No one teaches time management in school, and yet it is a skill everyone has to learn. Careers can be broken – or made – by the ability to handle a large workload in the most efficient way possible. Fortunately, there are a few basic tips that you can follow to get a handle on time management. Perhaps the biggest time consumer today is our email.
- Schedule eMail Time. Set aside 30-45 minutes each morning to review the emails that have arrived.
- Review Quickly. Don’t leave emails just sitting in your inbox. Look at the title and the first paragraph and organize the email properly.
- Unsubscribe. If an email source doesn’t interest you, unsubscribe. Don’t keep deleting them. If the source keeps sending you emails, then mark it as spam and block their email address.
- To Do List. If an email requires some thought before replying, move it to your “to do” list. Some email systems allow you to set flags.
- Forward to “Correct Owner.” If an email would best be handled by someone else, send it to them and ask them to review it.
- Schedule the Item. If it’s for a meeting, move it onto your calendar. Scheduling work time by topic or project can also serve as a folder for collecting items that need to be done while your mind is on that particular topic.
- Reference Filing. If it’s just for reference, put into a reference folder by month. You can easily toss out old monthly reference folders after a year or so.
- Touch it Once. As read an email, take action on it. The same is true for incoming mail, bills, etc. Touch it once to play more golf (or other activities).
- Do One Thing. Another good tip is to just admit that multitasking doesn’t work. Everyone – including the youth who claim they are masters at it – has productivity decreased by multitasking, so try to limit it as much as possible. Focus on an item or part of an item. See it through. Wrap it up and file it appropriately.
Most of us are on information overload and much of what comes across your desk and mine can be more efficiently managed. To have more time, you need to decide. Are you going to “deep-six,” return, re-direct, delegate, or do that email?
Now while you’re looking at your calendar, why not use the extra 30 minutes you’ll save every day to practice your golf swing? Schedule it to make it happen.
