Time Management

Important Not Important
Urgent I II
Not Urgent III IV
This is a McFarlan’s grid of time management. One may expect about 50 – 75% tasks in III quadrant for better planning. High percentage is I quadrant shows a firefighting, resulting into fatigue, frustration. Quadrant II may indicate a mismatch in prioritization while quadrant IV may indicates recreational activities.
It's a new day and one is raring to go. Person leaves home with a clear work agenda outlined for the day. he gets to the office, and things don't work as smoothly. People inevitably fall prey to multiple distractions that consume time, energy and concentration.
Phone calls, text messages, e-mails and many more can be the reasons. Then there's the customer/ client crisis, co-workers who need help or just want to chat or emergency meetings that disturb schedule, traffic jams, rotational shifts and don't forget boss who needs updates on all the projects immediately.
One may end up wishing one has few extra hours in a day to complete the work? Here are a few pointers from professionals on how to make the most of work hours.
Get organized
This is the key to making time at the office more productive. If one returns from a meeting to find extra files, letters and documents all over the desk and even on the chair? Instead of following own schedule, he gets distracted by someone else's priorities.
One important part of getting organized is to maintain a clearly designated ‘In basket’ at the desk so that people do not dump files / documents on desk randomly.
Once there is ‘To do’ list for the day figured out, check on ‘In basket’ to know what needs to be done pronto and what can wait.
One may find it helps to take print-outs of important tasks to be performed and pinning them on softboard. Setting reminders on phone can help to as does maintaining an organiser or diary."
Meetings are necessary (although often they can be quite unproductive). Planning the time and venue for the next meeting during the current one will save time coordinating for the next. Check if team meeting is out of necessity or simply habit.
Un-clutter schedule. Establish an agenda for important meetings and distribute it to all the participants a few hours before the meeting. Stay on track, start and end on time. If anybody’s presence is not essential for the entire meeting, ask privately in advance if it might be appropriate for that person to excuse himself early.
One of the thumb rules may be to invite those for the meeting who can contribute to at least 50 per cent of the items on the agenda and discuss sensitive issues with the key participants before the meeting. The effectiveness of a meeting diminishes with groups larger than eight to ten so watch out for group size.
Choose your tasks carefully
Make sure that the work (and the time put in) adds value to the organisation and that it makes the best use of one’s skills.
Ask a simple question, "Will this advance my career within the company?" and "Will I able to do justice to this assignment?" before one decides to sit on a committee or take on an additional project.
One may earn a lot more respect by teaming up with a colleague whose expertise complements than by taking on additional work on own, overburdening and burning out.
Few people may like to finish the uncomplicated tasks at the beginning of the day. It saves energy and interest for the rest of the day for tasks that will need more concentration.
This is perhaps the most cliched, yet perhaps the most important and most under-utilised.
Create and maintain a ‘To do’ list at all times and make it a habit to update it on a continuous basis. A ‘To do’ list used well can be extremely effective. In addition to scheduling and planning, make a daily ‘To-do’ list that can include short-term and long-term goals. There's nothing more satisfying than crossing off another task that has been accomplished.
Include urgent and non-urgent items so one will never forget or overlook anything. Carry list ith you at all times and break down projects and assignments into specific action points. For instance, instead of noting 'Prepare the sales report', one may write
• Research sales trends for last quarter
• Review related files
• Assess current sales performance
• Meet with sales executives for feedback
Prioritise ‘To-do’ items and assign each task a 1, 2 or 3 rating. Items marked '1' are important tasks that must get done right away. '2' items are important, but not as important as '1' items. '3' items are things that need to get done at some point, but there's no rush."
Once ratings are assigned to each task, re-write ‘To-do’ list with all the '1' items on top (in order of importance), then the '2' and '3' items. Complete the '1' items first." Reminders on the computer and phone have become a way of life at the office, but one needs to stick to them for them to be effective.
This may seem obvious, but think of how many times one has put off an important (sometimes unpleasant) task so that one may call a friend, chat or do something else that really didn't need to happen at that time.
One may be perceived as a workaholic because he tracks the time given to friends. It is sometimes embarrassing but saves a lot of personal time."
Club similar activities together
Make all phone calls at one go. Check all e-mail at once. Transitioning from one type of activity to another takes time, so group like ‘To-do’ items together and complete them at a designated time.
Don't overfill the 24 hours that one has in a day. Instead maximise them by becoming aware of how to spend a day. If one maintains a routine, create shortcuts and use time wisely. One can get everything done... with time to spare.