TIME MANAGEMENT

A recent article written in the Guardian 22nd January 2004

Subject: guardian piece

22 Jan 2004: The Guardian - Page 2 - (1508 words) Fast-track: Every second counts: How many times do we use lack of time as an excuse for putting things off or failing to get everything done? The number of hours in the day will never change, but with some care and attention, managing our time better will help us to achieve our goals By: Antonia Windsor The idea of training staff in time management techniques arrived in the 1980s with hundreds of books on the subject coming out of America. Everyone wanted to make money fast and the way to do this seemed to be to rise at 5am and drain every minute of your day with money-making activity. It was the most successful decade for Filofax, whose organisational notepaper flew off the shelves. John Cleese, through his training videos, told roomfuls of attentive workers how to write prioritised to-do lists, organise theirdesks, delegate and learn to say no. Now, in leaner times, when multi-tasking is a feature of most workplaces, time management is more important than ever, and yet so many of us still feel like we need a couple of extra hours a day just to fit everything in.

Steve Lazarus of Keystar, a London-based training company, advises people on how to limit the impact of the ever-increasing distractions we all face
from phone calls, emails and colleagues. Lazarus trains people to create their own timesheets and stick to them, allocating a certain time in the day to open emails.

"If you haven't read it, then you can't be distracted by it," he says. "Everyone thinks that their request is the most urgent, but you have to be in control of what you feel the most important tasks are. Just remember that the seconds and minutes wasted on pointless tasks really do add up to hours and days."

So what tips do the experts offer?

* Plan your day: Everyone seems to agree that to-do lists are the key to working more effectively and reducing stress, and they don't take very long to write. Work out exactly what needs to be done, breaking down individual tasks into their component elements if they seem too large. Then go through the list and use both a numerical and alphabetical code - one to put the tasks in order of importance, ie the jobs that will bring in the highest returns, and the other to put them in order of urgency. You may find that many urgent jobs are not that important, these are the ones to delegate where possible, or to complete in the shortest amount of time so that you can concentrate on those that really matter.

* Deal with procrastination: We all know how easy it is to put off important tasks until we are in the right mood for them and busy ourselves with less important, pleasanter tasks. But putting things off can lead to jobs piling up and a feeling of being overwhelmed and stressed. Your to-do list will tell you what the most important job of the day is, and that is the task that should be tackled first. It requires discipline to get straight down to something difficult, but you often find that the job isn't half as unpleasant as you thought it would be, and the satisfaction of ticking it off the list makes any pain worth while.

* Clear your desk: By having everything where you can access it easily you will eliminate time wasted foraging around. Try to deal with each bit of paper as it comes in, deciding to act on it, file it or bin it and clear items off your desk that are not relevant to the task in hand.

* Avoid interruptions: Telephone calls and emails are distracting and can easily make you lose your concentration and slow you down. Allocate certain time in your day when you open your emails, instead of trying to reply to each one as it comes in. Field your calls, keep your voicemail on and then set aside half an hour to call everyone back. If you know what the call is about, then plan it before you pick up the receiver, and don't allow calls to drag on. Also try to avoid staying on hold for someone, leave a message with a suitable time for them to call you back.

* Be assertive: Say no. You can't do everything. Only you can decide what your most important jobs are, don't let other people distract you. Their urgent might not be your urgent.

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