Rediscover Time

We all have the same 24 hours.  How we manage the hours and days in our work week, and how we define our work week, determines what we accomplish with the time.

One time management technique alone will not be the magic bullet for improving our performance. Periodically discovering new techniques or refocusing on forgotten techniques gives small boosts to our productivity.

• Email filters are an easy way to cut down on inbox overload. For a week or a few days track which emails are critical to your work and which are distracting time-wasters.  Set a filter to exclude the latter.  This goes beyond the organization's spam filter - exclude such items as routine marketing updates, newsletters with minimal relevant information, general solicitations from professional associations, etc.  

• Encourage staff who meet with you to be succinct.  There is a difference between their discussing genuine work issues and their using you as a shoulder to cry on.  Keep the conversation on the details of the problem or plan by continually bringing the discussion back to the issue at hand.  If necessary, ask them to take notes so they will not have to return to re-confirm decisions.  Think of this technique as a skill development opportunity for your staff as they learn to save your time and theirs.

• Limit your administrative time to specific hours and days in the week.  In your calendar, allocate times such as Monday morning or Friday afternoon or a couple of hours on Tuesday as administrative time.  If your calendar can be viewed by others, create a pseudonym for this time, or else people may interrupt it, considering administrative work to be unimportant.  At the time allocated, turn your full attention to the necessary administrative tasks, completing them with dispatch.  

Many publications and websites provide good time management techniques.  Seek out a new technique with some regularity and watch your own performance improve.