Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the relevant copyright, designs

Transcription

1 Apart from ay fair dealig for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted uder the relevat copyright, desigs ad patets acts, this publicatio may oly be reproduced, stored or trasmitted, i ay form or by ay meas, with the prior permissio i writig of the publishers.

2 ... To Maage Your Time Better

3 This page itetioally blak

4 ... To Maage Your Time Better Toy Atherto

5 First published 1999 Apart from ay fair dealig for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted uder the Copyright, Desigs ad Patets Act 1988, this publicatio may oly be reproduced, stored or trasmitted, i ay form or by ay meas, with the prior permissio i writig of the publishers, or i the case of reprographic reproductio i accordace with the terms ad liceces issued by the CLA. Equiries cocerig reproductio outside these terms should be set to the publishers at the udermetioed address: Koga Page Limited 120 Petoville Road Lodo N1 9JN Toy Atherto, 1999 The right of Toy Atherto to be idetified as the author of this work has bee asserted by him i accordace with the Copyright, Desigs ad Patets Act British Library Cataloguig i Publicatio Data A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN Typeset by JS Typesettig, Welligborough, Northats Prited ad boud by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc

6 CONTENTS 1 Beig Effective 1 2 Where Does Your Time Go? 5 Raisig your awareess of time 6; Now decisios: the Maltese Cross dilemma 8; Time log 11; Reactive or proactive 12 3 Thigs Importat to You 13 Goals ad tasks 15; Decidig priorities 19; To Do lists 24; Reactive tasks 25 4 Schedulig 27 Do the As 28; Prime time 28; Diaries ad orgaizers 31 5 Iterruptios 37 Persoal iterruptios 37; Telephoe iterruptios 42 6 Gettig Orgaized 45 Office or work area 45; Commuicatios 48; Meetigs 49; Delegatio 50; Other time robbers 51; Sayig o 52; Coclusio 53 7 Summary 54 The habits 54; Additioal tips 55

7 The 30 Miutes Series The Koga Page 30 Miutes Series has bee devised to give your cofidece a boost whe faced with tacklig a ew skill or challege for the first time. So the ext time you re throw i at the deep ed ad wat to brig your skills up to scratch or pep up your career prospects, tur to the 30 Miutes Series for help! Titles available are: 30 Miutes Before a Meetig 30 Miutes Before a Presetatio 30 Miutes Before Your Job Appraisal 30 Miutes Before Your Job Iterview 30 Miutes To Boost Your Commuicatio skills 30 Miutes To Braistorm Great Ideas 30 Miutes To Deal with Difficult People 30 Miutes To Get Your Ow Way 30 Miutes To Make the Right Decisio 30 Miutes To Make the Right Impressio 30 Miutes To Market Yourself 30 Miutes To Master the Iteret 30 Miutes To Motivate Your Staff 30 Miutes To Pla a Project 30 Miutes To Prepare a Job Applicatio 30 Miutes To Succeed i Busiess Writig 30 Miutes To Write a Busiess Pla 30 Miutes To Write a Marketig Pla 30 Miutes To Write a Report Available from all good booksellers. For further iformatio o the series, please cotact: Koga Page, 120 Petoville Road, Lodo N1 9JN Tel: Fax:

8 Beig Effective 1 BEING EFFECTIVE Life is too short to let eve oe day be frezied or frazzled or frittered away. Life is too short ot to take time to do the thigs that will hold the most meaig for you. Verse o a Hallmark Greetigs Card Time the eteral problem! As a child, you have time to fill ad othig to do, ad as a adult, you have too much to do ad too little time to do it i. Is time maagemet the paacea to this adult problem, or is it just a myth about lists, lists ad more lists? Time maagemet is ot about clock-watchig, or is it about timig everythig to the earest miute eve 30 miutes. I a sese it is ot eve about maagig time it is about maagig yourself. Time maagemet may demad a chage i your attitude towards your life ad work ad the thigs you wat to do. I retur, it will help you to regai cotrol over your 1

9 30 Miutes... To Maage Your Time Better work ad life by recogizig what is really importat ad what is ot, ad by doig the importat thigs istead of the uimportat oes. To use the priciples of time maagemet you eed to kow what the really importat thigs are i your life ad at work ad give them a high priority ad that icludes your home ad family. Of course, other thigs will itrude, but your task is to recogize the itruders you do ot wat ad cotrol them so that they do ot take over. If you ca aswer the followig questios the you are o your way to beig a good time maager. What are the most importat thigs you wat to do: today; this week; this moth? There are a few core time maagemet skills to lear ad master. They are easy to use but it takes perseverace to keep o usig them, day i ad day out, ad tur them ito habits. You may eed to crush old habits ad build these fresh skills ito a ew ad permaet way of workig. Oly the will you reap the beefits i full. As well as the core skills may other suggestios are give i this book. Some will be importat to you ad some ot. Choose accordig to what suits you ad your work. Gradually buildig ew habits is the key to success, but there are three cheerig lessos to lear right ow: You are ot aloe. Surveys repeatedly show that employees are workig loger ad loger ad wat to break from this habit. 2

10 Beig Effective You caot do everythig. If you do the importat thigs they will ot worry too much about the uimportat oes, ad either should you. Feelig more i cotrol reduces stress. These habits will put you back i cotrol. How much more effective will you be? To estimate how well you maage your time ow, try the quiz below. The, after usig the priciples outlied i this book for about a moth, do the quiz agai. It does ot matter much what you score the first time aroud but you should fid that your score icreases by 10 to 20 poits after a moth. The average icrease is about 15. However approximate the measure, it is a very sigificat result. Time Maagemet Quiz Rate yourself, from 0 (poor) to 5 (excellet): 1 I am absolutely clear about what is importat to me. 2 I have clear goals at work, i lie with my performace objectives. 3 I prioritize all my work goals. 4 I feel i cotrol of evets at work. 5 I use a few miutes to pla each week ad day. 6 I stick to the importat tasks throughout the workig day. 7 I recogize tasks that are ot really importat, eve whe they are urget. 8 I force myself to make time for the importat thigs. 9 I ofte say o to tasks that are ot really importat, or ot really my job. 3

11 4 30 Miutes... To Maage Your Time Better 10 I recogize trivia, ad deal with it quickly ad effectively. 11 I cotrol iterruptios, icludig telephoe calls, really well. 12 My work area/office is well orgaized, I fid thigs whe I wat them. 13 There is harmoy betwee my private life ad ambitios ad my work. 14 I do ot forget commitmets I have made, ad I complete them. 15 Whe I commit time to somethig, I kow it will be available. 16 My diary/orgaizer, whether paper or electroic, is idispesable to me. 17 I get home at a sesible time ad oly take work home if I choose to. 18 I keep my stress to a maageable level. 19 I have quite precise defiitios of key thigs I wat to achieve. 20 I prioritize the day s tasks every day. Total (out of 100): Now: After oe moth: Improvig your persoal effectiveess by usig time maagemet techiques is ot difficult but it does eed teacity. Some people have likeed it to losig weight: you kow what to do make a permaet chage to your diet but will you do it? It is the same with time maagemet. This book will tell you what to do. Your challege is to make the permaet chages to the way you work, little by little, over the ext few weeks. Be firm with yourself ad build these ew habits, startig ow. To choose time is to save time. (Fracis Baco)

12 Where Does Your Time Go? 2 WHERE DOES YOUR TIME GO? There are 168 hours i every week but some weeks it feels as if we have bee short-chaged. Where did the time go? What have I doe today? These are familiar questios to millios of people. The aswers revolve aroud five thigs you ca do. We will look at how to do them i the rest of the book. The five thigs are: 1 Develop your awareess of the importace of your time ad how you use it. 2 Kow what the really importat thigs are that you wat to do, i your private life ad at work. 3 Give those thigs a high priority ad mea it. 4 Esure that your priorities get the time they eed, while beig pleasat ad helpful to others ad playig your full role i the team. 5

13 30 Miutes... To Maage Your Time Better 5 Recogize what ad who steal your time ad deal with them pleasatly but effectively. Diaries ad orgaizers are importat, vital for may people, but ot as importat as your attitude to makig good use of your time. Without a attitude of carig about, ad beig aware of your use of time, o diary will solve your problems. 6 Raisig your awareess of time The first step to developig awareess of the importace of your time is to kow where time goes. Kowig this is also the first step to cotrollig it better. Despite the sayig time is moey, time is ot moey. You ca usually ear more moey ad sped less if you really wat to. With time, you caot ear more ad you caot use less. It comes ad goes at the same old rate, whatever you do. Try thikig about a 24-hour day as havig four classes of time (see Figure 2.1). Some activities could aturally fall uder more tha oe classificatio. That does ot matter. For may people it is the competitio betwee work time ad the others that is the problem that has to be solved. Classificatios of the 24-hour day Health time: the time you eed to keep yourself healthy sleepig, eatig, restig, exercisig, spiritual time. Work time: the time you sell or give to other people your employmet, charity work, scouts, guides ad so o. Family time: the time you devote to your family ad home.

14 Where Does Your Time Go? Recreatio Family Work Health Figure 2.1 Classificatios of time: the 24-hour day Recreatio time: the time you use as you wish, by yourself or with others, for recreatio, relaxatio sports, televisio, readig, etc. May people feel pressured ito spedig more time at work, sometimes to the isae level of competig with oe aother to see who ca stay the logest. Quite simply, more time at work meas less time for health, family ad recreatio. This problem ofte starts with creepig assaults o your recreatio ad family times. They shrik. You get home later or leave earlier i the morig. Is this wrog? That is up to you. Do you really wat to sped less time with your family ad frieds ad more time at work? Or is ow the time to ask yourself: What do I really wat to do? As work takes up ever more hours, evetually your health time is attacked. You skip luch or eat a sadwich at your desk. You skip breaks. You lose sleep. Your work suffers ad evetually your health suffers. Now it is serious. Cotiue like this ad you could be o the way to a heart attack, a metal breakdow or a divorce or eve all three. It happes to real people like you. 7

15 30 Miutes... To Maage Your Time Better Has there ever bee a deathbed cofessio that said: I should have spet more time at work? Of course, work pressures are real. You have to ear a livig. You have bills to pay ad a mortgage. Less pressured jobs are ot easy to fid. To regai cotrol you must decide, give your circumstaces, to be more aware of how much time should be devoted to your health, family, work ad recreatio. Cosider this carefully. Do you work a lot of upaid overtime every week? What has happeed to your life? What are your real priorities? Surveys suggest that some maagers work at least 15 hours a week more tha their cotract requires. That is equivalet to a extra two days a week. What would your boss say if you gave a customer a extra 40 per cet free every week? Now decisios: the Maltese Cross dilemma Time maagemet is about improvig effectiveess by doig the right thigs the importat thigs at the right time ad at the expese of the uimportat. It is ot ormally about improvig efficiecy. That ca be a later, separate task. There is little poit i beig super-efficiet if you are doig the wrog thigs i the first place. Every day we make iumerable decisios about what to do ext, that is, what to do ow. Success higes o our ability to put the importat thigs first o most of those 8

16 Where Does Your Time Go? Reactive evets/ crises Routie chores/ tasks NOW Time robbers Proactive plaed tasks Figure 2.2 The Maltese Cross dilemma: the demads o your time dozes or hudreds of occasios every day whe we decide what to do ow. We ca pla for the future, we ca remiisce about the past, but we make decisios ow. At work, four broad types of evets compete for your attetio at that momet called ow. These are represeted as a Maltese Cross i Figure 2.2. Cotrol these whe decidig what to do ow ad you will ot eed to do a extra 15 hours of upaid overtime every week. Proactive plaed tasks are the importat thigs you pla to do. They should stem from your work ad persoal goals, or objectives, or whatever you wat to call them. These tasks move you or the compay forward. 9

17 30 Miutes... To Maage Your Time Better Routie chores ad tasks that will oly take a few miutes ad ow might be a good time to do them. Doig them will ever move you forward but igorig them will hold you back. They are chores, like filig, ad they ca gobble up time if you are ot careful. Reactive evets, mii-crises happe all aroud you every day. You could led a had right ow. They are ot your resposibility but you like to help. Time robbers ambush you. Someoe tells you about his or her holiday, or you eed to ask someoe, agai, to show you how to do a tricky job. Why is there ever eough time for the importat plaed evets? You kow why it is because you sped too much time o the other three arms of the Maltese Cross. Every hour spet doig the chores, or showig you are very helpful, or listeig to gossip is a hour less for the importat thigs. Of course there must be some time for these other thigs. Chores must be doe. You eed to be co-operative. Workig without social iteractio would be ubearable. Do these thigs but raise your awareess of the importace of your time ad lear to cotrol the time give to less importat thigs. Or cotiue workig a extra 15 hours of upaid overtime every week. The choice is yours. Remember, it is achievig your goals the importat thigs that really matter that determies your achievemets, career progress ad how much time you sped at work, ot chit-chat ad chores. Eve whe achievig your goals you should devote time to the most importat oes. You may have to compromise lesser goals to make time for the major oes. 10

18 Where Does Your Time Go? Spedig too much time o less importat thigs = Workig late to catch up o more importat oes. Time log So where does your time go? Estimate or measure it agaist the four arms of the Maltese Cross. It is ot excitig but the rewards are worth the effort. Try loggig your time for a period. The results could surprise you ad at least you will have accurate iformatio o which to base some decisios. Tips Overcome differeces betwee days ad weeks by loggig your time for Moday of oe week, Tuesday of the ext, ad so o. Use classificatios that are importat to you, maybe the four arms of the Maltese Cross, or the four segmets of the 24-hour cycle i Figure 2.1, or iterruptios/ telephoe calls/meetigs/tasks, etc. Do ot estimate times at the ed of the day, you will be more accurate if you make otes every half-hour or hour through the day. You may be surprised, eve shocked, at what you discover. Oce you have your facts, you ca examie them critically ad decide what you eed to chage. This book will give you plety of ideas about how to chage, but oly you ca decide what to chage. 11

19 30 Miutes... To Maage Your Time Better Reactive or proactive Every job demads that we react to evets aroud us (the evets ad crises i the Maltese Cross) but employers expect us to shape evets as well, to be proactive. Oly oe arm of the Maltese Cross is devoted to proactive tasks. To be more proactive ad less reactive you eed to sped more time o the plaed activities ad less o reactig to evets, time robbers, routie tasks ad chores. Be more proactive i how you use your time. How proactive are you ow? O the scale show i Figure 2.3, mark where you feel you are at preset betwee beig totally proactive ad totally reactive. The mark where you would like to be. It is early always more to the right. That is your target. Make the shift i the ext moth, two at the most. 4 6 Now Target Reactive 10 Proactive Figure 2.3 Proactive versus reactive 12

20 Thigs Importat to You 3 THINGS IMPORTANT TO YOU For may people the demads of work thwart private ambitios. You have wated to climb a moutai i Africa, or do a log-distace walk, but you have ot had the time. Importat jobs at work are rushed because there is o time. The truth is that you have had the time, 168 hours a week just like everyoe else. You have simply give higher priority to other thigs. If other thigs take over from private ambitios or work objectives the a plaig techique that puts importat thigs i their rightful place will be useful. Either that or forget them. Of the four arms of the Maltese Cross (Figure 2.2, page 9) the oe that brigs the richest rewards is that for proactive plaed tasks. Good plaig followed by good actio should eable you to do more of the thigs that are importat to you. 13

21 30 Miutes... To Maage Your Time Better I reality however, your success depeds o how you decide what you will do ow. Most people are easily blow by the wid of evets ito doig whatever seems to be expected of them by others or by what seems urget, eve if ot particularly importat. They may have a to do list or use yesterday s list, but it gets scat attetio after the first few momets because it is evets that dictate their day. At the ed of the day they are left woderig, What have I achieved today? It is trite, but plaig begis by decidig what is importat. Whe Joh F Keedy aouced that the Uited States was goig to put a ma o the moo ad brig him back safely to earth by the ed of 1969, he laid a goal before the US people ad US idustry. That goal had two importat aspects: it specified what was to be doe ad it specified whe it had to be completed. You eed both of these, the what ad the whe, i your ow plaig. Plaig is a straightforward process, but it eeds to become a habit: Decide what is importat to you, your goals. Prioritize these goals ad set sesible deadlies. Break dow each goal ito subordiate tasks, with deadlies. Schedule those tasks to specific moths. Write a ew to do list every day or week, icludig: proactive items from the moth s tasks (from your importat goals); other tasks or chores that must be doe. 14

22 Thigs Importat to You Start each day with two or three miutes plaig time. Schedule your week ad day, allowig spare time to react to some uexpected evets ad crises. Goals ad tasks Goals are those importat thigs you wat to achieve, whether at work or i your private life. They are the thigs that move you ad the compay forward rather tha simply prevet you from slippig back. They are almost certaily too big for you to just go out ad do them there ad the. They will eed to be broke dow ito their parts (the tasks) ad you eed to decide whe you are goig to do those tasks the week or moth will probably do at this stage. Example: Suppose you wat to make a will It is ulikely that you could simply sit dow ad write a will that would meet ay legal problems that might arise. You may decide to use a solicitor ad for that you will eed a appoitmet. You may also wat to discuss your will with your spouse, maybe with other people as well. Perhaps you wat to cosider various people s feeligs ad setimets towards some of your possessios. All of these tasks take time ad thought. So it is with all goals. May people fid private goals harder to achieve tha work goals. At work, if you make o progress, someoe is likely to push you by askig awkward questios. I your 15

23 30 Miutes... To Maage Your Time Better private life you have to push yourself. A good plaig method will serve to pressure you ito achievig your private goals. Do t like goals Quite a lot of people do ot like the cocept of goals. They see them as beig overly orgaized or restrictig spotaeity. While that ca be true it is usually a miscoceptio. If you do ot like goals call them somethig else. A goal is simply oe of those thigs that you really wat to do. I the words of the poem at the begiig of Chapter 1, they are the thigs that will hold the most meaig for you. But give them a deadlie or they may ever happe. Your goals What were you doig five years ago? What job did you have? Who were your frieds? What was work like the? What was life like the? Does it really seem like five years have passed? What have you achieved sice the? Five years from ow, what will you have achieved? That is where your goals come i. Thik ahead usig the four questios which follow. Braistorm the aswers. Write them dow i four groups without (at the momet) judgig how practical you thik they are. Judge that later. 1 I your private life: what are the really importat thigs you wat to achieve i the ext few years? 2 I your career: what are the really importat thigs you wat to achieve i the ext few years? 16

24 Thigs Importat to You 3 I your private life: what are the really importat thigs you wat to achieve i the ext few moths? 4 At work: what are the really importat thigs you wat to achieve i the ext few moths? Now brig judgemet ito play. Do you really mea these thigs? Will you commit the time to achieve them? If there are ay that you are ot committed to, cross them off ow. The combie the lists ad decide the priorities. Select your top priorities ad keep this list somewhere safe, preferably i your diary or orgaizer. Key Habit: Kow what you wat to do your goals ad pla how ad whe to do them. Split your goals ito tasks Treat your most importat goal as you would a work project. (Later, do this for your other goals.) Defie the goal more specifically if that will help. Decide whe you wat it to be completed. Be precise. Break dow each goal ito the tasks or steps that are eeded to complete it. Arrage the tasks i the sequece i which they will have to be doe. Give each task a deadlie, just the moth might do for ow. 17

25 30 Miutes... To Maage Your Time Better Example: Cycle to Spai Goal: For the fu of it, to cycle from the orth coast of Frace to Spai ad retur by ferry, ext October (assume it is ow April). Tasks: Telephoe doctor to arrage a medical: Tomorrow Pla a fitess programme, visit gym to seek advice: Saturday Buy good maps of Frace ad Norther Spai: Saturday Get ferry timetables from travel aget: Saturday Start cyclig fitess programme: Suday Targets: May: 15 miles per ride Jue: 25 miles per ride July: 35 miles per ride August: 50 miles per ride September: 70 miles per ride Lear cycle maiteace from a fried: May Calculate time eeded, icludig rest days; book leave, book ferries: May Start gym fitess programme: ed May Pla route; get details of small hotels i Frace ad Spai: Jue Decide o kit eeded; buy kit: Jue Have bike checked out; buy spares: September GO! October 18

26 Thigs Importat to You Example: Improve swimmig ad fitess, ad sped more time with my childre Aim: To swim 24 cotiuous legths by this time ext year. Pla: Swim each week, Tuesday eveigs, ad take childre with me as a family outig. Get them to ecourage ad challege me. (Buy them a treat at the ed of each moth if I meet my target.) Tomorrow: Telephoe leisure cetre to ask about swimmig classes. Book as appropriate. Moth 1: complete two cotiuous legths. Moth 2: complete four cotiuous legths. Moth 3: complete six cotiuous legths, etc. Moth 12: complete 24 cotiuous legths. Decidig priorities Decidig priorities is oe of the key habits to build. Too ofte we simply assume that everythig has the same priority, but that is ot the case. People say, Everythig is importat. That may be true but they are ot of equal importace. Also, we easily give too much time to thigs simply because they are urget, or because someoe shouts loudly, ot because they are importat. So ofte, urget matters, 19

27 30 Miutes... To Maage Your Time Better that i the great scheme of thigs are ot particularly importat, take over from thigs that really matter but ca wait util tomorrow, except that tomorrow may ever come. Jugglig urget ad importat It is vital to recogize that there are scales of importace ad urgecy. Some tasks are importat ad some are ot. Some tasks are urget ad some are ot. The sese of urgecy, with its demads for immediate actio, distorts the impressio of importace ad leads us to give too much time to thigs simply because they are urget. For example, if you are ruig out of petrol the it is urget that you fill up, but it is ot importat which fillig statio you use. Drivig a extra 10 miles to get loyalty poits is foolish ad wastes time, especially if you ru out of petrol e route. The fact that somethig is urget tells you othig about its importace. Keep the two cocepts separate. Whe judgig priorities cosider both importace ad urgecy: Importat ad urget: it must be doe ad you will beefit from its completio. Do it ow ad give it the time it deserves. Urget but low importace: is it importat to someoe else? Does that chage your view? Is it really someoe else s problem? Do it soo but sped as little time o it as possible. Should you delegate it if you ca? 20

28 Thigs Importat to You Importat but ot urget: ideal! This is what your life ad work is really for. Pla whe to do it ad give it as much uhurried time as appropriate. Low importace ad ot urget: does it really have to be doe? Who says so? Why sped time o it that could be better spet o somethig that is importat? If there is o satisfactory aswer, do ot do it. If you still feel it ought to be doe, delay it util oe of those days whe othig seems to go right. I the box which follows, there are some examples of the differeces. Importat ad urget A uexpected visit from a major customer. Sortig out a productio problem. Your child has bee take sick at school ad you are eeded. Urget but low importace A uexpected visit from a sales perso from a mior supplier. A member of your staff is askig for leave tomorrow. A routie meetig. Importat but ot urget Prevetig productio problems i the future. Your child wats you to teach her to play chess. Your busiess or budget pla for ext year. 21

29 30 Miutes... To Maage Your Time Better Low importace ad ot urget Strivig for the fial bit of perfectio i a report you have writte. Idle chit-chat ad gossip. Improvig a spreadsheet that works well eough. The 80:20 rule It is geerally true that your most importat achievemets do ot take up most of your time. The 80:20 rule suggests that somethig like 20 per cet of what you do produces aroud 80 per cet of your really importat results. If you ca idetify the thigs that are really importat ad give them more time the you ca hope to achieve more. The rule applies to all sorts of activities: 80 per cet of sales come from 20 per cet of your customers; 80 per cet of your fu is from time spet with 20 per cet of your frieds; 80 per cet of your problems come from 20 per cet of your staff, or customers, or machies. I reality, the ratio may be 70:30 or 60:40 for you, but thik how this geeric rule applies i your life ad work. Use it to help you to determie your priorities better: Which 20 per cet of your sites, machies, staff, customers or suppliers give you 80 per cet of your problems? Would extra time spet attedig to them ow pay divideds for the future? 22

30 Thigs Importat to You Which 20 per cet of your tasks achieve 80 per cet of your results? Which 20 per cet of your time at home builds your family life the most? ABC priorities It is helpful to have a method of assigig priorities. A simple but very effective ad very widely used method is to prioritize tasks accordig to three levels. These three levels might be thigs that you must do, should do, or could do. Ofte they are simply called A, B ad C. Key Habit: Prioritizig A = must do, highest priority, those thigs of greatest importace to you. B = should do, medium priority. C = could do, low priority, the ice to do s. Thik about your A priority tasks. These will come from your proactive plaed goals, from routie tasks or chores ad from reactig to evets aroud you. Decide which is the most importat of all ad call this your A1 task. The ext most importat is your A2, ad so o. Do ot fool yourself with ay osese about them all beig A1s. These are all As, they are all importat but they are ot all A1s. They ever have bee ad ever will be. The B ad C tasks ca simply be left as Bs ad Cs. Numberig them is a waste of time. You will rarely have time to fiish all your As let aloe worry about the Bs. If you do, the you ca reprioritize them as As. 23

31 30 Miutes... To Maage Your Time Better 24 To Do lists To Do lists have bee called all the ames uder the su, from the most commo factor betwee successful people to shoppig lists that ever get used. Used well ad itelligetly, they are the simplest ad greatest help to gaiig cotrol ad doig the importat thigs. Despite the mythology that has bee built up aroud them, To Do lists are simple thigs. Istead of tryig to remember everythig you wat to do today or this week, simply write them all dow, prioritize them ad tick thigs off as you complete them. That is a To Do list. Although they strike some people as a ovelty, it is a fair bet that the first To Do lists were writte i cueiform by Sumerias about 5,000 years ago, soo after writig was iveted. If a archaeologist ever digs oe up, I would expect to see that the C tasks had ot bee completed! The writte To Do list is the key to turig plaig ito achievig. Depedig o the ature of your job you should use either a daily list or a weekly oe but I prefer a daily oe, if possible. May people use a To Do list but do ot get the best advatage from it. Some hold their list i their head, ofte forgettig items o it, while others keep a writte list to which they add ew items every day so that the list grows ad grows. To use a To Do list well: Make a ew list at the start of every day or week. Iclude oe or more tasks from your persoal goals o every list. Write the list i the same place each time, ideally i your diary.

32 Thigs Importat to You Rigorously prioritize it ito As, Bs ad Cs. Use it to drive what you do. Start with the most importat item, A1, the the A2 ad so o. Do ot expect to complete everythig o it. Tick off ü items as they are completed, or cross them off û or carry them forward (c/f) to a future list tomorrow or ext week. Accout for every item o your previous list: ticked, crossed, or carried forward. Uaccouted items may get forgotte. Key Habit: Use a ew, writte ad prioritized To Do list each day or week. Use it to drive what you do. Reactive tasks If somethig ew arises durig the day, as it surely will, add it to your To Do list ad judge its priority hoestly agaist the other items already there. Do ot make it the A1 simply because it is ew or excitig or because someoe says it is urget. If it geuiely is the ew A1, treat it as such. If it is ot, prioritize it accordigly. 25

33 30 Miutes... To Maage Your Time Better Table 3.1 Example of a To Do list Priority Task Actio A3 Telephoe Neil cotract ü C Phoe Jey fees û B See Hele ew staff c/f A4 Fialize ABC report ü A2 Submit mothly budget ü A1 Call travel aget holiday ü A5 Get Hele a ew bike pump c/f C Clear store cupboard c/f B See Ala his traiig c/f Oe maager, tired of keepig his To Do lists o bits of paper, decided to type them ito his word processor. Daily the list grew as ew items were added faster tha old oes were deleted. Whe the list had grow to five closetyped A4 pages he decided there must be a better way. Each day had added a further idictmet to the fact that he was failig to do the thigs he wated to do. 26

34 Schedulig 4 SCHEDULING How much you eed to schedule your time will deped o the type of work you do ad oly you ca decide. If you have may appoitmets ad meetigs, which differ from day to day, the you will eed to schedule carefully. If your days follow a fairly fixed routie the your eed to schedule carefully will be lower. Whatever level of detail you eed, oe thig is certai: there is o poit i plaig a schedule for every miute of the day. Keep your schedule flexible as you will always eed some time for the uexpected. Try to achieve a balace betwee your To Do list ad your schedule. For example, there is o poit i havig a log To Do list if the day is filled ed-to-ed with meetigs. If most of your time is committed to appoitmets ad meetigs the it is probably better to thik of your To Do list as beig for tomorrow, ot today. Aythig you do today will be a bous. 27

35 30 Miutes... To Maage Your Time Better Tip Whe writig items i your schedule, block them off from the start time to the expected fiish time. Try to avoid acceptig commitmets to meetigs that are ope-eded. Always ask for the fiish time. Do the As After writig your To Do list always start the day with your A1, as you have just decided that it is your highest priority. We early all have a tedecy to start with a C because, It will oly take a momet. Ofte those momets tur ito half-hours. If you thik about it, startig with the trivia really is a ridiculous way to work. It is perfectly ormal ot to have time to do the Bs ad Cs. If they ever become As, they will get doe. Key Habit: Start with the A1. 28 Prime time Busy schedules make it difficult to fid time eve for the As. A-tasks usually eed legthy periods of cocetratio if they are to be achieved well. Your A1 may eed a couple of hours of effort, maybe a lot more. Givig it five miutes here ad five miutes there is ot a effective way of tacklig it. It eeds a cocetrated period, yet most days at work ca be cosumed by iterruptios, telephoe calls, people droppig i, the i-tray, appoitmets, meetigs ad so o.

36 Schedulig Meetigs, appoitmets, reactive tasks or aythig from the three reactive arms of the Maltese Cross ca fill your schedule ad make it impossible to give time to the proactive tasks that move you forward. It is vital, therefore, that you reserve time for these A-tasks. People have differet ames for this time: prime time, A time, red time. Whatever you call it, it is essetial that you have it ad protect it. Schedule this prime time ito your diary. The if ayoe rigs to check if you are free you have a block i your diary that will force you to stop ad thik. Which is more importat, that you sped time o your A1 or that you give this time to the caller? As we seem to regard meetigs as a protected species try to regard your prime time as a meetig with your A1. Schedule it as you would ay other importat meetig ad give it the protectio it deserves. A simple slash across a hour or two i your schedule will work woders for your productivity. Key Habit: Schedule prime time ito your diary as a meetig with your A1. If a certai time of day is whe you perform best the make it prime time wheever you ca. C tasks You will always have lots of C-tasks, life is full of them, uimportat thigs that masquerade as importat ad clutter up your time. Do ot be fooled. Life is too importat 29

37 30 Miutes... To Maage Your Time Better to do Cs. However, Cs are seaky thigs, chagig ito As whe your back is tured. Apply the 80:20 rule: 20 per cet of C-tasks will have to be doe, ow or later. They will become problems if igored. Pla whe to do them. 80 per cet of C-tasks do ot have to be doe. Forget them. Idetify repetitive C-tasks ad elimiate them from your work. A bak elimiated two repetitive C-tasks. They stopped returig cheques whe customers made small mistakes: 1) The words ad umbers did ot quite match; ad 2) Early i the New Year whe customers wrote the previous year s date. A retail chai elimiated C-grade maagemet forms. A service compay elimiated mothly statistical aalyses for small customers whe it foud that they did ot uderstad them. It set short writte reports istead. A ew maager chaged from mothly to quarterly reports oce his seior maagers trusted his judgemet. Routie chores ad tasks Oe arm of the Maltese Cross was dedicated to routie chores ad tasks, thigs which will ot move you forward 30

38 Schedulig but will hold you back if igored. Decide if they must be doe at all ad which are geuiely yours. Would it be fair to ask someoe else to do them? Either pla them i a little each day, but stay flexible, or devote a specific time to them each week, such as Wedesday afteroos or wheever. Keep a sese of proportio. Do them whe you are feelig least effective or most tired. Diaries ad orgaizers Good time maagemet takes place i the mid, ot i a diary. Nevertheless, a good diary or orgaizer is probably the most useful tool you ca employ to help you to maage yourself well. There are so may diaries, orgaizers ad software programs available today that the choice ca be cofusig. While your choice must suit you ad the type of work you do, a umber of thigs are vital. I order of priority: A1 Daily or weekly To Do lists ad schedules. A2 A large space each day for otes. A3 Somewhere for ames, addresses ad telephoe umbers. A4 Decidig if you eed a portable or desk system. B Usig oly oe system. This is ot always possible but the less time spet copyig from oe system to aother, the better. B Recordig your log-term goals ad their tasks, with deadlies. Most of these requiremets ca be met by most of the systems ow o offer. These iclude: 31

39 30 Miutes... To Maage Your Time Better A simple diary from a High Street shop plus a good otebook. A paper-based orgaizer from a time maagemet compay. Some major stores ow offer their ow versios. A pocket-sized electroic orgaizer plus a good otebook. A fully etworked desktop or laptop computer. The essetial questio is: What do you eed? Not, what is o offer? Your otes Get ito the habit of writig most of your otes either i oe otebook or o the ote pages of your orgaizer. Iclude all otes except those recorded i subject or customer files. Record otes of telephoe calls, messages, prices, commets, promises, etc. Aythig you would have oce jotted dow o a piece of scrap paper, which would have bee lost, should go oto these ote pages. This way, otes will ever get lost ad will always be available to you if you eed them i the future. The ote pages ca be electroic but may people still prefer paper, ofte a hardcover otebook or Day Book if your diary does ot provide suitable pages. Key Habit: Write all otes i a otebook or i your diary. Never agai use scraps of paper for otes. 32

40 Schedulig Tips Tur your otes ito a ivaluable referece documet. Oce a moth make a brief idex of the importat otes ad keep these idexes for future referece. Cross referece items to other pages by usig the dates, eg See 7 March. Use this cross-referece system i your schedule ad To Do lists as well. Expad your cross-referece system to your ad other systems, eg See EM 7 March. Example (Notes page for 7 Jauary) Nigel telephoed. Meetig o 4 Feb his office Frech cotract am. Brig copy of cotract ad Ferguso cotract for compariso. ( for 8 Jauary) Nigel seds a message askig you to brig the Chambers cotract to the meetig o 4 Feb as well as the Ferguso cotract. (Schedule for 4 February) am. Meet Nigel. See ote 7 Ja. See EM 8 Ja. Paper, electroic or computer What type of orgaizer should you use: paper, electroic or computer? The choice has to be yours uless your 33

41 30 Miutes... To Maage Your Time Better compay imposes a stadard system. Noe will suit everyoe as they all have advatages ad disadvatages. Paper-based orgaizers Advatages: easy to use; ca draw sketches, diagrams, maps, as well as write text o the otes page; ca puch memos, letters, maps, directios, appoitmet cards, etc ad put ito the rig system at the right date; moth or week at-a-glace pages; difficult for others to book appoitmets without your agreemet; always available, o power requiremets. Disadvatages: may eed A5 versio if a serious user; ca become bulky ad take up a lot of space i a briefcase; aual refills are fairly expesive; difficult to share iformatio about appoitmets with others, such as colleagues or a secretary. Electroic orgaizers Advatages: portable, take up little room i a briefcase or bag; caledar usually exteds may years; o aual refill costs; 34

42 Schedulig ca exchage iformatio with a persoal computer; aiversaries ad regular appoitmets ca be scheduled automatically weekly, mothly or aually. Disadvatages: slight dager of losig all iformatio through battery failure if user is too casual; typig is awkward; may prefer to write otes i a otebook; difficult to read i some lightig coditios; caot puch papers ad iclude ito orgaizer; difficult or impossible to iput sketches, diagrams, midmaps, etc. Computer orgaizers Advatages: easy to exchage appoitmets with others via your etwork; ca check others schedules whe tryig to arrage meetigs; ca exchage iformatio with a electroic orgaizer; vast memory available; caledar exteds may years; o aual refill costs; fully itegrated with other office software such as e- mail ad word processig. Disadvatages: ot portable if o a desktop machie, bulky if o a laptop; 35

43 30 Miutes... To Maage Your Time Better others ca check your schedule whe they wat to arrage a meetig. Makes it easier for others to gai access to your time; may prefer a paper otebook for the otes page; likely to have to buy updated versios every few years; likely to use a separate diary because you will ot always have the computer with you. Choose the system that suits you. Try it for at least a moth before possibly tryig somethig else but do ot keep hoppig from oe to aother. Fid oe that works for you ad stick with it. 36

44 Iterruptios 5 INTERRUPTIONS Iterruptios are part of workig life but they ca play havoc with your work uless you lear to cotrol them. Rosemary Stewart, a researcher, foud that typical maagers were iterrupted up to 60 times a day (a average of oce every eight miutes) ad some suffered much more tha that. Most of those iterruptios could have waited a hour. Persoal iterruptios Iteractig with other people is a essetial part of ay work, both from a compay commuicatios viewpoit ad from a social viewpoit. If o oe eeds to commuicate with you, you will ot have a job. However, if you sped too much time commuicatig, especially socializig, you will fail i your job ad lose it. Somehow you eed to tread a middle path which leaves you i cotrol. This suggests cotrollig two thigs: 1) Whe iterruptios are acceptable; ad 2) How log they last. 37

45 30 Miutes... To Maage Your Time Better Key Habit: Cotrol iterruptios, especially uwated oes. Acceptable times Persoal iterruptios occur whe someoe approaches you, pops his or her head roud the door ad asks somethig like Have you got a miute? That usually traslates ito Have you got half a hour? Beig available ad accessible to others is essetial, but ot all the time. May people pride themselves o havig a ope door. That is a sesible ad oble way of maagig except that sometimes, ad for legthy periods, the door must be closed so that you ca make progress o your A1 task i your prime time. Beig permaetly available to others so that they ca iterrupt you wheever they feel like it is to totally surreder the maagemet of your time. If you have a office with a door, remember that the door has higes. Use them. Ca you imagie a doctor or a detist who could be iterrupted at ay time for somethig other tha a emergecy? Somehow you eed to be able to sigal to others that, at the momet, you are ot available so please do ot disturb. This is your prime time. How you make that sigal will deped o the job ad support you have. Not everyoe has a secretary to repel boarders, or eve a door they ca close. Possible do ot disturb sigals: a secretary to block access to you ad to take messages; surgery hours; a closed door; 38

46 Iterruptios a Do Not Disturb or Prime Time sig o your door or desk; a hat, such as a red cap, or ear muffs to sigal do ot disturb. Some compaies have official Do Not Disturb sigals, especially i ope pla offices. Oe that has bee copied more tha oce is to use red baseball caps. They ca be wor for up to two hours at a time to sigal prime time. Of course, to be effective, sigals must be uderstood. You will eed to tell others what you are doig ad why, ad ecourage them to do the same. Tip If you do ot have a secretary, ask earby colleagues to take messages for you durig your prime time. Do the same for them. Do ot try to elimiate iterruptios; cotrol them. The secret to cotrol is determiatio. Remember what you are really there to achieve. Treat your time as the precious resource it is, while beig geerous i givig it to others whe appropriate. 39

47 30 Miutes... To Maage Your Time Better Have you got a miute? Of course you will still be iterrupted, but ot as ofte as previously. Whe someoe does ask Have you got a miute? ad you are pressed for time, what ca you do? Oe widely recommeded solutio, that works, is to say somethig like this: I m very pressed for time just ow because I m doig... which has a deadlie of... If it s really importat that we talk ow I ca spare you five miutes. After that, if it eeds loger we ca decide o a time to cotiue. The advatages of this techique are: it accepts that the iterruptio is importat to the perso makig it; it sets their expectatios by tellig them about your importat task ad deadlie; it sets a time limit; a lot ca be achieved i five miutes if you get o with it; oce you kow more you ca decide whether to exted the time limit ow or later; maybe this is your ew A1, maybe ot; it is hoest ad direct ad much better tha ay amout of so-called clever techiques to put people off. Edig iterruptios We have all had times whe we have wished that a visitor would iterrupt us ad provide some light relief. Equally we have had times whe we wated people to leave ad 40

48 Iterruptios let us get o with our work. How ca you politely persuade someoe to leave? How do you ed a meetig, tactfully? You may have come across several techiques but the simplest ad most useful is the old-fashioed hoest ad direct approach: Tom, I am sorry but I m goig to have to ed our chat. I have a lot o ad several deadlies to meet. We ve covered everythig ayway but if you really thik more time is ecessary perhaps we ca fix aother time. If you agree that more time is eeded schedule it ito your diary, otherwise get o with your ext task. Tips Set your visitor s expectatios at the start by sayig you oly have a few miutes. Sit o the edge of your desk or stad beside it. Glace at the clock or your watch. Suggest you cotiue at aother time. If desperate, gather your papers ad leave. Come back i a few miutes i the hope that they have goe. Prevetio If you kow that certai people are a problem: Fid out why they do it. Solve the root problem ad the uecessary iterruptios will stop. Log their visits ad accumulate the facts: dates, times ad reasos. Later sit dow with them, explai why their iterruptios are sometimes a problem ad discuss how to solve that problem. 41

49 30 Miutes... To Maage Your Time Better Meet at their workplace istead. You gai cotrol because you leave, ot them. Hide As a last resort pick up your work ad go ad hide i a coferece room or meetig room. However, always be sure that a trusted colleague does kow where you are as you may geuiely be wated i a emergecy. If you eed access to a computer the try your compay s computer traiig room if there is oe. If the compay culture will accept it, work at home for oe day a week ad make that your prime time. Iterruptig others It is a remarkable fact that while people complai of beig iterrupted, they cheerfully iterrupt others without askig if it is coveiet: ask if they ca spare a few miutes; tell them why ad how log you thik you eed; together decide whether to do it ow or later. Telephoe iterruptios The same priciples that apply to persoal iterruptios also apply to telephoe iterruptios: cotrol whe they are acceptable ad how log they last. 42

50 Iterruptios Whe You caot kow whe the telephoe will rig, yet you must protect your prime time. The most obvious way to do that is to divert your calls to a colleague durig your prime time. Take their calls i retur. Assure all callers that their messages will be passed o. Allow your colleagues to use their judgemet as to whether a call is importat eough to iterrupt you. It is usually better to use a colleague tha a aswer machie. Treat the machie as a last resort ad you will lose fewer callers. Tip Secretaries also eed prime time. Isist that your secretary has prime time ad that his or her telephoe calls are diverted either to you or to someoe else. Edig icomig calls Sometimes it ca be a problem edig icomig calls that are either uwated or have served their purpose. How do you ed a icomig call without offedig the caller? Callers eed to feel cofidet that their calls have bee uderstood ad that actio will be take: Take resposibility for the call ad esure that the caller kows you have doe so. Establish what the caller eeds ad make otes (i your otebook or diary). 43

51 30 Miutes... To Maage Your Time Better Tell the caller that you are writig it dow. That will give them cofidece that you are listeig. Ed the call by summarizig their message. Tell them what you ited to do ad whe. Thak them for their call. Icoveiet time If a call comes at a icoveiet time: Apologize to the caller ad tell them that it is a bad time ad why. Offer to call them back ad suggest a approximate time: Sorry, I have a visitor just ow. Ca I call you back aroud 3 o clock? A approximate time gives you some freedom. You are ot late if you call at five past three. Make certai that you do call them eve if it is oly to say that you have ot made ay progress as yet. Failure to retur a call as promised damages the reputatio of your compay, ad it is far easier to destroy a reputatio tha to build oe. 44

52 Gettig Orgaized 6 GETTING ORGANIZED Some people seem to be orgaized quite aturally while others struggle ad work i a permaet mess. There ca be may reasos why we lose our orgaizatio ad cotrol. Office or work area Your office or work area ca ifluece your effectiveess. A ope pla office ecourages commuicatios ad iterruptios, whereas a closed office ca do the opposite. Furiture Does your desk or workbech face the corridor? If passersby make casual or uiteded eye cotact with you the you will be iterrupted more tha if they do ot. Somehow it seems rude to igore someoe oce eye cotact has bee made. If this is a problem, tur your desk away from the corridor or arrage a partitio or scree. 45