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How to Improve Your Time Management
by Charles Dominick
Published on this site: November 30th, 2005 - See
more articles from this month
10 Steps to Improving Your Time Management Today
- Step - Make a "things-to-do" list.
- Step - Determine the deadline for each thing-to-do.
- Step - Make "Accomplish non-planned tasks"
one of your daily things-to-do.
- Step - Determine how long each thing-to-do will
take. Be sure to estimate the time you will spend on your
"Accomplish non-planned tasks" thing-to-do based
on your typical day.
- Step - Schedule your things-to-do. Using a calendar
or planner, write down the days and times you will work
on each thing-to-do. Make sure you've planned to meet all
deadlines. For those things- to-do without deadlines, prioritize
them so that they can be done at a time that won't interfere
with your deadlines.
- Step - Do your things-to-do on schedule. As you
complete your things-to-do, place a checkmark next to them.
Place an "x" next to those that are canceled.
- Step - Minimize interruptions. Interruptions can
double the amount of time necessary to accomplish things.
Where possible, do non-urgent things (like reading emails)
in batches. Don't stop doing something unless you've planned
to stop or there is an emergency.
- Step - Use small pockets of time effectively.
If you only have 15 minutes or so before your next meeting
or lunch, focus on accumulating checkmarks rather than starting
huge projects. Use this time to knock off the things-to-do
that take little time such as returning phone calls, replying
to emails, or any other short duration task.
- Step - Add things-to-do judiciously. Rather than
working new tasks right away, schedule them - keeping in
mind priorities and deadlines of existing tasks. Adjust
your schedule so that you can still meet all deadlines.
- Step - Close out your list at day's end. Place
an arrow next to those things-to-do that you didn't accomplish
today and put them on tomorrow's things-to-do list. At the
end of each day, everything on your list should have a checkmark,
x, or arrow next to it.
After adopting this process, walk yourself through these
steps daily to plan the current day and evaluate your schedule
in the immediate future. Continually evaluate how these techniques
are working for you. And seek even better ways of managing
your time.
Good luck!!!
Charles Dominick, C.P.M., SPSM is the President
of Next Level Purchasing, Inc. Next Level Purchasing administers
the Senior Professional in Supply Management (SPSM) Certification
for purchasing professionals. To learn more about the SPSM
Certification, please visit: http://www.NextLevelPurchasing.com/spsm.html
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