Five Ways To Manage Time Effectively

Effective time management can not only help one be more productive at work, but can also help one strike the right balance between personal commitments and family time. Discipline and cultivating the ability to prioritise work is key, finds Anumeha Chaturvedi. 

1 Prioritise Work A day usually comes with unexpected curveballs that may not be that significant but eat up a majority of your time, says Rishi Bhatnagar, director — staffing at Sapient Global Markets. It is important to prioritise tasks in spite of those additional activities and to avoid getting distracted by unnecessary email conversations. “Focus on your to-dos,” he says. 


2 Alter Off-Work Habits Subtle lifestyle changes like hitting bed early, a change in diet plans, exercising or meditation can help one focus better and can make one better at managing time for work as well as family, feels Anant Krishnan, a marketing manager. 


3 Plan Milestones, not Tasks Professionals should not think of work as a bunch of daily tasks or activities but as an initiative with a logical start and finish line with certain milestones, says Bhatnagar. “This way you will not have tick marked a list of tasks at the end of the day without working towards that milestone,” he says. 


4 Make Time for Important Tasks Elizabeth Grace Saunders, author of ‘The 3 Secrets to Effective Time Investment: How to Achieve More Success With Less Stress’, suggests allocating specific hours to certain tasks. One can then accordingly take out time from the less important activities if the important tasks take longer than expected. 


5 Review and Reorder Reviewing and taking stock of the week gone by can help one correct one’s schedules or possible lapses. “Make time to review your day, week or month to assess whether or not something needs to change in order to be more effective,” says Bhatnagar.

(The Economic Times, Mumbai, 31-12-2013)

Five Ways for Leaders to Disconnect and Lead Better

My daughter is 12. Last Christmas she got her first laptop, and last Sunday she got her first cell phone. These are perhaps the first two tools new employees receive after getting their employee handbook.  These tools are incredibly valuable, and have been (along with other technologies) responsible for huge gains in productivity over the last ten years.

And they cause as many problems as they solve.

My daughter spends time in the evening watching television with a laptop in her lap, and now, her phone nearby, just in case she needs to send a text. Perhaps this picture looks familiar to you.

Perhaps the picture is you.

It isn’t just happening at home. When was the last time you went to a meeting and found people focused entirely on the topic at hand – with no one ever holding or using their phone to check their email? In the leadership workshops I lead, I challenge people to put their phones down between the breaks. And while these breaks are just 1 hour apart, many people can’t keep the phone in their purse or on the table; they seem compelled to take a quick peek, checking their texts and emails.

Just in case you are thinking that I am this older guy, not interested in technology, let me prove otherwise. I have a smart phone that I love, use twitter regularly, maintain a relatively active Facebook presence, send and receive more emails than I can count, and use text messaging, too. I love technology, and I appreciate the ways that technology can improve and extend our communication options. These technologies and more like them (IM and Foursquare come immediately to mind) can aid our productivity, especially when we work away from the office or have a virtual team.

And, like in many other areas of life, too much of a good thing isn’t necessarily so good.

What problems does technology cause for all of us as professionals and especially for us as leaders?

It starts with our assumptions. Because we have a phone, a laptop and perhaps a tablet computer, it is assumed that we are always connected, always ready to talk, answer a question or make a decision. And the most dangerous assumption is that we need to be constantly connected, that if we aren’t something terrible will happen.

Let me be clear.

As leaders do we need to be accessible and available to provide advice, wise counsel and coaching? Of course.

Do we need be flexible in the ways and times we are available, and be open to different communication mediums to accommodate the situation and the other person? For sure.

Does that mean we can never silence our phone or that we can’t go a couple of hours away from email? Not at all.

I realize that there are some jobs where you’d better be available. Being an inbound Customer Service Rep, a police officer or Fire Chief come to mind. If your job truly requires you to be available and on-call 24/7 perhaps not every bit of this article applies to you (but check your assumptions – I believe that is very small percentage of those who will read these words). After all when was the last time you really had to put out a fire?

Have you ever wished you could have some unconnected time to think, to coach, to focus and perhaps get some important work done? Have you ever (or do you always) feel compelled to be connected or have a hard time un-tethering from your electronic devices?

I believe you will become a more effective, productive and valued leader when you re-evaluate your relationship to your beloved electronic devices. How can you do that? How can you, as I promise in the title of this article, disconnect and lead better?

Five Ways to Disconnect

Set expectations and boundaries. This is the big one and it cuts straight to the heart of the assumptions above.  If you are going to unplug and disconnect, be it for 45 minutes (sometimes baby steps are needed), four hours or four days, people need to know that.

If you have been wired 24/7 and you suddenly disconnect without talking to people about expectations, you will understandably create chaos and confusion. Let people know when you will be accessible, and the timeline they can expect to hear back from you.

Ever listened to a voice mail message and heard someone say when you can expect to hear back from them? That is the idea! It may take time for you and others to adjust, but would you rather adjust or watch your phone become permanently affixed to your hand?

Manage your interrupt-ability. Have you ever gone into someone’s office and had them turn off their phone, or put the ringer on mute?  Did you feel like your conversation was important to them? That is the point of managing interrupt-ability. You will find what is appropriate for you and when (see expectations above) It could mean turning off the email notification on your computer, putting your phone in silent mode, or any number of other things. Figure yours out and do them.

Schedule time to reply to emails.  Have you ever been travelling for the day and then looked at your email after several hours? If you have, you likely found three things: there was a lot of it, few if any messages required fast attention, and responding in batches took less time.  Let’s be clear. When you are constantly replying to email, you are training people (setting unspoken expectations) that you are always answering emails!  If you choose to set times aside during the day (or even during the hour, if you must) you will be more productive AND you will be taming the expectations that you are “always on.”

Set sacred off-line times. Do you really have to be on the phone in the public restroom? Is your email really the last thing you need to check before bed and the first thing in the morning? If your answer to any of these is “yes” I’d say get a life and get over yourself. The most important, busiest people in the world aren’t doing that, and you don’t need to either.

Change the medium. Pick up the phone. Walk to someone’s office.  All of our technologies are about communication. Not all of them are equally effective in every situation. Stem the email flow with a quick call.  Send a text instead of a call that will become a five minute conversation. Go synchronous when needed, and take it off line when possible.

These ways will certainly improve your productivity – allowing you more focused time for the task at hand.  But if you think of these as only time management suggestions you will miss an important part of my point. They will also allow you to be a more effective leader when used in a balanced way– showing your trust by engaging and encouraging people to operate without your input at a moment’s notice, every time.

If you are thinking you can’t change the culture in your organization in regards to these technologies, I urge you to reconsider. If things are aren’t working perfectly, someone must raise the question, change the conversation and adjust the behaviors.

If you agree with even a small part of what I’ve suggested, tell people about your new decisions. Try one or more of the suggestions above. That’s what leaders do – work to make things better.


About The Author: 

Kevin Eikenberry is world renowned leadership expert, a two-time bestselling author, speaker, consultant, trainer, coach, leader, learner, husband and father (not necessarily in that order).

Kevin is the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group, a leadership and learning consulting company that has been helping organizations, teams and individuals reach their potential since 1993. Kevin’s specialties include leadership, teams and teamwork, organizational culture, facilitating change, organizational learning and more.

Source: http://blog.kevineikenberry.com/leadership/five-ways-for-leaders-to-disconnect-and-lead-better/

Five Ways To Effectively Manage Your Time At The Office

We've all heard that old saying, "time is money." When it comes to time spent at work, it couldn't be more true. Managing your time at the office as efficiently as possible makes a big difference in your effectiveness-and your bottom line. Here, we'll go over a few tips on how to streamline your time management at work.

Organize your desk. If you can barely see the surface of your desk for all the paper, you need to reorganize. Many people with messy desks will insist that they "know where everything is"-but this is in fact rarely true, especially if it's documentation for a project that's been on the back burner for a while. Over time, you'll waste hours just looking for things that should be easy to locate.

To get back in shape, set aside an hour to a day-or even more, depending on how chaotic your desk is-to sorting, filing, and organizing your office. You'll need a filing system that works for you. Put everything within easy reach-you should never have to spend more than thirty seconds locating a single piece of paper. Even though you may feel like you don't have the time to pay attention to organization, this investment of time will pay you back over the long run.

Delegate when you can. High-achieving business owners and managers often hate to delegate, because they feel out of control when they're not doing everything themselves. However, strong and effective leaders know the strengths of their employees-and how to rely on those strengths to best advantage. If you feel overloaded in your tasks, delegate to trusted employees when you can. Choose someone who's eager to prove herself, but who also isn't too inexperienced to do a good job-and when you can, choose employees who have talents to match the task.

Schedule e-mail time. Constantly checking email is just another way of procrastinating on other things. Turn off the automatic notification feature on your email-it kills concentration-and only check your email two or three times per day. That way, you won't feel like e-mail is taking up all your time at work.

Get rid of your paper in-box. If a document crosses your desk that you have to take care of, handle it now-don't set it in a "to-do" pile. We all tend to procrastinate with paperwork-but the more quickly you get it done, the less you'll feel like it's controlling your life. Don't let paperwork sit on your desk for more than a day if you can possibly help it.

Make sure you have the right software. If your business management involves a lot of software-spreadsheets, documents, data management systems-you could be wasting a lot of time just transitioning from one program to the next. Look for a software solution that combines mutually compatible programs that take care of all your data management needs. The best ones include tracking features that will let you keep track of time, efficiency, defects, financial information, and other information crucial to your business's effectiveness. That way, you'll be able to manage all relevant data, track your time, and make sure you're running your business as efficiently as possible.

Crucial time management is crucial to your bottom line and to your work-life balance. Get it right, and you'll work efficiently and have time left over for your family and yourself. Get it wrong, and you can start to feel like your work is taking over your life. Follow these tips, and you should be able to get it all done-with time to spare.

About the author

About the Author:
This article was written by ArtifactSoftware.com, creators of a free time management software program that was built for software developers. Please visit www.artifactsoftware.com

Read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/management-articles/five-ways-to-effectively-manage-your-time-at-the-office-81239.html#ixzz19wvsdtve
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

5 Ways to Get More Time: Time Management Techniques for Super-Busy People (Susan Ward, About.com Guide)

Who hasn't wished at some point that there were more hours in a day? It sometimes seems that we spend so much time rushing from place to place or task to task that we don't actually accomplish anything except feeling more frustrated.
But we can accomplish what we want to each day if we put some basic time management principles in place and follow them. Be warned: these are not all easy things to do. You might have to struggle and work at these time management techniques. But the time you invest in learning how to do these things and practicing them will be paid back a thousand-fold. Use these five time management techniques consistently and you'll have more time, accomplish more, and feel better.

Time Management Technique #1: Recognize you can't do it all.

Too many of us are stretched too thin because we've bought into the myth that everyone can (and should) do it all. We should all work full-time, spend quality time with our children and spouses and pets, spend time with our friends, do volunteer and committee work, get involved in causes, work at staying fit and healthy, and spend time relaxing and rejuvenating ourselves.
This kind of balancing act is best left to the Flying Wallendas. And you know what? It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you are healthy and happy with how you’re spending your time. Decide what roles and activities are important to you and live your life accordingly.

Time Management Technique #2: Prioritize.

The other part of the myth that we all can and should do it all is that everything is equally important. It's not. Just look at your daily calendar on any given day. Is picking up the dry cleaning really as important as that meeting with a client? No. So if you have to choose between them, it's easy to decide to leave the day cleaning pickup for another day.
Don't just rush from task to task throughout the day. Review the list of what you have to do that day at the day's start and then pick out the things that you 'must do' that day. (Try to keep these 'must-dos' to three or less for starters.) Then focus on getting those things done. At the end of the day, you'll have a feeling of accomplishment, no matter what else got messed up or went wrong.

Time Management Technique #3: Learn to say "Yes" and "No".

The inability to say "No" is the cause of an incredible amount of misunderstanding and frustration. Instead of saying "No," people say "Maybe" or "I might be able to do that" or "I'll see", creating the expectation that they will do whatever it is on the part of the listener and the pressure on themselves to do it. Then when they don’t do it, the person they said "Maybe" to instead of "No" is disappointed/annoyed/hurt.
Make it a general rule not to say "Maybe" at all when you're asked to commit to something. Learn to make quick decisions and say "Yes" or "No" instead. And don't get hung up on elaborating. You don’t have to give extensive reasons for your decision. A simple "No, I can’t do that" is enough. The person you're speaking to will appreciate your honesty and your disinclination to waste their time. And you'll be without the pressure to fit in yet another activity or event you weren't that interested in anyhow.

Time Management Technique #4: Unplug.

Another modern myth that you have to disregard if you want to manage your time effectively is the idiotic idea that we all have to be reachable and 'connected' all the time. We don't, and in fact, there are times when it's important or useful to be unreachable to everyone or everything except the person or the task immediately in front of us.
For instance, if your child is telling you about a traumatic thing that happened to him at school that day or you're doing an estimate for a potential customer, you need to be listening to/communicating with the people right in front of you, not the ones calling or sending you email.
So recognize this and 'unplug' yourself when appropriate. And make yourself the manager of your technology rather than being managed by it. Do not read every piece of email as soon as it comes in, for example, or feel that you have to personally answer every phone call. Don't let incoming texts or Twitters interrupt you when you're working. Set aside particular times of day to read or listen and respond to email and phone calls.

Time Management Technique #5: Take time off.

Many business people in particular fall into the seven day trap. They feel that the more time they pour into their business, the more successful their business will be. Before you know it, they're working seven days a week every week and wondering why they feel so tired and frazzled all the time!
And is their business more successful? Maybe. Maybe not. You see, the success of their business depends on what they do, not on how much time they spend doing it.
Consider this analogy: if you want to learn golf and you spend eight hours a day seven days a week golfing but are holding the club wrong every time so that every ball you hit has a pronounced swing to the left, what happens to your golf game? It doesn't matter how much time you put into doing something if you're not doing it right.
So incorporate time off into your schedule. When you take time off, whether it's an afternoon or a weekend or a week, you return to your work refreshed and more productive, able to accomplish so much more in the amount of time available.

5 Time Management Techniques Equals More Time?

No. You won’t physically magically get more hours in a day when you put these time management principles into action. But you will be able to more effectively manage the time you have. And in terms or what you get done and how you feel, that will make all the difference.

About the author

Susan Ward and her partner run Cypress Technologies, an IT Consulting business, providing services such as software and database development.

Source - http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/timemanagement/a/getmoretime.htm