Time_Management

Successful Time Management Time: a key resource – opportunities and difficulties Success is a process, a quality of mind and way of being, an outgoing affirmation of life Time is a hard taskmaster. Everyone occasionally experiences problems getting everything done, and doing it all in the time available. For some, such problems seem perpetually to exist to one degree or another; others will admit to having moments when things seem to conspire to prevent work going as planned, and a few to living in a state of permanent chaos. Making it work You can make a difference and such as difference cannot only be worthwhile, it can have a radical effect on both job and career. Make no mistake: the effect of getting to grips with time management can be considerable and varied. It can:-  Affect your efficiency, effectiveness and productivity. This alone makes your attitude to time management very important, for it affects your work day by day, hour by hour, all the time.  Condition the pressure that goes with any job.  Create greater positive visibility. Time management is something that will influence how you are perceived by others within the organization. Good time management is an overriding factor that can differentiate people of otherwise equal talent and ability, making it more likely that some will succeed better in career terms than others. Thus, although it may take some time, getting to grips with your own personal system of time management is immensely important. Time management must be seen as synonymous with self-management; it demands discipline, but discipline reinforces by habit. Good habits help to ensure a well-organized approach to the way you plan and execute your work. And the changing of habits is something that may well be as necessary result of any review of how you work. Making time management work for you is based on two key factors:-  How you plan your time  How you implement the details of what you do The first of these, creates an important foundation upon which you can then build and work. The second consists of a multitude of operational factors, practices, methods and tricks, all of which can individually and positively affect the way in which you work. Perfect time Time management is very much productivity, not least because stress and tiredness dilute effectiveness. It is difficult for an individual to challenge this culture, but is should not be followed slavishly. The ideas of effective time management operate within some definition of the working day, and that will vary for every individual. Just simply adding hours unthinkingly can only achieve so much. The intention here is to show that changing habits and enhancing effectiveness by adopting the right way of working pay dividends. First steps towards effective time management Tomorrow is always the busiest day of the week The individual techniques, idea and tricks of the trade will allow you to make some progress towards an effective and efficient way of working, but only approaching the process on a broad front will lead to sustained practice that will ensure continuing effectiveness. Unless the right attitude is adopted, then time management will never be more than an initial enthusiastic embracing of techniques, which are then allowed rapidly to atrophy. Thus, time management involves not just keeping your paperwork tidy and your desk clear, but a whole way of working that underlies all your actions and interfaces with all facets of your job. There are doubtless many ways of doing this, below four categories you will be able to: 1. Planning This is the prerequisite to all action. Many tasks are involved: research, investigation, analysis and testing amongst others. This area may also involve consultation and ultimately the communication of plans and is, of course, the key to decision making. 2. Implementation Simply stated, doing things whether intangible of which the key one is making decisions or tangible. Specific tasks divide into two parts. First, individual tasks, these are free-standing. They may be major or minor. Second, progressing tasks where a series of closely linked actions contribute cumulatively to achieving an overall result. Moving offices would involve such actions and such things may be more clearly visualized rather than described indeed flowcharts provide a useful and time efficient way of working on them. Tasks in both categories may well need to be linked to planning activity on whatever scale. 3. Monitoring and control Checking may well be necessary to ensure things are being done in the best possible way and bringing the desired results. Checking may by simple, editing the draft of a report or running it through the spellchecker. 4. Communicating and dealing with people This clearly overlaps with the other three categories, but it is inherent in the work of almost everyone. Whether it is briefing them or reporting to them, meetings and other forms of communication with them are an essential part of their work and take up a major part of the time. In all four categories, there will or should by a strong link with objectives and achievement of results. All tasks and all actions should focus on the overall aims and are often of little significance themselves. Effectiveness is measured ultimately by achievement. Time management must not be seen as only concerned with packing more activity into the available time, though this may be part of it; it must be instrumental in ensuring that objectives are met. Plan the work and work the plan Certainly any real progress with time management needs a plan. This must be in writing and must be reviewed and updated regularly; a written plan and a regular check and update. It is thus what is sometimes called a rolling plan. Not only is it updated regularly, it provides a snapshot of your workload ahead at any particular moment. As such it should show accurately and completely your work plan for immediate future, and give an idea of what lies beyond. At it simplest, such a plan is just a list of things to do. It may include:-  A daily plan  A weekly plan  Commitments that occur regularly, weekly or monthly or annually  A plan for the coming month Twenty steps to Successful Time Management 1. Clarify your objectives Put them in writing, then set your priorities, make sure you’re getting what you really want out of life. 2. Focus on objectives Your most important activities are those that help you accomplish your objectives 3. Set a least one major objective each day and achieve it 4. Record a time log periodically to analyze how you use your time, and keep bad time habits out of your life 5. Analyze everything you do in terms of your objectives Find out what you do, when you do it, why you do it. 6. Eliminate at least one time waster from your life each week 7. Plan your time Write out a plan each week, ask what you hope to accomplish by the end of the week and what you will need to do achieve those results 8. Make a to-do list every day Be sure it includes your daily objectives, priorities, and time estimates 9. Schedule your time every day to make sure you accomplish the most important things first 10. Make sure that the first hour of your workday is productive 11. Set time limits for every task you undertake 12. Take the time to do it right the first time 13. Eliminate recurring crises from your life 14. Institute a quiet hour in your day A block of uninterrupted time for your most important tasks 15. Develop the habit of finished that you start Don’t jump from one thing to another, leaving a string of unfinished tasks behind you 16. Conquer procrastination 17. Make better time management a daily habit Set your objectives, clarify your priorities, plan and schedule your time. Do first things first. Resist your impulses to do unscheduled tasks. 18. Never spend time on less important things when you could be spending it on more important things 19. Take time for yourself Time to dream, relax, and live 20. Develop a personal philosophy of time