January 2013 A Month of Blogging - Day 6

Time Management and Organisational Skills

Time management and organisational skills go hand in hand, whether you are tech savvy or happier with a pen and paper the principles are the same.

I have ten main principles to time management.

1. Keep a diary. Electronic or paper it makes no difference but keep it up to date. Write every appointment in it both personal and business
2. Write a daily to do list. Where everything you have to do that day is listed and you can check it off as you perform the tasks
3. Prioritise tasks. Every task has a level of importance and a level of urgency. Do the urgent important ones first, then the urgent not so important ones, not urgent important are next up and you may never have to do the not urgent not important ones
4. Eat your frog every morning. We all have a slimy task we've been putting off whether its a call to someone or doing the filing. Do it first thing and you'll be amazed at the positive effect on your day
5. Stick to meeting time limits.  If a meeting should last an hour, schedule 1.25 hours and stick to it.  The more you practice this the better you will become at sticking to schedules and not wasting time
6. Schedule down time into your week.  Whether it is a reading day or a relaxing day or time with your partner make sure you schedule it or it may get lost and then you lose the work life balance.
7. Plan in Advance, make sure you know the night before what you are doing the following day, double check everything and confirm all appointments.
8. Minimise distractions, only check your email at key points in the day, only answer the phone when absolutely necessary (set time aside to schedule call backs)
9. Schedule 5 minute breaks throughout the day to walk outside or around the office, stretch and clear your mind to recharge your mental batteries and allow yourself to get re-focused on your work.
10. Remember your Goals.  Your goals are your aims you are working towards your planning and time management should all be steps towards them

Remember it doesn't matter if you do this on paper or electronically what is important is that you do it and also lose your addiction to "being busy" we are all busy there's a difference between being busy and working effectively.