Improve My Business

Time management is one of those things that we all know we should be doing yet for some reason, we aren’t, kind of like eating healthy. At the end of the day it boils down to this, time is what it is and there is nothing we can do to change it, what we can change though, is how we interact with the time we have, in other words, how we use it. This is the heart of time management, controlling how we use our time in pursuit of increased efficiency. We learned some of the basics of time management earlier this month, this week I want to explore some interesting ideas and topics in time management.

To me, one of the interesting things about time management is that, at one point in time or another, we have all done it. Everyone goes through periods where they are so busy they have to budget their time down to the minute to make sure that everything gets done, and this is time management. However, we often lose this sense of urgency when the task list dwindles and we aren’t so overwhelmed. We no longer feel the need to schedule everything and our time management practices get left behind.

Have you ever found yourself wondering what happened to the time? If so you are probably a victim of failed time management maintenance. When we have a lot to do we don’t wonder what happened to the time, we know what happened to it, it was used accomplishing one of the many things we needed to get done. However, when we don’t have a lot to do, we open ourselves up to procrastinating. When we open our task list in the morning and add up the hours only to realize that we don’t have to spend every minute of the day going 100% in order to get everything done, the tendency is to relax a little bit. When we feel like we can relax we don’t feel this need to schedule our time in order to get everything done, so our time management falls to the side. We simply think that we don’t have that much to do so it will certainly get done.

The risk here is obvious and we have probably all experienced. We start doing something not task related and all of a sudden it’s the middle of the afternoon and we haven’t gotten anything done. Where did the time go? This is why maintaining our time management habits is so important. If we manage our time outside of crunch time like we do when we are busy we won’t leave ourselves open to these afternoon panic attacks, instead we would have everything done before the middle of the afternoon and have time to relax.

The biggest complaint about using time management techniques when we don’t have to is that people want to feel like they can relax and not have to stress about their work all the time. When things are slow we like to rest and recoup a little bit so that we are ready to go next time things pick up. This is incredibly valuable and we all need this down time so we don’t burn out, this is certainly true. However, you can use time management techniques and stay relaxed during the downtimes, in fact, time management can make your slow times even more relaxing.

Think about it this way. What would be more relaxing, taking some time for yourself in the morning only to realize that you let too much time slide by and now have to scramble to get the few things done that you had to do today, or managing your time, so that you get everything on your list done by two in the afternoon and can spend the last part of the afternoon relaxing and taking care of personal items. It is easy to see, that, while it may seem like managing our time forces us to stress about our work, it really can allow us more freedom to truly relax and enjoy those rare times when things are running smoothly and we don’t have to spend our whole day putting out fires and keeping the ball rolling.

So I encourage you to think about maintaining those great time management habits we use to get through crunch times. Keep them going and not only will you be rewarded with better personal time, but next time you get busy it won’t be such a struggle to schedule your time because you will already be in the habit.

Technorati Tags: efficiency, managing your time, Time Management, working smarter

We all know that the hours in the day are numbered and that we need to make the most of them. So here are some tips that I have been using to increase my personal productivity.

1. Batch your E-mails. If your like me and most of the people in my office you have an almost constant stream of E-mails coming in. The temptation is to open them all as soon as they arrive. I realized that for me at least this meant stopping what I was doing and shifting my focus on average once every 15-20 minutes throughout the work day. This was very disruptive, particularly when there was something I wanted to read further in the E-mail and it wound up being a long distraction from the task I had been working on. The solution I have found is batching my E-mail reading into groups. Basically I keep my E-mail open, but don’t read any messages unless something urgent comes in that needs immediate attention. Instead I let things build up and then just before lunch and again just before I sign off for the evening I read through everything. I find this gives me longer blocks of un-interrupted time to focus on getting the important things I need to do done, without completely ignoring what is going on in my E-mail.
2. Pick one big thing every day and do it first. For me if I have a lot of things on my to do list I find that I often avoid the big ones and do all the little “quick wins” first. While this does shorten the list, it still leaves those big projects out there looming, and by the time I have done all the little things I often don’t have the mental energy to tackle a big project. To combat this I have started coming into the office each day, having picked out one large item from my to do list to tackle that day. I start my day off by first checking to make sure no urgent messages came in overnight, then getting right to work on my one big thing for the day. I don’t check E-mails, or make phone calls, or do anything else until I have knocked out my one big task. This has two benefits for me. First it gets those big tasks off the to do list in a timely manner, and second, I find myself having more energy throughout the day because I know that I have already accomplished something big and don’t have the stress of trying to find the energy late in the day to do a big project.
3. Have a defined plan. Beyond picking your one thing, I have also found it helpful to have a defined plan for the week. In other words I try to look at what I need to get done and slot it all into my week. This way I am not sitting here on Tuesday afternoon or worse on Thursday staring at my to do list and wondering how I am ever going to get it all done. I know how it is going to get done because I have already budgeted the time in my head. Of course my schedule gets shifted around a little bit as things come up, and it is important to remain flexible, but knowing what is on your list and what kind of time commitment it takes, then figuring out where you can make that time commitment can help overcome the feeling of overwhelm that comes with big to do lists.
4. Attitude is everything. Having a better attitude at work makes you more productive. If you feel like you have been productive you will continue to be more productive. This is what is really behind the other tips I have listed here, they all help me feel productive, which improves my attitude, and makes me more productive. Sometimes you even need to go so far as to force yourself to change your attitude, even if it seems superficial at first. If you tell yourself you have lots of energy and are ready to get something done, before you know it, it will be true. On the other hand if you sit around all day dreaming about a nap, you’re just going to make yourself more tired. So take a minute every now and then to check in on your attitude towards work and adjust it as needed.

Technorati Tags: efficiency, email, goals, improvement, managing your time, Planning, Time Management, working smarter

As October, and the fall, continue to march forward, we start to notice the loss of daylight more. This may require us to shift our schedules - exercising after work rather than before, for example; or starting to prepare dinner earlier than in summer since the kids have to go to bed earlier in preparation for those EARLY morning reveilles….

As your daily pattern changes, remember to examine those changes to see if there are positive plans that you can implement.

Some ideas:

- during those dark hours in the morning, when the day still seems ‘quiet’, can you meditate, pray, or practice some self-renewal ritual?

- Is there a way to incorporate movement into your daily routine - parking farther away, taking stairs, or walking briskly during breaks and lunch? Can you do an indoor workout? Movement will have a positive effect on your mental as well as your physical well-being.

- Incorporate family time and movement/exercise. Our family is somewhat typical - we have game systems in the house… so we have Dance Dance Revolution, a game involving rhythmic stepping/dancing for the PlayStation, and are looking at the Wii Fit. This is something that the whole family can do together, and involves lots of laughter (mostly at mom) as well as lots of movement (for all of us).

- Make an extra effort to get outside during daylight hours - studies have shown that exposure to natural light has a positive effect on the production of endorphins which has been shown to be a natural mood-lifter, and necessary for vitamin D absorption, among other benefits. See this article on Shine for more and resources. Lack of sunlight is also responsible for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) in some people. You can learn more about SAD at the Mayo Clinic website. (see above suggestion for walking during lunch)…

Embrace the change in season and see how you can improve your business!

Technorati Tags: efficiency, flexibility, living your life, Time Management, well-being

Last time I shared an article about being efficient versus being effective by Robert Rolih. Now here are the rules on goal setting from http://www.time-management-toolbox.com/articles.html:

1st rule: Your goals should be specific. The clearer the goal, the clearer the outcome. So, always set specific goals that can be measured. Let me give you an example. If I say, “Next year we will increase our market share,” is this specific? Well, not really! But if I add “by four percentage points,” it makes this goal specific and measurable. There’s an old saying that goes, What gets measured, gets done, so always be specific when you set your goals.

2nd rule: Every goal must have a deadline. Human beings operate best when they have clear deadlines. Deadlines get us moving. So every goal you set should have a deadline – the date by which you will accomplish it.

3rd rule: Your goals should be challenging. Aim high: Set goals that will provide you with a challenge; but be careful – they must be realistic! You must believe you can achieve them.

4th rule: Write your goals down. Gene Donohue once said, The difference between a goal and a dream is the written word. So, write your goals down. This will make them concrete.

Ok, those were the four goal-setting rules.

But what if your goals depend on a boss, and you don’t know what they are? Then go to your boss and ask him! Always be clear what your boss expects from you. Otherwise, you will be doing the wrong things most of the time. So, the real secret of effective time management is choosing the right things to do. That means choosing the things that help you achieve your goals. And those things that help achieve your goals are the tasks that will bring you to your goals faster.

Best-selling author Timothy Ferriss once said: Doing the right things is infinitely more important than doing things right. Efficiency is still very important, but only when you do the right things – the things that will bring you closer to your goals.

Technorati Tags: effective, efficient, goal setting, goals, Time Management

What exactly is the difference between being efficient and effective? We hear those words all the time, but do we really know how to be efficient versus being effective, or vice versa? Take a look at one man’s perspective on the two and share your own thoughts on efficiency and effectiveness! Here is the article from http://www.time-management-toolbox.com/articles.html:

Key to good time management.

By Robert Rolih

Imagine the following situation: You want to buy a new, big screen, high definition TV. You want a really good one and are prepared to pay a high price for it. You also have a very good friend who is a tech geek – he knows all about new technologies and owns three big screen TV sets himself.

What would you do?

Would you go on the Net, spend five hours comparing different TVs, read a ton of information about each one of them, and then go through a thousand customer reviews?

Or would you simply call your friend, ask him what he recommends, and only after that go on the Net and check his choices?

Well, with the first option you could be very efficient if you are good at searching the Net. As a matter of fact, you could be extremely efficient for the whole five or six hours you are doing the research.

You could select great search terms, read the content really fast, and so on. But it’s still the totally wrong thing to do if you have a friend who can help you achieve your goal in a few minutes.

So, calling your friend is effective. It’s the right thing to do because it will bring you closer to your goal fast.

Doing research on your own is not effective; it’s not the right thing to do in this situation, but it can be efficient and you can be very good at it. So, let me recap: effectiveness is doing things that bring you closer to your goals.

Efficiency is performing a task in the most economical manner possible. Now think about your work. Ask yourself, “Am I being productive or just active? Am I making up activities just to fill my time? Or am I doing things that will bring me closer to reaching my goals? And then ask a crucial question: “What are my most important goals right now?”

I see a lot of very busy people in companies all the time. They are constantly under pressure, they work all the time, and they are stressed. But when you take a closer look at what they are doing you will often find they are doing just a lot of stuff that has little value.

They shuffle papers, get interrupted all the time, surf the Net searching for god knows what, check every e-mail when it arrives, and so on. They spend the whole day doing activities that don’t help them achieve their goals. They are just doing stuff. The first thing you have to be clear about if you want to be good at time management is your goals.

What do you want to accomplish? Are you clear about that? If you own a business or manage a department, you probably have very clear financial and development goals. Like “open three new locations by the end of the year,” “launch a new product by the end of May,” or “increase our sales by 30% in the next year.”

Clear goals are crucial for success. If you don’t have them, set them now! When you set your goals, it is critical that you follow some rules about goal setting.

Check back soon for the rules on goal setting!

Technorati Tags: effective, effectiveness, efficiency, efficient, goals, Time Management