Time Management World - Because Your Time is Your Money

Scheduling Commitments – Six Guidelines to Get Things Done On time

Wed, 31 May 2006 07:13:38 -0400

Almost all of us have, at some point, wished the day had more than 24 hours. But believe me, even if a day had 48 hours instead of 24, those who don’t schedule their activities properly will still fall short of time. In order to learn the knack of scheduling, here are certain tips and rules that you can use and become more efficient. Following are some guidelines that can be used while scheduling to help to get things done.

Specify your goals. You must know what has to be done and the deadlines that must be stuck to. By knowing not just what has to get done for today, but also for some days to follow, you can prioritize your time as well as your commitments. While you are setting your goals, ensure that you allot a certain amount of time to each goal. This will give you some sort of a schedule. Once you start setting your goals, it is a good idea to keep track of what you’ve finished and what you haven’t completed. Make mental notes on how long it took you to complete a task. As time passes, this will make your scheduling commitments easier to handle.

Saying “No” Prevents Over-Commitments

Tue, 30 May 2006 13:04:57 -0400

One of the most important as well as the most difficult things to do is say ‘no’. It may bring on angry reactions but you have to learn how to say no when you must refuse something. It is quite common for people to take on more work than they can handle simply because they couldn’t refuse when the boss asked them. Not refusing extra tasks will only cause you stress and thus bring down your productivity. Avoid over-commitment by employing these five strategies to say no.

One of the best ways to say no is to keep your mind on the goals at hand. Ensuring that you are not short of time to achieve your goals and enjoy your family is essential to saying no. Convince yourself that your goals are equally important as the task you are being asked to do, and then simply say no. You will understand that your tasks require your attention, and the other task is utterly unimportant. It is perfectly alright to be selfish at times. Finding enough time to meet your personal goals is very essential to good mental health. Your personal time for your goals is just like any other task on your calendar, and taking time to complete any task is always a great idea. It may even be a good idea to block that time out on your calendar to serve as a visual reminder that your personal goals are as important as anything else on the schedule.

Meet The Biggest Enemy Of Effective Time Management: Procrastination

Mon, 29 May 2006 08:28:21 -0400

The basic meaning of ‘effective’ time management is to get rid of all those habits that take away time. The most commonly found time-killer is procrastination. It is the most readily accepted self-inflicted time thief. Some people experience procrastination as a rare bother, while others experience procrastination like a never ending headache that just seems to follow them day in and day out.

There are basically two types of procrastination:
Conscious Procrastination: Conscious procrastination is certainly the easiest to identify in people as well as the simplest form to cure. This is procrastinating while we are “awake” and completely aware of what we are doing.

Prioritizing Makes Time Management Easier

Sat, 27 May 2006 13:27:38 -0400

Making exhaustive lists of goals is not the key to effective time management. Prioritizing these goals and values will however help you achieve them one by one. If we do not rank them accordingly then we will not know which of our goals and daily activities are most important.

Here is an example: One of my values is to maintain a healthy and nutritious diet and follow a vigorous exercise regimen. Another value listed on the same sheet is that I am a devoted husband and a loving father. I also have some personal values like reading something educational for an hour each day. Yet another is to spend some time with my children every day. All of the above values of mine can actually be accomplished without overlapping , but what if it did? What if I was forced to choose between spending time with my kids or reading a very important career educational material? Which should I choose? Well, if I did not have my priorities set then I would probably choose the one that would be more fun, which is reading my books. But being a loving father is my top priority, and hence I wouldn't have to think twice about it.

Three Reasons Not To Procrastinate

Fri, 26 May 2006 10:46:23 -0400

Most people procrastinate. Some do it deliberately while some don’t even realize it. Many procrastinators may not even be able to tell you why they put things off so often. Procrastination is defined as something that is put off needlessly. It is not procrastination if you haven’t done something just because you have had other things to do. However, if you are postponing your task and looking for other things to do instead, you are definitely procrastinating. This behavior can be very destructive and is certainly not very healthy. Therefore, if you are conscious of your procrastinating behavior, you must work on eliminating it forever.

All Work And No Play Results In Low Efficiency

Wed, 24 May 2006 08:54:30 -0400

Ever wondered how some people with important and busy jobs manage to stop and ‘smell the roses’? They probably do less work than you right? Wrong! They probably get more work done than you. That’s because they plan for the fun time and actually include it as a part of their effective time management.

Planning fun time is very important, especially because it does not “just” happen. We plan for travel in the morning, we set a time for the meeting at noon, and we schedule our lunch break, yet we do forget to schedule any time for snuggling on the sofa with our little princess, or reading a book to the baby. Stop to think why. The simplest answer clearly is that “fun” time is expected to happen spontaneously, and at rare times this may be the case. Yet, unless some time is set aside for it to happen, it is rather unlikely that it will become a constant part of our daily lives.

Use Voice mail To Increase Your Productivity

Tue, 23 May 2006 11:19:11 -0400

The first secret to success is good time management. This is one single factor that has helped millions of people rise to the top in the chosen careers. In this article we will talk about the uses of voice mail and how it can help to increase your productivity at work.

The days when secretaries took all of our calls and wrote down all of our messages are over. They have been replaced by direct lines of communication that can come right into our world literally at any minute of the day. One example is voice mail. But these handy machines can be used to greatly improve your productivity.

Don’t Let Shifting Priorities Eat Into Your Efficiency

Mon, 22 May 2006 12:03:25 -0400

Though most people don’t realize it, shifting priorities makes their efficiency drop to all time lows. These sometimes take place so swiftly that you don’t know what hit you but still end up wondering why you aren’t finishing your work

Your immediate goal should be to break this habit so that you can increase your levels of time management and get more work done. But what to do if you have a job where your priorities are constantly being shifted without your opinion? How can you adapt to the negative effects of having your priorities shifted at work by the boss or managers?

This type of environment can definitely be very exciting for some personality types, but only if the “shifts and starts” are meaningful and purposeful. Without knowing or seeing a reason behind such an action, most people end up feeling that they are being jerked around and their talents are not taken seriously.

The Last Part Of Filing

Fri, 19 May 2006 03:00:41 -0400

The next step towards managing your time perfectly is to create something called “files in advance”. This seemingly useless technique is actually recommended by most professionals. The idea is to create files before the time that you will actually need them. But then what is the point wasting time creating folders that you don’t need today? It’ll keep you organized! For example, if you are planning to go on a long vacation. You will obviously want to collect as much information and data as possible regarding the area of your choice, hotel prices, travel plans, etc. These are all things that you will need to file, so rather than creating clutter and piles of papers all over your home or office, simply collect everything and slide it into your “travel” folder. Whenever you download and print some information from the computer, or maybe cut something out of the paper related to your future travel plans, you can simply store in inside your advanced folder. Below are some examples of the types of advance files you can create:

Creating customized file headers for simple management

Thu, 18 May 2006 03:11:54 -0400

You’ve semi-organized your mess into small piles of paperwork. What’s next? The task that you have to do next is organizing each mini-pile into more precise groups. You’ll have to label them as bills, receipts, warranties etc. This is still a broad grouping but it takes you one step closer to finishing your task of sorting all the paperwork. You will realize the importance of doing this when you have to look for something.

Date stamping
Date stamping helps to remind you of when you have stored a particular item. Though stamping each and every document may seem like a lot of work, remember that your goal is to put all your effort in the task of time management so that your productivity shoots higher up from this day forward. Hence it is safe to say that all the extra energy you put into date stamping will be of great benefit. Even though most efficiency experts recommend that putting a date on every thing you file, date stamping is not compulsory. Do it only if it suits you.

Starting The Process of Filing

Wed, 17 May 2006 07:54:19 -0400

If you want to improve your time management skills, get organized. This is the only secret to being super-productive. In the previous articles on this topic, we dealt with the importance of getting down to work with filing your entire stock of papers, documents, and information. Almost none of us has ever taken on the tedious task of filing everything in our office to begin with, so with a positive attitude and the proper filing tools, you can start getting organized today.

How can I start the filing process?

Go through everything you can and decide what can be thrown away. Kill your pack-rat tendencies now and just let go of anything that know you will not need anymore. Also keep an eye out for papers that are duplicates or copies. You need only one set of each file. Copies can be made when required. By purging all the items to be thrown out, as well as copies of existing files, you will make a large dent into your filing workload.

Filing to Improve Time Management

Thu, 04 May 2006 12:42:30 -0400

Utilizing your time is the secret for maximum results. Struggling to meet deadlines at all times can be remedied by planning your tasks properly. Implementing time management in your life can help you manage your days effectively.

After reading this article, you will discover why “filing” will help better organization, which will definitely lead to the improvement of your time management levels. Filing paperwork reduces clutter is important as the world grows increasingly complex everyday. It is a common belief that filing is simply done to put your papers in order. But actually there is an art to it, and mastering it can make your office a more productive place to work in. There are a few essential tools to proper filing which have been discussed below. You will also learn how a creating filing system which will change the way you work.

Learn When To Say No To Your Boss

Mon, 01 May 2006 07:21:20 -0400

The fact that you are working for a company and being paid for it doesn’t mean they own you. It is best for all concerned to know your limits. This means letting your boss know that your time at home is meant for other things and not for office work. Especially not on a regular basis. Make it clear that you are willing to take on an extra burden once in a while when absolutely necessary.

These situations are very common and happen to us all of the time at work. It part of the territory of working for someone else. And if you want to make your boss happy, you probably tend to say yes to everything only to regret it later. In the end you probably feel negative and annoyed with all of the work that is piled on you and this takes away even more from your personal time.

Three Tips To Improve Your Time Management Skills

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 06:47:55 -0400

Though it is an extremely important skill, time management is often not given the importance it deserves. Careers as well as relationships have been known to suffer because of mismanagement of time. Having only about sixteen hours everyday to function as productively, you must focus on your tasks during those hours. Procrastination has always made things worse. Managing your time properly, however, can help you gain control over your disorganized life.

Before you start to manage your time appropriately, try to examine how you are currently utilizing your time. Go through last weeks calendar. Try and categorize how you spent each day. Most probably, you can categorize your activities into five groups. The first category is the time you’ve wasted in negative productivity. This means things that should have been done before. This is ususally the worst category for most people. The sheer number of activities placed in this category sets people off track and throws the rest of their schedule haywire. Category two is constant interference. How often do you let yourself be interrupted? Sometimes this is not a very good category for most people because they cannot control the events that happen in this category. Category three is completed tasks. These are the things you had planned to do and have done them. When you look at this category you will feel good about your level of productivity. You may actually be finishing more work than you realize. Category four is the time you spend working alone in peace. Though you may not be working on what you had planned to be completing , you are still working, so it is still a fairly positive experience. The last category is free time that is actually fee. If you get interrupted by your work during your coffee break or your gym workout, it is not a break. This category is important to good productivity. Now fully analyze your schedule. This session of analyzing should allow you to make cuts in the categories that interfere with your productivity. Here are a few tips, to guide you as you run through your time management strategies.

Control bringing work home

Mon, 24 Apr 2006 01:56:16 -0400

Even though you work for a person and an organization doesn’t mean that you cannot manage your time in an effective manner by setting boundaries at the office. What does it mean to set boundaries at work? This is basically when you control the work you take home and your employer know that you are already overloaded with work at home and do not want more of your personal time taken away. However you need to convey this information in a balanced manner so that it does not leave a negative effect on you as an employee.

All of us are faced by the dilemma of bringing work home and letting it overrun our personal lives. This is natural when you are working for someone else and want to make your boss happy by taking on more than you can perhaps handle. This probably leaves you irritated and annoyed with all of the work that is piled on you, which takes away from your personal time.