ABC TRAINING SOLUTIONS
Time Management
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70 TIPS TO BE A BETTER TIME MANAGER
PLANNING
1. Set aside time each day to review and prioritise demands on your time
2. Delegate tasks which are not time-effective for you to do
3. Split your working day into chunks of 30 minutes each
4. Book thinking time into your schedule – break the task down into sub-tasks
5. Estimate how long a task will take you and see how accurate you were
6. Break down long-term plans into weekly and daily action plans
7. Ask for a second opinion if you cannot prioritise competing tasks
8. If your schedule is full of A-tasks then redefine them
9. For every plan you make, cover all these points: What, Where, When, How, Who
10. Book task time into your diary – it helps establish what can be achieved
11. Use coloured highlighter pens/plastic wallets to denote tasks of varying importance
TASK COMPLETION
12. Set realistic deadlines. A deadline is meant to be helpful not a major cause of stress
13. Reward yourself (extra coffee/cigarette / choc bar) when you meet your deadlines
14. Highlight key points on paperwork to speed up re-reading
15. Copy information only to those who need to know
16. Keep only essential reading on your desk
17. Keep a checklist to help you monitor the progress of delegated tasks
18. Use the ‘Batching technique – place similar tasks together and do them as a ‘batch’, rather than as soon as they come in
19. Take a small chunk of a difficult task and deal with it straight away
WORKSPACE ORGANISATION
20. Keep your working desk space clear of everything but the current job in hand
21. Use post it note in bold colour to remind you of urgent/important activity that day
22. Clean desk policy overnight
23. Position big clock in your workspace so it is visible to you (and to visitors!)
24. Review your paper and electronic filing system at least every few months e.g. ‘Clear Down Friday’ every 3 months
25. Practise the 4 D’s with stuff – Do it now, Dump, Delay, Delegate
26. File only essential documents that will be referred to in the future
70 TIPS TO BE A BETTER TIME MANAGER
HANDLING INTERRUPTIONS
27. Do not sit down if you are followed into your work area
28. Stand up when interrupted – it tells them it will be short
29. Arrange your workspace so that you’re not facing the entry point to your space
30. Meet in their work area, not yours – it’s easier to get away
31. Think before you interrupt anyone. Their time is as valuable as yours
32. Proactively deal with interruptions from colleagues - educate people to help themselves!
33. Say NO assertively: “Look, I’d really like to help, however I’m snowed under myself. Have you asked George to help you?”
34. Manage chatty colleagues assertively (and sincerely) – “Oh that’s interesting. Was there anything I can help you with, Mrs. DroneOn?”
35. Warn colleagues in advance that you don’t want to be disturbed
36. Work in a different part of the department when doing urgent stuff – it means that you avoid the main distracters – colleagues
TELEPHONE
37. Think through the objective of the call before you make it
38. Target a time duration to spend on a phone call – it minimises the small talk
39. Avoid distractions when talking on the phone. Focus on what the caller is saying
40. Have another project to hand to work on in case you are kept waiting
41. Tell people when they can call you and note the time in your diary
42. Turn voicemail on when you want to avoid interruptions – keep your greeting helpful e.g. alternative source of help
43. Make calls just before lunch or at the end of the day
44. Phone your voicemail to remind you of important tasks
45. Pick up the phone to indicate the end of a meeting
46. Divert the phone to a colleague if you are doing an intricate / urgent task
47. Clear your email inbox frequently – file appropriately
48. Hold stock answers to frequently asked questions (F.A.Q.) on email
49. Keep your email messages short and address them accurately
50. Read emails at set times of the day – not as soon as they arrive
51. Set up automatic filing on your email inbox to file by Sender
52. Pick up the phone rather than write an email – it’s much quicker and more personal
53. Email jokes / cartoons home, to look at later
70 TIPS TO BE A BETTER TIME MANAGER
MEETINGS
54. Call a meeting only after considering other options
55. Keep meetings short by listening rather than talking
56. Ask a colleague to interrupt ‘urgently’ if a routine meeting lasts over an hour
57. Allocate a specific amount of time to each subject on an agenda
58. Encourage people to attend only the parts of a meeting that concern them
59. Remind everyone what was agreed at a meeting in a follow-up memo
60. Hearing is not the same as listening. Learn to listen
61. Make sure you define objectives clearly when you delegate a task
62. Text attendees half an hour before meeting start to minimise waiting at start of meeting
63. At the start of meeting, agree a duration – helps keep people focused
MISCELLANEOUS
64. Be focused about viewing intranet/internet – we are easily distracted
65. Visit colleagues only when you have more than one issue to discuss
66. Be aware of your boss’s working patterns and try to adapt to them
67. Understand your boss’s priorities, and what is important (and not so important) to them
68. Avoid gossiping about the company – invariably, it doesn’t achieve anything
69. Set up a F.A.Q. section on your departmental intranet
70. Actively help people help themselves e.g. show people how to do things, not do it for them
ANY OTHERS?
73.
Remember that time is perfectly democratic.
Nobody has more or less of it than you
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