Time Management For A Better Job

By Author: Likithasriram
Total Articles: 7
Comment this article

There are certain signs which help us to identify time wasters e.g. messy desks, missing appointment and rescheduling it later, tired and unable to concentrate, can't find things etc. As per survey on an average a normal spends around 2 hrs in a day, which can be considered as wasting time. Let us see some of the interruptions, which take our time and ways to handle these interruptions.

1. Telephone calls :
a) Promotional calls need to be kept very short and avoided if needed considering our need and the products being offered.
b) Where ever necessary usage of email should be preferred over telephone calls, so that we can prioritize this communication as per our convenience.
c) Stand during call, don't put your feet up while speaking on calls and in case of deadlines to meet, you must keep something in view that you are wanting to get next
2. Handling people :
a) In case of visit made by any person like neighbor, sales-man while we are in the middle of something important such visits should cut in short with minimum discussion.
3. Procrastination:
It is defined as the tendency ...
... to delay or differ things to the last moment with the result being that the goal is not achieved or deadline is missed e.g. delaying payment of bills till the last day, deferring payment of fees till the last moment etc. The best way to handle procrastination is applying the TNT rule i.e. Today Not Tomorrow rule and do the activities immediately without any delay. Mark Twain said that if you want to kiss a frog don't look at it too long unless of course you enjoy suffering.
4. Missing or forgetting Priorities:- To handle this tendency we need to develop the military rule of Ready Aim Fire. Too often we fire without getting ready or aiming, the result being we fail in these activities which we tried to perform without any planning or organizing.
These are the times when we need to stop, think what we really want to accomplish, how this goal will add value to our profile, get ready, then aim for the goal, and then fire i.e. start working towards achieving this goal. A little bit of time invested in extra planning ahead of time can save a whole lot of hours needed for its execution. By planning ahead we often remain focused on our true priorities instead of getting sidetracked by little not-so-important events and can divert this extra time towards other priorities. Plan each day, each week, each month and remember you can always change your plan but only once you have one. Take the first step and start planning. Walt Disney said If you can dream it, you can do it. This he said at the inauguration of Disneyland which was built in only 366 days, from ground-breaking to first day open to the public.

Secret of Time Management:

You CANNOT manage time. Time is going to happen and you cannot manage it. i.e., no matter whatever happens you will still have 24 hours a day. What we have tried to do above is manage behavior, the way we act or the way someone else acts to get your work done. Our worst time management problem we will encounter is ourselves and the reason is we all are creatures of bad habits and it is very hard to change bad habits. We tend to resist change, just like a balloon resists changing its shape when you push it. You have a bad habit and you want to change but nothing happens.. So what we did above is trying to get rid of these bad habits and replace them with good ones.

A short review on time management by a professional from Harneedi. Hope you enjoyed the article and try to implement in your career.