POINTS
TO REMEMBER
10 Time Wasters To Be
Alert To As A Leader Or Manager
You can buy
additional memory for your computer to speed it up and make it work better. On
the other hand, the amount of time you have in a day is fixed. What that means
is we need to invest it wisely. So what are 10 time wasters to be alert to as a
leader or manager?
- Incomplete
information which means you cannot take a decision.
- Employees
coming in with problems that are important to them but not urgent.
- Telephone
calls, including mobile phone calls, coming in on a totally random basis.
- Routine
tasks that should be taken care of by someone on your team being delegated
upwards.
- Poorly
organised or poorly run meetings.
- Attempting
to do, or offering to do, too much in the time available.
- Being
overly optimistic in your estimates of how long things will take.
- Procrastinating;
either putting things off or leaving things partly completed.
- Not
listening and going off on the wrong track.
- Not
being willing to say ‘no’ when you are already fully utilised.
Boost Your
Productivity And Results
Ask
just about any leader or manager what their biggest challenges are and you are
almost guaranteed that a lack of time will be on their list. We all at the end
of the day have the same allocation of time yet some seem to get vastly
different results from others. So how can you boost productivity and results?
In
his excellent book, How To Save An Hour
Every Day, Michael
Heppell suggests that you start
with a big enough ‘Why?’. By that he means being clear about
why saving time matters to you. The chances are that you are missing out on, or
not getting enough of, something that really matters to you. What is it and why
does it matter anyway?
A time tracker is another great tool
for getting insights into where your time is going. I remember having to account
for every 15 minutes of the day when I worked in one of the Big 4 accountancy
firms. Sometimes it felt like a chore but it sure helped with focus.
Another
great strategy is to organise
things so that you can easily put your hands on them when you need them.
If you are one of the many professional people who like to hold on to things
just in case they are needed, you might want to invest in a couple of sacks and
get rid of stuff.
Cut
down the delaying and procrastinating and start taking decisions and actions to get things
done. The reality is things will never be easier when you put them off, they
will just be later.
Distinguish
between the ‘must do’ and ‘to do’ list. ‘Must do’ activities are those areas that are critical
to achieving your results. What are those for your role? If you don’t know,
make it a priority to find out.
Delegate
more rather than
holding on to stuff out of habit or because you wrongly believe that you are
the only one who could do it so well.
Hold
meetings only when you really need to. They can easily swallow up a bunch of time. When you
hold a meeting, make sure there is a defined outcome and time limit.
The
Bottom Line:
Mastering time management is an important area in being a successful leader or
manager and will require review from time to time. At the same time, it is
often small changes that can yield big results.
7 Secrets Of
Achieving Work / Life Balance
One
of the things I have noticed is that, despite all of the advances in technology
and gadgets, achieving some reasonable work / life balance seems to be a bigger
challenge than ever.
So what
are the secrets of achieving work / life balance?
Secret 1: Decide that
it matters to you
- It
seems obvious but you need to decide that getting some sort of sensible
balance matters to you.
Secret
2: Set boundaries
- We all
need money to live. At the same time, it is of little benefit if you are
so burned out that you cannot enjoy the non-work time. Set boundaries on
how much time you want to spend at work and stick to them.
Secret
3: Let others know your boundaries
- If you
are happy for people to contact you any time they like by ‘phone or on
your Blackberry, that’s fine. On the other hand, if you are not, make it
clear to others what is okay and what is not.
Secret
4: Turn off gadgets
- If you
are a doctor or on-call in your job, you need your ‘phone and email on. If
not, you can probably turn off your gadgets.
Secret
5: Ask yourself what you would say on your death bed
- I
remember a fairly new trainee saying to me when I worked at one of the Big
4 Accounting Firms, Do you want to be lying on your death bed saying, ‘I
wish I had spent more time at work’? Essentially, she was saying, Decide
on your priorities.
Secret
6: Focus
- It is
not about working harder; it is about working smarter.
Secret
7: Track your time investment
- Once
you start tracking where you are investing your time, you start to get insights
on where you need to change.
What
other secrets would you add?
Are You First To
Arrive And Last To Leave?
In
the modern business world, people seem to be working longer and longer. It is
all too easy to fall into the trap of being the first to arrive and last to
leave. How do I know this? Well simply because it was an area that I found a
challenge when working in the accountancy profession.
So
if you are first to arrive and last to leave, what can you do to address this?
Get clear on your
priorities
- You
have lots of things you could do. The question is what should you be
doing? Getting clear on your priorities is essential.
Focus
on your priorities
- It is
all well and good being clear on your priorities. At the same time, you
need to make sure that you are focussing on them. That means continually
checking what you are doing to make sure you are focussing on what
matters.
Discover
what can only be done by you
- In my
experience, most tasks can be grouped into 3 brackets:
- Things
that need doing and can only be done by you.
- Things
that need doing but not necessarily by you.
- Things
that might not need doing at all.
Learn
to delegate
- Delegation
is not just about getting stuff off your desk. It also provides a great
development opportunity. So learn how to and start delegating.
The
reality is that if we allow it, work will expand to fill the time we have
available. Remember, few things are so critical in management that they need
attention right away.
Work Smarter Not Harder
Sometimes delivering better results is not always
about work harder but about working smarter. Discover my
Secrets Of Managing Your Time
Time
is the ultimate limiting factor. It does not matter who you are; you have 24
hours in a day, 168 hours in a week, 744 hours in a month.
As
a result, how you manage your time is vital to the results that you get.
So what
are some of the secrets?
- Be
clear on what your priorities are and what you are expected to deliver.
- Plan
how you are going to invest your time.
- Keep a
track of where you are spending your time.
- Do what
you do best.
- Delegate
and empower others.
- Set
boundaries.
- Focus
on results.
- Keep a
sense of balance so that your productivity does not dip.
The truth
is, how you manage your time makes a big difference to your productivity and
results. So what have you found makes a big difference to managing your time?
7 Simple Tips To
Improve Your Work / Life Balance
The
more senior you become in the organisation, the tougher it can be to maintain
some form of work / life balance.
So what
simple tips do I suggest for improving work / life balance?
Tip 1: Set deadlines
- Have
you ever noticed that when you set a deadline for getting something done
or a timescale to do something, you somehow do it? Setting a deadline is a
bit like setting an intention which sends a signal to your mind.
Tip 2:
Prioritise well
- Whether
you believe it or not, some things are more important than others. Make
the point of identifying and prioritising how you will use your time.
Tip 3:
Be well organised
- Being
able to find things when you need them, whether in a computer or filing cabinet,
can pay big dividends.
Tip 4:
Plan things out of work
- If you
don’t, you will just end up staying that extra half hour, which will in reality
end up being two hours.
Tip 5:
Ask for help
- Don’t
suffer in silence. Ask for help if you are struggling.
Tip 6:
Focus on what matters
- Rather
than stuff that keeps you busy.
Tip 7:
Learn to switch off
- Tough
as it might be, you need to be able to switch off.
The truth
is, maintaining a healthy work / life balance can actually enhance your performance.
So what’s your first step?
5 Fast Actions To
Boost Your Personal Effectiveness
- Know
what your priorities are.
- Plan
your time utilisation to focus on your priorities.
- Periodically
record where you are spending your time so that you can be sure that you
are spending it appropriately.
- Do what
you do best and delegate or dump the other things.
- Get the
team you lead or manage taking on the things that they do best.
5 Tips To Boost Your
Personal Effectiveness
Tip 1
- Get
clear on what’s priority and what’s not.
Tip 2
- Invest
your time in the priority activities.
Tip 3
- If you
have something that you have to do, make sure that you have the skills to
do it.
Tip 4
- Keep
track of where you are spending your time so that you can be sure that you
are investing it wisely.
Tip 5
- Reflect
periodically and make changes where necessary to take your personal
effectiveness to the next level.
6 Tips For Achieving
Better Results
“Too much to do, too little time”, is an all
too familiar cry these days. So what can you do to get more done and achieve
better results?
- Know
what’s important and priority and what is just a time filler.
- Set
yourself challenging but realistic targets for each day, week and month.
- Set
start and finish times for every task.
- Don’t
leave things half completed otherwise you end up with a whole lot of work
in progress.
- Get
organised so that you can find things.
- Automate
whenever you can to boost productivity.
What
additional tips would you add?
