Time Management 5

An important part of good time management is the weekly project page and daily ‘to do’ list. The weekly page is overall ‘what I want to do’ for the coming week.

List your objectives for the week at the top in order of priority. Keep it no more than you can reasonably handle – three should do it. Underneath this list the steps you need to achieve the objectives, and prioritize the steps. Next is the estimate for the time you think each step will take, and what day of the week you need to do it.

Now you know what to do, and when to fit this in your schedule around your fixed times.

When you start each day you will have a list of things to do from the day before and some you will add. Fill in these tasks using the objectives from the week and you main goals as a guide.

Remember the matrix of important/ unimportant as well as urgent. These have priority in your daily work.

How will saying ‘no’ save you time? First of all, it will free you from non-essential tasks – all those things you do to please other people but that are not essential to your own life. They can add up to a great deal of time being spent on other people’s priorities.

You should be doing things that contribute to your own goals and objectives first; other people’s aims should be included only when you have the time, energy and inclination.

That’s all very well you might say, but how do you say no without seeming rude or aggressive? The important thing to remember is that however you refuse the work, the word should come in the first sentence. If saying no is too direct, then temper it:

….‘no, I’m sorry I can’t help with overtime this month …… but I can help out next month’.