master time management? Its simple...because there is no other subject that
affects so many people today.
In fact, if presidential candidates were really serious about winning, they would develop
time management platforms. Can’t you just hear Clinton now, "We need to increase
spending for the distribution of DayTimers to the people of the United States"? Or,
Dole demanding that "Congress must prioritize their tasks each day during a 15-minute
planning session"? Thousands more voters would turn out each election day to show
support for Effective Time Management! But until the politicians realize that the real
deficit in this country is time, we’ll need to continue our grass roots efforts for
making the most of the time we have.
First Things First, GET REAL
Time management techniques are not going to allow you to do everything that needs to be
done. Face the reality...you won’t be superhuman after you fine-tune your time
management skills. Instead, you’ll be a more productive human being. Doesn’t
sound like much, right? But, we owe it to our families, employers, friends and,
especially, ourselves to use all of our time more wisely.
So, before you get started trying to become more time efficient understand that it’s
your right to live a well-balanced life between work and home. Believe in yourself and
know...You are a valued employee even if you don’t put in more hours than your
coworkers. You are a great parent even if you can’t make it to every soccer game. You
are a worthwhile person even if you won’t always put others before yourself. Do away
with the unnecessary guilt of not living up to expectations. Instead, give yourself the
gift of achieving your goals.
Why would I want to go to Toledo?
You must know what your goals are first. Get into the habit of asking yourself each day
what it is that you hope to accomplish that day. Otherwise, you’ll be ‘driving
to Toledo without a roadmap’ and probably won’t make it on time.
You don’t need to write your goals down unless it helps you. (Also, these daily goals
don’t have to be ‘big picture’ life goals. If you don’t already have a
good idea what your life’s goals are, you should take the time to clearly establish
them. Maybe Toledo really isn’t the destination you want after all! Maybe you really
want to become President and were thrilled to finally find your platform plank!) However,
for the purposes of this article and accomplishing more in less time, you should only
focus in on the goals that will make you satisfied that you were effective come the end of
the day.
The next step of time management almost always involves listing out the tasks that you
have "To Do". This list should be as long as it takes to get everything on the
list.
Making a complete list is only meant to be an exercise toward helping you prioritize your
tasks. If you are going to wind up with a list that stifles you with either dread or
anxiety, perhaps you should skip this step. It’s better to accomplish 5 poorly
prioritized items than to raise your blood pressure and only accomplish 2 tasks!
Others who are not naturally ‘linear’ organizers may want to limit the amount of
time spent creating their list. If you inherently zigzag through your tasks everyday, no
matter how much goal setting, listing and prioritizing you have done, you’ll find an
all encompassing list to be a waste of time. Instead, you may want to maintain a semblance
of a list, but only block 3 of the items into your daily calendar. Then, you’ll have
planned enough time for the unplanned activities you are bound to encounter. Note: the use
of different colored writing instruments, post-it notes and stickers will help engage
zigzaggers into the tasks that need to be accomplished in a day.
So, onto step three. Its time to prioritize. Linear organizers may want to start using Mr.
Franklin’s approach. First, rank each of the tasks from A (most important) to C
(least important). Then, rank each of the items on the A list from 1 (to be done first) on
down through the rest of your A list. Then repeat this with the B’s and C’s. So,
A3 indicates it should be done before A4, and all the A’s should be completed before
you go to any of the B’s.
If you’ll be using this method, you may want to throw a few of your easier, more
enjoyable tasks into your first few slots to add a sense of accomplishment early in your
day. This should help motivate you through the harder tasks you’ll encounter later in
the day.
People with zigzag tendencies find prioritizing to be the most difficult step. If
you’re a zigzagger you KNOW that what you’re working on now is the most
important task and that the next task will become the highest priority next. And so on....
If you find yourself always working on the last thing that popped up, or if you identify
with any loose definition of an "Attention Deficit Disorder Professional",
you’ve just been pegged. If this is the case, you may want to place a low priority on
certain activities that trigger you to get sidetracked. For instance, having your calls
forwarded directly into voicemail and only picking up voicemails and e-mails once or twice
a day may help you complete a task or two before any new ones are identified. Certain
self-righteous linear organizers might view this as work avoidance, but zigzaggers will
use the extra discipline to increase overall work performance. Do whatever it takes to get
the job done!
Unless there’s a deadline looming when you are prioritizing your daily tasks, why
wouldn’t any worker focus in on the tasks that can be accomplished more efficiently
in a given day? For example, if you’re in a more cerebral mood, why not work on a
proposal or do some research that needs to be done? If you’re feeling overwhelmed by
follow-up activities, why not set your sights on completing aging follow-ups rather than
touching any new work?
The secret of effective time management is tied to three truths:
1) Do anything you can do to work smarter
2) Prevent anything that doesn’t need to be done
3) Keep the natural law that says there’s a time for work and a time for play clear
in your mind. Truth #3 is designed to force you to stick to Truths #1 and #2.
Keep it on track.
Of course, we’ll all have to change our priorities during the day. But, if this is
happening more than a couple times a week, we need to reassess our prioritizing skills.
Either we are putting the wrong priorities at the top of our lists, or we are not working
efficiently with the priorities we choose.
If new priorities arise more than a couple times a week, we need to schedule time for
this. A quick daily appointment with "Mr. Dolittle" is anything but, if we
really use the time as a cushion for unexpected projects.
Or, if we are still barely making our deadlines after planning and prioritizing,
we’ll need to allow more time for completing projects. Start allowing 50% more time
than you think you’ll need for everything...drive time, meeting time, writing time,
return phone call time, etc. And force yourself to spend the amount of time you designated
on that project, if at all possible. If you begin altering the amount of time you spend on
a project today, you’ll need to find extra time tomorrow by sacrificing other
projects, or you’ll find yourself doing a less complete job.
Also, don’t forget to place a realistic time value next to each task you place on the
To Do list. I was horrified to learn that traveling professionals that rely upon pay
phones and long distance phone cards should allow about 10-15 minutes per return phone
call. Think about the time spent to locate a phone, dial in for messages, jot down the
messages, redial the caller, wait 1-2 minutes for recipient to pickup/leave a message for
them . . . already you’ve spent 5 minutes and you haven’t even spoken with the
client or obtained any information they might have been requesting! Of course, this
doesn’t include any interruptions, record keeping of phone call, extra research time
for detailed information, busy signals, follow-up phone calls, etc. that might be
required. So be sure to plan more than enough time for each phone call, follow-up item or
mail item you are expected to complete.
Be on the lookout for time bandits...
Every time somebody tries to sneak something onto today’s "To Do" list,
remind yourself that you are a valued, hard-working, caring and effective human being.
Then determine if this is important enough to reschedule Mr. Dolittle this afternoon. If
not, say no, without any guilt or shame. Just practice saying the following words with
complete conviction, "I appreciate that __________ needs to be done. However, my time
is already filled with other priorities. We’ll need to schedule some time next
_________ to work on this. If that is not early enough, perhaps you can handle it on your
own and update me about the resolution via e-mail." If you can’t justify ever
spending the time on that task, don’t allow it onto your schedule today, tomorrow,
next month, ever! Its okay to say no, as long as it’s not your job AND it’s no
more of a priority for your company than your other priorities.
And remember, what would that person have done if you were out-of-town? I’m pretty
sure they wouldn’t be standing at your desk until you took the time to do it.
Ad nauseum.
By mastering these tools in business, in your social life, with carpool requests,
volunteer activities, etc. you’ll become a much more productive and content person.
(And, you’ll probably find that this Saturday your most important goal is not going
to include lamenting about how much further you fell behind at work last week. By
eliminating that low priority, you can allow yourself to take that half hour to take your
partner out for a walk or to call an elderly relative you don’t normally find time
for. When Monday rolls around, you’ll naturally choose to accomplish the tasks that
will directly affect your professional success.)
Finally, you’ll be well on your way toward achieving your life goals. So, you’ll
only have to go to Toledo if you want to. And, you’ll be well on your way to becoming
President, if you want to. As for me, I don’t have time for either. And I say this
without any guilt or shame.
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