Time Management Techniques
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Time Management Techniques
A bit like Tom Hanks in CASTAWAY - it's a case of filling your time rather than having time to dictate to us what to do and when!
And talking of being shipwrecked, that reminds me of a little story I have just got to tell you before we start this session!
A guy gets shipwrecked. When he wakes up, he's on a beach.
The sand is dark red. He can't believe it.
The sky is dark red. He walks around a bit and sees there is dark red grass, dark red birds and
dark red fruit on the dark red trees.
He's shocked when he finds that his skin is starting to turn dark red too.
"Oh no!!" he says. "I think I've been marooned!!"
Okay okay - I know it's terrible!!!!
Let's get into this session before I get into more trouble!
Managing the time over which you have discretion is the critical aspect of personal planning and organisation. The tasks that you complete in this time can be thought of in two ways:
Urgency:
The task has the appearance of needing immediate attention
Importance:
The task contributes to the effective performance of your job
Here are the issues:
* We know we need to spend time on the urgent, important tasks (problems)
* We know we shouldn't waste time on the non-urgent, unimportant tasks (pleasant)
* The question is how much of our time is spent reacting to urgent, unimportant tasks and how much should be spent on the pro-active, important tasks?
So, What Are The Important Tasks?
Important tasks are those that help you to achieve your Key Result Areas - those areas of the job against which your performance is measured, and which contribute to the overall effectiveness of your company.
Here is a quick ready reckoner of what you should do and should not do as far as managing your time is concerned:
WHEN A TASK IS IMPORTANT AND URGENT YOU SHOULD.....
DO IT NOW!
- emergencies, complaints and crisis issues
- demands from superiors or customers
- planned tasks or project work now due
- meetings and appointments
- reports and other submissions
- staff issues or needs
- problem resolution, fire-fighting, fixes
Subject to confirming the importance and the urgency of these tasks, do these tasks now. Prioritise according to their relative urgency.
WHEN A TASK IS IMPORTANT BUT NOT URGENT YOU SHOULD...
PLAN TO DO IT!
- planning, preparation, scheduling
- research, investigation, designing, testing
- networking relationship building
- thinking, creating, modeling, designing
- systems and process development
- anticipation and prevention
- developing change, direction, strategy
Critical to success: planning, strategic thinking, deciding direction and aims, etc. Plan time-slots and personal space for these tasks.
WHEN A TASK IS NOT IMPORTANT BUT URGENT YOU SHOULD...
REJECT AND EXPLAIN!
- trivial requests from others
- apparent emergencies
- ad-hoc interruptions and distractions
- misunderstandings appearing as complaints
- pointless routines or activities
- accumulated unresolved trivia
- boss's whims or tantrums
Scrutinise and probe demands. Help originators to re-assess. Wherever possible reject and avoid these tasks sensitively and immediately.
WHEN THE TASK IS NOT IMPORTANT AND NOT URGENT YOU SHOULD...
RESIST AND CEASE!
- 'comfort' activities, computer games, net surfing, excessive cigarette breaks
- chat, gossip, social communications
- daydreaming, doodling, over-long breaks
- reading nonsense or irrelevant material
- unnecessary adjusting equipment etc.
- embellishment and over-production
Habitual 'comforters' not true tasks. Non-productive, de-motivational. Minimise or cease altogether. Plan to avoid them.
I hope the above quick tips help you to manage your time
more effectively!
Time Management Techniques - To learn more about this author, visit Sean McPheat's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
I suppose if you are shipwrecked you never have to worry about managing your time!
A bit like Tom Hanks in CASTAWAY - it's a case of filling your time rather than having time to dictate to us what to do and when!
And talking of being shipwrecked, that reminds me of a little story I have just got to tell you before we start this session!
A guy gets shipwrecked. When he wakes up, he's on a beach.
The sand is dark red. He can't believe it.
The sky is dark red. He walks around a bit and sees there is dark red grass, dark red birds and
dark red fruit on the dark red trees.
He's shocked when he finds that his skin is starting to turn dark red too.
"Oh no!!" he says. "I think I've been marooned!!"
Okay okay - I know it's terrible!!!!
Let's get into this session before I get into more trouble!
Managing the time over which you have discretion is the critical aspect of personal planning and organisation. The tasks that you complete in this time can be thought of in two ways:
Urgency:
The task has the appearance of needing immediate attention
Importance:
The task contributes to the effective performance of your job
Here are the issues:
* We know we need to spend time on the urgent, important tasks (problems)
* We know we shouldn't waste time on the non-urgent, unimportant tasks (pleasant)
* The question is how much of our time is spent reacting to urgent, unimportant tasks and how much should be spent on the pro-active, important tasks?
So, What Are The Important Tasks?
Important tasks are those that help you to achieve your Key Result Areas - those areas of the job against which your performance is measured, and which contribute to the overall effectiveness of your company.
Here is a quick ready reckoner of what you should do and should not do as far as managing your time is concerned:
WHEN A TASK IS IMPORTANT AND URGENT YOU SHOULD.....
DO IT NOW!
- emergencies, complaints and crisis issues
- demands from superiors or customers
- planned tasks or project work now due
- meetings and appointments
- reports and other submissions
- staff issues or needs
- problem resolution, fire-fighting, fixes
Subject to confirming the importance and the urgency of these tasks, do these tasks now. Prioritise according to their relative urgency.
WHEN A TASK IS IMPORTANT BUT NOT URGENT YOU SHOULD...
PLAN TO DO IT!
- planning, preparation, scheduling
- research, investigation, designing, testing
- networking relationship building
- thinking, creating, modeling, designing
- systems and process development
- anticipation and prevention
- developing change, direction, strategy
Critical to success: planning, strategic thinking, deciding direction and aims, etc. Plan time-slots and personal space for these tasks.
WHEN A TASK IS NOT IMPORTANT BUT URGENT YOU SHOULD...
REJECT AND EXPLAIN!
- trivial requests from others
- apparent emergencies
- ad-hoc interruptions and distractions
- misunderstandings appearing as complaints
- pointless routines or activities
- accumulated unresolved trivia
- boss's whims or tantrums
Scrutinise and probe demands. Help originators to re-assess. Wherever possible reject and avoid these tasks sensitively and immediately.
WHEN THE TASK IS NOT IMPORTANT AND NOT URGENT YOU SHOULD...
RESIST AND CEASE!
- 'comfort' activities, computer games, net surfing, excessive cigarette breaks
- chat, gossip, social communications
- daydreaming, doodling, over-long breaks
- reading nonsense or irrelevant material
- unnecessary adjusting equipment etc.
- embellishment and over-production
Habitual 'comforters' not true tasks. Non-productive, de-motivational. Minimise or cease altogether. Plan to avoid them.
I hope the above quick tips help you to manage your time
more effectively!
Time Management Techniques - To learn more about this author, visit Sean McPheat's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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