Self Management: Time on Your Hands

By Dr. Sariah Barnes (during MUSST workshop)

The concept that “the more you sweat, the more you get”; may have been true back in the days when people grew what they ate. However, among today’s professionals, the ‘super-successful’ almost never work as hard as the merely successful.

Regardless of what your field is, you must be able to manage resources. The most important of these is –

Workaholics and neurotics are notoriously bad self-managers.

Good self-management means working fewer hours, because you are getting more done, in less time. It also means, gaining an understanding of your limitations and potential and determining the role you want work to play in your life, thus freeing yourself from the anxiety of dealing at cross-purposes and with unrealistic self-imposed demands.

Ultimately, what you accomplish in your career is the result of what you accomplish in a typical day. That is where careers are built and fortunes made.

Engineering a good day, in terms of sheer work output, pays off in three ways: -

You will achieve more and enjoy it more

It is not only a matter of reaching your goals, but also finding happiness, fulfilment, self-respect and making a contribution to society.

You will make more money

Let’s face it; you are paid according to your contribution. When you earn a reputation as a high output professional, you generally can expect consistent salary increases and promotions.

You will be balanced

Increasing your daily productivity gives you more precious time to do other things you enjoy – like spending time with your family, on your hobbies, doing community service or just lazing around. You will achieve a balance that will lead to better health, a more positive attitude and certainly less stress. Operating at a peak level of performance will give you a sense of control over your life.

Self-management is a career skill that becomes increasingly important in the professional world, as the pressure for efficiency grows, stakes are raised and competition gets hotter.

12 strategic ways to meet the challenge and get more done in the day

1. Plan your workday the day before

Make a list of your objectives, rank them in order of priority and then write down the time you estimate each will take. Be realistic – do not underestimate the time. It is best to plan your workday at the end of the day before, because: -

#You are more objective, and less likely to postpone the ‘high return’, but unpleasant, tasks.

#With ‘just completed’ day fresh in your mind, you know where you are on projects, and priorities come naturally.

#You can leave the office, mentally free, because all the ends are tied up. The next morning, you will ‘hit the ground running’, knowing exactly where to start.

2. Know your rhythms and blues

Think of yourself at six o’clock in the morning. What animal comes to mind? An eager beaver or something that the cat dragged in? When do you hit your stride – mid afternoon or midnight?

Schedule routine tasks for your low-energy or ‘blue’ periods. Important tasks and meetings, are scheduled for when you are bright and full of energy. It is more productive to work with your daily rhythm.

3. Deal with the worst first

Tackle the most difficult problem first thing. Deal with unpleasant people and issues straight away. Get your most dreaded assignments out of the way, and your day will take off. You will have created a momentum that will sustain you and you will demolish the rest of your projects with ease.

4. Do a preview review…

When you are travelling to work each morning, imagine that you are actually home. Run the day over in your mind. Everything went as planned, you met your deadlines, handled problems and enjoyed yourself……….. Now you are basking in the feeling of having met the challenges of another day. A preview review makes even the most over-committed day seem less intimidating, because you are actually creating a mental programme that you will follow unconsciously. You will be better prepared to make the most of your day, no matter what happens.

5. Be ruthless with time wasters

A plethora of meetings, details, phone calls and informal conversations can make it entirely possible to have a perfectly active day, in which absolutely nothing is accomplished. To avoid this, become ruthless. Develop a mindset that judges every activity in terms of whether it brings you closer, however minutely, to your goals.

This mindset enables you to see which meetings can be skipped, which appointments cancelled or cut short and which projects streamlined. You will know when to say – No. Even better, other people will tune in to your no-nonsense approach and learn to respect your time as much as you.

6. Become a dictator

You may not have access to a secretary or a typing pool, but if you do, mastering dictation will enable you to double your daily output. A good dictator can turn out a one-page letter in a couple of minutes and prepare the first draft of a ten-page report in less than an hour. When you are removed from the written mode to the spoken word, you will experience a dramatic increase in the quantity and quality of your communication.

7. Find out how you are spending your days

You may be surprised the only way to know how you are really spending your day is to keep a time log. A time log need not be a permanent routine; it is merely a diagnostic tool.

Here is how it works: For a full week, write down in 15-minute increments, everything you do in a workday. Most people resist time logs thinking that they take more time than they save. This is not true! The cumulative time you spend may be only 4-5 minutes a day, yet it can save you hours. A week’s worth of time logs will reveal misplaced priorities, recurring time waters and patterns of low productivity, of which you are totally unaware.

8. Work with people who keep their word

That goes for co-workers, employees, bosses, suppliers and even clients. When you know you can count on people to do what they say they will do, you can, in turn, make commitments and trust that for the most part, things will happen as planned.

Try this technique yourself sometime, with one of your people. When you give somebody an assignment, ask that it be finished by 5 o’clock in the afternoon. “Yes, no problem”, they will say to you. But when you ask, “Do I have your word on it”? They will often respond, “How about first thing in the morning”?

The point is you were going to get it first thing in the morning anyway. When you ask people to give their word, you will have increased immeasurably the chances of them keeping their promises.

9. Build concentration blocks

To ensure that you get your high priorities, you must set aside a portion of your day to think, create and plan. No interruptions, no phone-calls, no visitors – no distractions! Make an appointment with yourself, schedule a quiet hour, work at home, get to the office early or stay late. Most executives need at least two hours a day for this kind of focused work time. In fact, there will be days when you feel your only real accomplishment was made during your concentration time.

10. Play doctor

Most surgeons know two things about their day:

#They have to be in the operating room in the morning, and

#They have to be in their offices in the afternoon.

You must be able to design your day in much the same way: concentration time in the morning and meetings and appointments in the afternoon.

This can free you from racing back and forth, both physically and mentally from your desk to the conference room, to outside meeting, to the telephone. An added benefit is that when you commit yourself in blocks of time, your secretary or receptionist (if you have one), can schedule your appointments, freeing you from that time-consuming task.

11. Organise your tools

‘Tools’ refers to whatever it takes to get the jobs done: anything from a wrench to a tax schedule. If you do not have them-get them. If you can not get them maybe you are not equipped to do a particular job at that moment. Also, keep in mind that a desk is not a place to stack all the items you want to remember. It is one of your tools, meant to expedite the receiving and processing of information. Have only one project on your desk at one time and get rid of the things you are not ready to deal with.

12. Keep impeccable files

A key aspect of your effectiveness is being able to put your finger on exactly the data you need; you can not be too compulsive about keeping your files up to date and accurate.

Create an ‘aide memoire’ or ‘call up’ file to remind yourself of important deadlines and commitments. It will give you a place to put documents you will need in the future, along with a written reminder of what to do with them.