Most people allow time to just happen - in their lives and in their work. The the fact is people spend more time planning the blow-by-blow of their vacation than they do on the items that matter most. Have you ever noticed how you get all of your tasks completed just prior to going on vacation? You make lists, you ignore telephone calls and e-mail, you avoid surfing the web, and you send those visiting to BS on their way. You're a magnate of time efficiency and focus! Todd Duncan (@toddmduncan, @toddstweets) wrote in his masterful book "Time Traps", "The notion of time managementrepresents a flawed perception of time that affects how we reactthe fact [is] that we cannot manage the clock; we can only manage our thoughts and actions." When you're near a deadline of some sort, you become laser focused on your thoughts and actions in order to meet your deadline. The key is to figure how to harness that focus on a regular basis. As a leader and a business owner, I've thought a great deal about time and how to make better use of it. I've read Napoleon Hill, Todd Duncan, Tony Schwartz, and Chet Holmes (@chetholmes) to name just a few. I see the value of time and I've reduced what I've learned into my Time Management Techniques - 7 Tips to Make Your Time More Effective:
Tip #1: Increase Your Focus by Disabling Your Email Alerts and Phone Ringer. We're a society of constant distraction, as covered brilliantly in Tony Schwartz's book, "The Way We're Working Isn't Working". Email alerts pop-up on our screens, our phones ring and/or vibrate whenever we receive a call, email, or text. It all leads to focus schizophrenia. Mastering your time and becoming more effective requires laser focus and the removal of all distractions. It will feel uncomfortable and the question you'll want to think about is, "Am I in control of my time or is someone else?" We'll plan time for email and phone calls below.
Tip #2: Create a List. I knowit sounds simple. We all have lists. The the truth is that without a list, no matter how good your memory is, you'll forget tasks that you shouldn't and you'll alternate from one task to another haphazardly. A list lets you organize your thoughts and actions in one succinct location. The secret is to write down everything, no matter how small. That includes responding to e-mails and returning phone calls. If you're in sales, be sure Prospecting makes it onto your list. If you're a manager, be sure ad-hoc meetings make it onto your list.
Tip #3: Prioritize the List. Here's where you control that feeling of being overwhelmed because not all tasks are created equal. Without prioritizing your list, as the day careens out of control you'll start taking care of the quick, low-priority tasks in order to feel a sense of accomplishment. You can prevent this by prioritizing your tasks.
Tip #4: Choose Your Top 6 Tasks and Allocate Time. I found this very refined tip by reading Chet Holmes's outstanding book, "The Ultimate Sales Machine", and have even created a Time Management Worksheet that you can download to aid you in this process. Although we've created and prioritized a list of activities, we still haven't proactively taken control of the timeuntil now. This simple method has allowed me to clearly focus on the most pressing tasks and control the time I spend on them. For large tasks that require a lot of time, even an hour or two will get you nearer to completion. A good rule of thumb is that your top six tasks should take about six hours [Holmes]. If it takes longer than that, you need to break the large tasks up into smaller time chunks.
Tip #5: Put Your Top 6 Tasks on a Schedule and Plan Every day Each one of the Top 6 tasks must be allotted to a specific time slot as well as time to answer e-mail, return phone calls, and miscellaneous time. The miscellaneous time is the buffer in your schedule for those reactive things that come up that are unavoidable. The key is to return to your schedule when you've completed handling the reactive tasks that pop-up in your day.
Tip #6: As Pressing Tasks Arise, Add Them to Your To-Do List and Move On. I know that pressing tasks arise that require your attention. Very few of them need to happen at that specific instant in time. Most people can be appeased by merely stating to them specifically when you'll get to their issue. Add the new to-do item to your larger list and return to your schedule. If it's important, then it's an item that's to be handled in the miscellaneous time that's on your schedule.
Tip #7: The Best Time to Plan Your Day Is the Day Before. I've developed the habit of planning out my day at the end of the previous day. This has a few benefits. First, it allows me to re-write my to-do list while things are fresh in my mind and I'm still in "work" mode. Second, planning out my tasks the day before allows me to subconsciously work on many of the items on my list. Third, it allows me to hit the ground running every single day, making effective use of every minute.
Tip #1: Increase Your Focus by Disabling Your Email Alerts and Phone Ringer. We're a society of constant distraction, as covered brilliantly in Tony Schwartz's book, "The Way We're Working Isn't Working". Email alerts pop-up on our screens, our phones ring and/or vibrate whenever we receive a call, email, or text. It all leads to focus schizophrenia. Mastering your time and becoming more effective requires laser focus and the removal of all distractions. It will feel uncomfortable and the question you'll want to think about is, "Am I in control of my time or is someone else?" We'll plan time for email and phone calls below.
Tip #2: Create a List. I knowit sounds simple. We all have lists. The the truth is that without a list, no matter how good your memory is, you'll forget tasks that you shouldn't and you'll alternate from one task to another haphazardly. A list lets you organize your thoughts and actions in one succinct location. The secret is to write down everything, no matter how small. That includes responding to e-mails and returning phone calls. If you're in sales, be sure Prospecting makes it onto your list. If you're a manager, be sure ad-hoc meetings make it onto your list.
Tip #3: Prioritize the List. Here's where you control that feeling of being overwhelmed because not all tasks are created equal. Without prioritizing your list, as the day careens out of control you'll start taking care of the quick, low-priority tasks in order to feel a sense of accomplishment. You can prevent this by prioritizing your tasks.
Tip #4: Choose Your Top 6 Tasks and Allocate Time. I found this very refined tip by reading Chet Holmes's outstanding book, "The Ultimate Sales Machine", and have even created a Time Management Worksheet that you can download to aid you in this process. Although we've created and prioritized a list of activities, we still haven't proactively taken control of the timeuntil now. This simple method has allowed me to clearly focus on the most pressing tasks and control the time I spend on them. For large tasks that require a lot of time, even an hour or two will get you nearer to completion. A good rule of thumb is that your top six tasks should take about six hours [Holmes]. If it takes longer than that, you need to break the large tasks up into smaller time chunks.
Tip #5: Put Your Top 6 Tasks on a Schedule and Plan Every day Each one of the Top 6 tasks must be allotted to a specific time slot as well as time to answer e-mail, return phone calls, and miscellaneous time. The miscellaneous time is the buffer in your schedule for those reactive things that come up that are unavoidable. The key is to return to your schedule when you've completed handling the reactive tasks that pop-up in your day.
Tip #6: As Pressing Tasks Arise, Add Them to Your To-Do List and Move On. I know that pressing tasks arise that require your attention. Very few of them need to happen at that specific instant in time. Most people can be appeased by merely stating to them specifically when you'll get to their issue. Add the new to-do item to your larger list and return to your schedule. If it's important, then it's an item that's to be handled in the miscellaneous time that's on your schedule.
Tip #7: The Best Time to Plan Your Day Is the Day Before. I've developed the habit of planning out my day at the end of the previous day. This has a few benefits. First, it allows me to re-write my to-do list while things are fresh in my mind and I'm still in "work" mode. Second, planning out my tasks the day before allows me to subconsciously work on many of the items on my list. Third, it allows me to hit the ground running every single day, making effective use of every minute.
About the Author:
Visit the Margin of Excellence blog if you'd like more information that will help you achieve your personal goals and leadership goals.. This article, 7 Unique Ways to Make Your Time More Efficient is released under a creative commons attribution license.
No comments:
Post a Comment