One of the smartest things I ever did as a manager was scheduling my lunch after my staff returned from theirs. Schedule “me time” every day – hopefully during a part of the day that has a lull. In addition to supervising, you actually, you know, have your own work to do. Remember: It’s a pick-me-up perk, not a procrastination station. But if your morning break bleeds into lunch time and you’re still there, you’re wasting time. #Easytime clokc fullSuch perks are undoubtedly cool and you hope that employees feel like they can take full advantage. Some workplaces – notably some well-known startups – have awesome perks: juice bars, pool tables, arcade games and the like. It’s much more time-effective to fire off 15 two-minute emails in a 30-minute chunk than it is to interrupt your work and send those emails at disparate times of the day. #Easytime clokc windowsSet aside a couple of dedicated windows of time each day to deal with email, and then close it out. So turn off your pop-up and sound notifications. We couldn’t operate without but man is it distracting. It’s an after-school project that result in major league benefits. Take 10 minutes and organize your office. Never schedule a meeting with the office gap at the end of the day – unless you’ve brought a change of clothes for tomorrow! Clear Desk, Clear MindĪ cluttered workspace can result in stress and distraction. Either their grumbling tummies will tell them it’s time to go, or you’ll have a built-in excuse to wrap things up. Organize the meeting right before lunch, or immediately before another appointment. If you need to meet with one of the more verbose members of your team, be strategic with your scheduling. Strategic SchedulingĮvery office has one or two people who drone on endlessly and never get to the point. Then use the last 10 minutes to write up notes, plan any follow-up, or deal with issues discussed. If you host individual meetings in your office, take a cue from them and turn the hour you’ve scheduled into 50 minutes of actual face time. The appointment usually ends around the 45 or 50 minute mark. Therapists rarely meet with patients for an entire hour. Unless simultaneous input is required, why is everyone dropping what they’re doing to meet? They’ll be thrilled to be in the big league, and your valuable time will be saved.Īnd if you’re the meeting organizer, ask yourself if the meeting is absolutely necessary, or if digital communication – be it email, Slack, or Google Hangouts – would suffice. If you’re really not offering anything but your own department’s statistics, send an email. Too late to offer help or advice, we all just waited our turn to report and make a run for it. We spent hours sitting around listening to what happened in everyone’s department last week. Miss the Meetingĭo you spend endless time in meetings to which you contribute nothing? The Monday morning manager’s meeting was always mine. And end your day the same way: with 15 minutes of wrap-up time, to ensure you start tomorrow without the usual morning panic. Spend time planning the day, the upcoming week, organizing the materials you need, etc. Start your day with at least 15 minutes of settling-in time – no meetings, no phone calls, no emails. Clocks are an unnecessary distraction – especially that one on the wall that ticks loudly when it’s quiet! Start and Stop Smarter The clock faces stare back, taunting and unsympathetic. If you’re a time-waster, you probably look at (and stress over) them dozens of times a day. The only one you need is the one on your computer screen. But if you have dozens of clocks in workspace, get rid of them. Yes, there’s a clock right here in this blog post. Here are some easy time management tips to start using your precious resource wisely. But there are ways to save time at work beyond laying off Facebook and cutting back on watercooler conversation. Stop thinking of time as the enemy, and start thinking of time in more positive terms: a resource to be used, a commodity to be conserved.Ī CareerBuilder survey found that three of the top four productivity killers at work all revolve around digital distractions (the fourth killer: gossip). We do, however, have control over how we use it. Time is moving forward whether we’re on the bus or not. So since we can’t really manage time, we need to consider managing ourselves. Who can really manage time? Time travel isn’t possible yet, and neither are Zack Morris-style time-outs. “Time management” may be the biggest misnomer in the world. ← All blog articles Beat the Clock With These 14 Easy Time Management Tips
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