16 Tips for Better Time Management
22 January 2010
Read by 1742 persons
There is no one-size-fits-all rule. But there are some specific tips. Sometimes naive, sometimes relevant, often ironic, resulting from observations, experiences or simply common sense of researchers or managers...
Sort your activities
A activities are those you should undertake first: they are urgent and important;
B activities are important but not urgent;
C activities are urgent but not important;
D activities are neither urgent nor important.
Studies show that most managers start with D activities because they seem easier.
Don't neglect planning If you don't plan (for lack of time), you risk losing precious time later, which a good plan would have saved. Remember that people without goals are used by those who have them. Manage your time as a scarce resource
Sometimes by saving it, sometimes by reinvesting it in your "time capital" (library, secretariat, PC, GSM with answering machine, E-mail...) to generate "time interests", sometimes by learning to spend it sparingly (to lose it in appearance) to better invest it in future actions. Like everyone else, you "don't have time" to undertake new activities. But you can choose your priorities and prioritize the different times of your professional and personal life accordingly.
Don't react hastily to crises
You risk amplifying their effects and mobilizing your time, your energy and that of your colleagues to solve problems that you have created.
Count your manipulations
The documents in your "instances" file should not be handled more than three times. After this time, three actions are necessary for a document: throw it away, file it or annotate it for transmission.
Don't clutter your desk with files
...in the hope of not forgetting them. Not only do you risk misplacing their contents, but every time you see them, they divert your attention from the tasks you should be doing.
For any task, start "small"
By selecting a project that ensures you achieve it within a reasonable timeframe. Then gradually increase the difficulty. You don't light a fire with large logs, but with kindling.
Respect sociological laws
In organizing your work, don't forget the following "laws". - Parkinson's Law: work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. - Douglass's Law: files and documents accumulate until they fill the space available for their storage. - Pareto's Law: 80% of the value comes from 20% of the items and 20% of the value from 80% of the items (think about this when considering, for example, the number of files in your office or the documents you want to keep). - Murphy's Law: nothing is as simple as it seems; everything takes longer than you think; whatever can go wrong will go wrong. Meditate on Winston Churchill's phrase: "After a certain time, a problem that has not been dealt with is a problem half solved."
Don't let yourself get demoralized
...by the "Zeigarnik effect", whereby you remember interrupted or uncompleted tasks much better than those completed. The memory of projects that you no longer have time to finish pursues you much more than the memory of completed projects and makes you feel guilty.
Trust the statistics!
Statistical studies show that 40% of what worries you will never happen, 30% has already happened, 12% concerns your health, 10% represents various worries whose effects often cancel each other out, only 8% is truly legitimate and deserves your attention.
Prioritize in every sense of the term Always move solutions to the top of the hierarchy, problems to the bottom.
Beware of undifferentiated lists Avoid agendas of councils or committees written as lists, as they put problems of different levels on the same level and encourage the Parkinson effect.
Never wait for latecomers
By waiting for latecomers before starting a meeting, you reward them and penalize punctual people. Next time, those who were on time will be late, and the others will be even later.
Control what you delegate
If you delegate responsibilities, frequently check on the progress of your colleagues. The worst thing for your credibility: an "urgent" action that your colleagues will have, at your request, accomplished on time... and that you will have forgotten to follow up.
Don't value the outward signs of work
...by confusing activity and results, feverishness and achievements, efficiency (producing the expected effect) and efficiency (achieving good results). Your colleagues may lose sight of the important objectives in order to simply appear busy.
Compliment or criticize not your colleagues but their actions
Published January 22, 2010
emploi.france5.fr
Sort your activities
A activities are those you should undertake first: they are urgent and important;
B activities are important but not urgent;
C activities are urgent but not important;
D activities are neither urgent nor important.
Studies show that most managers start with D activities because they seem easier.
Don't neglect planning If you don't plan (for lack of time), you risk losing precious time later, which a good plan would have saved. Remember that people without goals are used by those who have them. Manage your time as a scarce resource
Sometimes by saving it, sometimes by reinvesting it in your "time capital" (library, secretariat, PC, GSM with answering machine, E-mail...) to generate "time interests", sometimes by learning to spend it sparingly (to lose it in appearance) to better invest it in future actions. Like everyone else, you "don't have time" to undertake new activities. But you can choose your priorities and prioritize the different times of your professional and personal life accordingly.
Don't react hastily to crises
You risk amplifying their effects and mobilizing your time, your energy and that of your colleagues to solve problems that you have created.
Count your manipulations
The documents in your "instances" file should not be handled more than three times. After this time, three actions are necessary for a document: throw it away, file it or annotate it for transmission.
Don't clutter your desk with files
...in the hope of not forgetting them. Not only do you risk misplacing their contents, but every time you see them, they divert your attention from the tasks you should be doing.
For any task, start "small"
By selecting a project that ensures you achieve it within a reasonable timeframe. Then gradually increase the difficulty. You don't light a fire with large logs, but with kindling.
Respect sociological laws
In organizing your work, don't forget the following "laws". - Parkinson's Law: work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. - Douglass's Law: files and documents accumulate until they fill the space available for their storage. - Pareto's Law: 80% of the value comes from 20% of the items and 20% of the value from 80% of the items (think about this when considering, for example, the number of files in your office or the documents you want to keep). - Murphy's Law: nothing is as simple as it seems; everything takes longer than you think; whatever can go wrong will go wrong. Meditate on Winston Churchill's phrase: "After a certain time, a problem that has not been dealt with is a problem half solved."
Don't let yourself get demoralized
...by the "Zeigarnik effect", whereby you remember interrupted or uncompleted tasks much better than those completed. The memory of projects that you no longer have time to finish pursues you much more than the memory of completed projects and makes you feel guilty.
Trust the statistics!
Statistical studies show that 40% of what worries you will never happen, 30% has already happened, 12% concerns your health, 10% represents various worries whose effects often cancel each other out, only 8% is truly legitimate and deserves your attention.
Prioritize in every sense of the term Always move solutions to the top of the hierarchy, problems to the bottom.
Beware of undifferentiated lists Avoid agendas of councils or committees written as lists, as they put problems of different levels on the same level and encourage the Parkinson effect.
Never wait for latecomers
By waiting for latecomers before starting a meeting, you reward them and penalize punctual people. Next time, those who were on time will be late, and the others will be even later.
Control what you delegate
If you delegate responsibilities, frequently check on the progress of your colleagues. The worst thing for your credibility: an "urgent" action that your colleagues will have, at your request, accomplished on time... and that you will have forgotten to follow up.
Don't value the outward signs of work
...by confusing activity and results, feverishness and achievements, efficiency (producing the expected effect) and efficiency (achieving good results). Your colleagues may lose sight of the important objectives in order to simply appear busy.
Compliment or criticize not your colleagues but their actions
Published January 22, 2010
emploi.france5.fr
