Successful Time Management For Dummies. Zeller Dirk

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СКАЧАТЬ Making decisions: Just do it

      One of the easiest things to put off is making a decision. Even sidestepping the smallest decisions can lead to giant time‐consumption. Think about it: You scroll through your email and save one to ponder and respond to later. You revisit a few times and still can’t bring yourself to a commitment. So you get more email from the sender. To stave off making a decision, you ask a couple of questions, which requires more time and attention. By the time the issue is resolved and put to bed, you may have invested five times more attention than if you’d handled it at once.

      Many factors create the confusion and uncertainty that prevent you from making sound but quick decisions. Often, part of the struggle is having too many options. Most people have a tough enough time choosing between pumpkin and apple pie at the Thanksgiving table. But every day, you’re forced to make decisions from choices as abundant as a home‐style cafeteria line. Having options is usually a good thing, but too much choice is overwhelming, even paralyzing.

      Being able to handle email, paperwork, and tasks leverages your time. Being able to decide on a course of action, whether you handle an issue or delegate it to someone else, creates a surplus of time.

Garnering Support While Establishing Your Boundaries

      Sometimes your family, friends, and co‐workers are your biggest challenge to managing your time successfully. Whose phone calls interrupt your train of thought when you’re on a roll? Who expects you home for dinner, despite a pressing proposal deadline? For whose meetings do you have to take a break from your critical research?

      Yet despite all the challenges they throw your way, these same folks can also serve as your allies as you pursue the quest of better time use. Getting them on board and perceiving them as comrades in shared goals is a great way to offset the interruptions that they also inevitably bring to the table.

       Balancing work and time with family and friends

      All work and no play, as they say, means something is askew with your life balance. Recognize that although your job and career are critical components of who you are, they’re also a means to support aspects of your life that, I suspect, are more important to you: your personal life, which includes your family, your friends, your community, and your leisure and social activities.

      

If you find yourself constantly putting in long hours at work for months on end, something’s off‐kilter: Either you’re not managing your time effectively, or something’s wrong with your job. No one – not even Wall Street lawyers – should be putting in 70‐hour weeks on a regular basis. A 70‐hour work week leaves little time for sleep, recreation, family, or relationships.

      Still, getting the support of family members is critical for success. There’s no doubt that my family comes before my job, but that doesn’t mean I can drop work whenever I want. So my wife, Joan, and even my two children, 13‐year‐old Wesley and 9‐year‐old Annabelle, are my supporters, and we all work together to manage our time so we have more of it together. There have been occasions based on workload and deadline when the only option to meet the deadlines is to be out of balance. Interestingly you’re reading words that were written in an out‐of‐balance time.

      The first step to creating time‐management success in out‐of‐balance times is to recognize the potential in advance; stress is reduced if you plan for out‐of‐balance times. The next step is to approach your family. For example, I discuss openly with Joan, Wesley, and Annabelle the need to spend more time at the office, traveling, writing.. whatever is causing my time to be out of balance.

      It’s important to determine and discuss the timeframe. In time management, short out‐of‐balance time periods likely won’t hurt your health or relationships. And at the end of the out‐of‐balance time period, offer a reward that’s shared by all: a reward that your family or friends can experience together. Discuss the reward and come to a consensus so everyone benefits, not just yourself or your business.

       Streamlining interactions with co‐workers and customers

      Most people find themselves in a work environment in which they regularly interact with others, whether co‐workers, business associations, or customers. The workday is rife with opportunities for interruption, distraction, and time‐wasting. In addition to the phone calls and cubicle pop‐ins, you have business appointments, associates who keep you waiting, or meetings that are unfocused and poorly run.

      Maintaining control of your time at work requires you to develop some ways to manage meetings, appointments, and other work interactions so they’re as efficient and productive as possible. Whether you initiate the interaction or you’re merely a participant, you can have some control over the meeting.

      Because of my background, I tend to have a soft spot for sales. If you’re in sales or a customer service capacity, in such positions, taking control of your time is a little more challenging. To make the sale, you want to take as much time as your prospect wants. And when addressing a service issue, your most important objective is to make the customer happy. But you can be successful in sales and serve your clients well and still keep control of your time. In fact, in Chapter 20, I show you how to speed up the decision‐making process during sales so you get a positive answer sooner.

Keeping Motivation High

      According to Earl Nightingale, the dean of the personal development industry, “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or worthy ideal.” His definition doesn’t confine achievement to a fixed point but instead presents success as a journey. Like most goals, mastering your time‐management skills isn’t something that happens overnight.

      

Throughout the process of working to improve the way you manage your time, you’ll occasionally encounter points where you start feeling disappointed, wondering whether your efforts are paying off. Whenever you hit those lows – and you will – remember to give yourself credit for every step you make in the right direction. One great way to stay motivated is to link incentive to inducement: In other words, reward yourself. For example, if you complete certain actions that tie to your goals, give yourself Friday afternoon off. Or savor an evening on the couch with a good movie or dinner at a favorite restaurant. Do whatever serves as an enticing reward.

      Take motivation to the next level by involving others in the reward. Let your spouse know that an evening out awaits if you fulfill your week’s goals before deadline. Tell the kids that if you spend the next couple of evenings at the office, you can all head for the amusement park on Saturday. I guarantee this strategy is a sure‐fire way to supercharge your motivation.

      As you work through this difficult but worthy bout of self‐improvement, keep your mind on the positive side and remember two simple truths:

       ✓ You’re human.

       ✓ Work always expands to fill the time you allow for it.

      No matter how productive I am, whether I have just a couple things to accomplish or a sky‐high pile on my desk, and whether I leave work on time or stay late, there’s always something that doesn’t get done. So I don’t get hung up on those things I don’t accomplish – I just keep my eyes on the goal, prioritize accordingly, delegate what I can, and protect my boundaries carefully so I take on only as much as I know I can handle while still remaining satisfied with all parts of my life. When you start to get frustrated about the never‐ending flow of work that comes your way, remind yourself that you’re blessed with more opportunities than time – and that’s not a bad place to be.

Chapter 3

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