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The Art of Time Management (part 2)

That was a short month! February is a good time to pay special attention to time management; the less time we have the more important time management becomes. It doesn't matter what you use to organize your day, how well intentioned you are, or how understanding people around you are. Without a system of some kind and a bit of discipline, you will ultimately suffer at the hands of lost time and opportunities.

Many people believe that the single most important tool in time management is your appointment book. While it is a valuable tool; right up there at the top of the list, I believe there is nothing more important than having a good solid system in place. There really isn't one sure fire system that will work well across the board; working systems are as unique as the people that create and use them. I can't tell you what will work for you, but I can tell you what works well for me.

Each morning I spend a few minutes gathering my thoughts for what needs to be accomplished during the day. I decide what needs to be done for sure, then I decide the best order in which to accomplish this; in short I am prioritizing. I then commit to this schedule by entering it into my calendar on my computer.

I use a palm pilot; when I am in the office my schedule is right there in front of me on my monitor, and while I am away it is conveniently located in my pocket. Part of my system is that I keep my Palm plugged in while I am in the office and sync it to my computer every time I make a change to my calendar.

I make a point of reviewing my day often, usually after completing each task. In this way I can keep an eye on my progress, and work on what is important for the day. Additionally my phone book is always right there with me; If I have some spare time while I am away from the office, I can make some phone calls. (By the way, a cell phone is another very good tool for time management; just don't abuse it. Otherwise, it can become more of a burden for those around you.)

The next thing I do is to organize my work space. Each of my clients have a folder with their project tucked neatly away inside. (I don't like to waste time looking for things.) I have a wire rack that I place these folders into.(I determined many years ago that neat and organized works best for me.) I place the projects for the day into a pile on the top of my desk. Of course they are in order with the highest priority project on top. As the day progresses I move the folders from the "get it done" pile to in front of me and eventually into the finished pile.

My day would then be pretty straight forward and easy if it wasn't for a little thing called interruptions! Now, interruptions aren't necessarily a bad thing. Telemarketers; bad, but if someone is calling to let me know that they need me to do some work for them; I consider that to be a good interruption. They are an interruption just the same. So a solid system must include something to deal with interruptions to your work flow.

Those of us who have ever worked in the world of large corporations will certainly recognize this word; Multi-tasking! This is an important tool within a good time management system. If it weren't for multi-tasking huge amounts of time and opportunities would be wasted. Imagine, if you will, a day where you start your first task and do nothing but that task until you have finished it.You come to a point where you need something you don't have available and need to wait. The phone goes unanswered, customers come and go without being helped, lunch comes and goes without the satisfaction of eating while you sit and stare into space . . . waiting.

I know what you are thinking, "No-one in their right mind would do that!" Well let me tell you, I have worked alot of different jobs over the years with alot of different companies and I have seen people that do just that! The good news is that you don't; how do I know? Simple, you own or operate a business; you just don't have the option. You work on many different things throughout the day, setting things aside when you need to wait, and picking them up again later when you are able to move ahead.

Now here are some good ideas from other people. Start your day early, give yourself some time before the doors open for business. The amount of work you can get done before the interruptions start is amazing! Also, stick to your hours of operation. If you stay late to do some work, turn off the phone and lock the door, give yourself some time during the day with absolutely no interruptions at all. Then there is something we talked about in the first part of this article; delegation. You can't do everything, so assign others to take care of some of it.

So to sum it all up, develop a system to help you manage your time. Some kind of mechanical step by step methodology that puts into motion the events that will make each and everyday productive. Use tools such as appointment books, a computerized calendar, cell phone, answering service, wire racks, and to mention the obvious . . .  a desk. I am sure if I gave it some thought I could come up with a rather large, all inclusive list. But I just don't have the time, so I am delegating that to you. Put some thought into how you manage your time and put a system into place. You will be glad you did!