Time Management 101 - Part Three - Practical Suggestions

In today’s time management post I’d like to offer a few practical suggestions to take with you in your daily life. I’m sure you know these already; but, if you are anything like me, a little reminder wouldn’t hurt!

1. Prioritize. At the end of your day or first thing in the morning, take a few minutes to go over the things you need to do and put them in order of importance.

2. Have everything you need. Make sure you have everything you need before starting your work (or project) so you don’t have to waste time going back and forth looking for or getting what you need.

3. Do first things first. In other words, try and do the most important or least favored thing first. If you get it out of the way early in the day, then you won’t have to worry about getting done.

4. Set time limits. Set a time limit for checking email, answering calls, and/or other projects and stick to it. Use a timer or your time tracking software so you don’t waste more time then what you planned on.

5. Just say no. Yeah, I know how difficult it is to say no; but, you don’t HAVE to do everything someone asks you to do. At the very least, don’t anwer right away. Give yourself some space to decide how you want to respond.

6. Do one thing at a time. It may seem counter-productive (especially in this multi-taking society), but focusing on one task at a time is more productive and actually faster.

7. Ignore the phone and email. You don’t have to answer every email as it comes in or answer the phone every time it rings. Set a specific time once or twice a day to check email and answer phone calls.

8. Delegate. Delegate, delegate, delegate. If you aren’t good at it, not jazzed about it, or don’t HAVE to to it yourself turn it over to your Virtual or other assistant. If you don’t have an assistant, get one.

9. Take a break. Finally, don’t forget to take a break. No matter how busy a person is, we all need some time to recoup and rejuvenate.

In our final segment next week, I want to talk a bit about creating a master schedule and schedules in general. I’ve had several inquiries about about my schedule and what I do all day, so I’ll give a little peek into my normal daily routine.