Time Management TechniquesI am often asked about time management techniques. People often tell me in my consulting practice that they have too much to do and not enough time. Here I try to give you a question and answer format that you can apply to your own experience. Time management question 1I have so much to do and I want to tackle everything at once. On any one day I might work on a report, visit a client, have meetings, or organize an event. Things are hectic and my to-do list is overflowing.Time management technique 1 - PrioritizeIt is not unusual for us to be overwhelmed by work with not enough time to do it in. In this scenario the trick is to prioritize. I find the best way is to plan your work and then work your plan. I suggest that you do this on a weekly basis.On Sunday night plan the things that you need to do this week and then funnel this down into a daily prioritized to-do list. Make sure that you are doing the highest priority tasks on your to-do list. Time management question 2I have too much to do and everything is important. I have employees that can help but they are busy but I think they are busy doing the wrong things.Time management technique 2 - DelegateThis may be the perfect time to delegate to your employees. Delegation not only frees up your time, but if done well can be a great training opportunity for your employees.Since your colleagues are busy doing things that you (the boss) feel are not so important, this may be the time to delegate and empower your employees to take on more responsibility. Here are some steps to effective delegation. Time management question 3I don't know what the problem is but I just don't seem to have enough time. It is common for the day to be nearly over and I am only half way through my to-do list.Time management technique 3 - Assess your time and apply the 80-20 ruleThis is a really common problem, and is indicative of a time management problem. One time management technique to get to the heart of this is to do a time management inventory.The proverb that "You can't fix an issue until you have identified the problem" is true of time management also. Once you have done a time inventory then you will be able to identify any time wasters or ways that you can use your time more effectively. Building on the previous technique, a good time management activity to do after you have assessed your time is to apply the 80-20 rule. This gets you focussed on the 20% of activities that contribute to 80% of your impact. Looking over your time usage, mark your activities as priority A, B or C. How much time are you spending on priority A items. For the next week try to increase this time. The 80-20 rule should be rigorously applied to your time management. Every time you do a task, ask yourself "Is this a high impact (20%) task?" Time management question 4I have so much going on that I don’t know where to start. Basically I feel overwhelmed with everything that I have to do.Time Management Technique 4 - Apply Getting Things Done principleFor something like this I find a good thing to do is to get everything down on paper. Get all the things that are floating around in your head, all the things in your email, and in other places that you need to do – into one list of things to do.This technique is one aspect from Getting Things Done, a comprehensive time management technique. By putting things down on paper you get them out of your head and in doing so, become more energetic. Set aside a good portion of the day to do this. Once you have your list of things, from doing shopping to planning your holiday or painting your house; you can put these into an action list which can be incorporated into your planning. After doing this your mind will be clear of the clutter that is holding it back.
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