| I spend a lot of time coaching people on how to | | | | many people are willing to help. I also find when I can |
| improve their time management skills. I enjoy helping | | | | delegate work it helps others learn and feel a part of |
| others learn and seeing them succeed. I also tend to | | | | the team. |
| learn from them since everyone does thing differently. | | | | 6. Never do errands on impulse - plan your route! I can |
| A great way to analyze what you are spending your | | | | never stress this enough. I think about how many times |
| time on is to complete your own time study. In your | | | | I wasted time when I went to the copier and then |
| time study you will want to log each task you | | | | came write back to the same area to drop off mail a |
| complete and the time you spent completing them. I | | | | short time later. Plan your route and all the tasks you |
| recommend doing this for a week. Once the week is | | | | can accomplish even if small. |
| up, review your tasks and time spent to identify | | | | 7. If you are always "putting out fires", use root cause |
| anything you can eliminate or combine. You may also | | | | analysis. This is critical! Sure it may take some time to |
| find ways of planning certain tasks together. You can | | | | use root cause analysis but it will save time in the |
| find many time logs you can use on the internet. | | | | future. Ask questions to find out why a crisis occurred, |
| I have 10 quick tips for balancing your workload and in | | | | what can be done to prevent it in the future and how |
| essence improve your time management skills. I have | | | | you can handle it better in the future. |
| provided these to my direct reports over my 20 years | | | | 8. ALWAYS use any idle time you have. Use idle time |
| in coaching and developing others. Some may require | | | | to complete other tasks or even tasks with future |
| practice but work on building these into a habit. | | | | deadlines. You never know what will happen |
| 1. Make sure your plate is not too full You should know | | | | tomorrow that could tie you down from preventing |
| how to say no to avoid overfilling your plate. Learn | | | | those tasks. I coach people all the time to use time |
| how to say "No" firmly and without offending. | | | | wisely. |
| 2. Measure what your time is spent on and eliminate or | | | | 9. Consolidate similar tasks. This helps you save time |
| fix any inefficiencies. This is the time study I previously | | | | by moving quickly between tasks since they relate or |
| mentioned. | | | | have similarity. One example of when I do this is when |
| 3. If it only takes 2-3 minutes to complete, DO IT NOW! | | | | I read emails, I also plan my staff meeting agenda |
| If you can complete a short task, it will give you the | | | | since it's based on what I read and emailed back out |
| feeling of "getting things done" and this will only help get | | | | to my staff. |
| other tasks done that much quicker. I find that when I | | | | 10. Organize your work area and avoid a cluttered |
| get overwhelmed due to tasks it hinders my ability to | | | | desk. If you have a messy area you will not be able to |
| focus and complete tasks. If you feel yourself getting | | | | find things and it can help push you to feeling |
| overwhelmed, stop and take a break. I like to go talk to | | | | overwhelmed. People also tend to think of you as not |
| people and it brings me back. | | | | being organized. Your boss may also feel little trust in |
| 4. Plan Plan Plan! Utilize an organizer/planner to | | | | depending on you getting things done efficiently and |
| schedule tasks. Note all follow-ups in your organizer to | | | | effectively. |
| make sure you don't forget. Never leave anything for | | | | One thing I didn't cover in my tips is procrastination but |
| another day or you will be "stacking your meal too high | | | | it does go along with some of the bullets. If you are a |
| to where you can not eat it." Prioritize your tasks. | | | | procrastinator then focus on bullets 3, 4 and 8. It will |
| 5. When you need to, ASK FOR HELP! I hate to ask | | | | take time to break out of the habit of procrastination. |
| for help but I know many times it's necessary and so | | | | |