How to Manage Time Effectively

Get Serious About Time Management! In business Time is Money. The two things that business people never seem to have enough of are time and money. Both are important to managing business affairs, yet, more Time and effort is spent on Money than managing time. Time is a natural resource that can not be recovered once it is spent. The more effectively you manage you time, the more time you will have to make money. It is just as important to have a plan on how best to utilize time as it is to strategically plan the development of budgets and business planning. Successful business people “spend” time planning how best to use their time. It is just as important to have a budget for time as it is to have a financial plan.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• The Discipline to make a plan and stick to it

1. Scheduling alone does not work! Schedules and lists take time to develop and many people get a sense of accomplishment when they check off an item on their list. However, if the schedule or list is not comprised of activities that are important to the success of a business, the satisfaction felt in accomplishing this could well be wasted time and resources needed for more important tasks. Developing a schedule does not work. Identifying priorities, then budgeting time for priorities does. The first step to improved time management is to identify where time should be spent first based on priorities.
   
   Make a list of all the activities that need to be accomplished for the week, month or year, depending upon the planning horizon and urgency.
2. Concentrate on Activities that Impact Business and the Bottom Line
   
   Review the list and classify each item into A, B, and C categories. A items are the most critical to business success and must be done. B items require cooperative efforts and energies. These activities need to be done. C items generally fall into the “busy work” category. I classify C items as “brain candy” that would be good to get done. Review the list and establish the proportion of time currently spent on each item. The 80–20 rule applies here. You will find that 80% of your time is spent on “C” items and unavoidable interruptions. Review your list carefully and narrow down the list to major priorities. This removes the “clutter” that has a tendency to over run our daily schedules and prevent us from accomplishing major goals
3. Allocate Time for Strategic Activities
   To avoid being over run by the daily grind, establish a specific amount of time by the day, week or month that you will spend on A items. Take care not to over budget time by attempting to manage too many priorities at one time. Daily activities have a tendency to be filled with issues that have no strategic root, but still demand our attention. By budgeting time specifically for working on the top priority items you ensure priorities receive the attention needed. Concentrating energies on three A items is far more productive than accomplishing ten C items.
4. Limit the Number of Top priorities
   It is important to limit the number of A items addressed each week. Estimate the number of hours of uninterrupted time you will need to complete each A item, then block the time out on your calendar as needed. Blocks of time can be scheduled each day or if you have the opportunity to work from a remote site, schedule you’re A items for a day you can spend in a quiet location. However it works for you, it must be planned for each week. So even if you have ten strategic time goals for the year, you may want to focus on no more than one or two of them in any given week.
5. Plan and Allow for Unavoidable Interruptions
   My rule of thumb is to assume 20% of my day will be used up by the daily interruptions that can not be avoided. Depending upon your function, this number may be higher or lower. Use your own judgment, but set the allocation. The balance of the day is divided up to accordingly: 35% A items, 30% B and 15% C items. Just to keep the math simple say you work a 10 hr day. 2 hours of that day is automatically wiped out by unavoidable interruptions. 1 ½ hrs are spent doing “busy work”. This leaves 3 ½ hrs to concentrate on A and 3 hrs for B items.
6. Do Not Disurb A Time: Block Out Uninterrupted Time
   Schedule blocks of time for you’re A items. Issues that fall into this priority generally require uninterrupted time. The best time of day to do this depends on you. It may be early in the day or you or later. Choose the time that works best for you, and then make it clear that this is quiet time not to be disturbed.
7. Don't Sit Down B Time: Set Regular Brief meetings for Information Exchange
   Every week you should make up a detailed time plan, which you modify each day as needed. B items require interaction with others. Set up “Standing Meetings” that last no longer than 20 minutes to discuss pertinent topics and exchange information. If an item comes up that requires additional time, take it off line and schedule additional time to cover the issue. This tactic will keep you on track, and keep your time budget in line.
8. Busy Bee C Time: Busy work
   C items will not go away and need tended to. Use C items to fill in your day between meetings and other dead space. C Items can offer you a break from managing the stress of high level business planning and back to back meetings. Use C items as a buffer between competing demands just to take a breather. C items can offer a feeling of accomplishment when you are deeply embroiled in managing priorities. Give yourself a checkmark and smile.
9. Black Holes in Time!
   Here is a list of items we are all familiar with. I call them Black Holes. These are situations in my day where time just gets sucked in and lost. Be aware of these situations so you can steer around the “black holes”
   • Getting caught up with the overly social people. It is important to be grounded and connected with coworkers, but there are those instances where you find yourself squirming to get away. Recognize that discomfort and make a move to break the conversation and move on.
   • Droning on over routine items that can bet better handled by others. Issues that need your attention can be summed up in a brief email or weekly status meeting. Daily updates on routine activities are not necessary.
   • Staying in the groove. If you get stuck in a routine, you may start avoiding the bigger issues. Mix it up and keep your daily routine stimulating enabling you to stay sharp and engaged in strategic thinking.
   • Stalling or putting off tough jobs.
   • Relapse into crisis mode. Not following through with a disciplined time plan will ultimately collapse into anarchy.
   • Setting unrealistic goals and objectives that make it impossible to stay on track.