How to manage your time effectively

05 March 2004 by
How to manage your time effectively

1. Know where and how you spend your time You might think that keeping a record of how and where you spend your time is unnecessary. However, a time log is an excellent tool that can highlight both patterns and habits of time wasters and when and from whom your interruptions come.

2. Ask "what's in it for me?"
Knowing why you are doing something is crucial to the motivation of starting, doing and completing a task. So whether you are doing a job yourself or delegating it, ask yourself "what's in it for me?" or in the case of delegating, "what's in it for them?". If a task doesn't seem to have a purpose, then how can you be motivated to do it? When you have established a reason, keep reminding yourself of it.

3. Plan for success
The first stage to success is knowing what you want; the second is thinking about all the things you have to do to achieve it. When you've sorted this out, use a timeline to plan all the tasks you need to do in order to reach your objective. Remember to review your progress regularly.

4. Do things in the correct order
Prioritise your workload. If you need help with prioritizing, try reading Steven Covey's book Seven Habits of Highly Successful People. This will help you decide whether jobs need to be done now, by someone else, not at all or to be planned into a diary.

5. Follow the BANJOE principle
It's easy to fall into a pattern of doing the interesting jobs first and leaving the more boring ones until later. All this does is put off the inevitable. By following the BANJOE (Bang out Any Nasty JObs Early) principle there is a greater chance of getting all the jobs done and going home feeling satisfied.

6. Find out when you're at your peak
Our bodies and minds have peaks and troughs - times when we are feeling alert and raring to go and times when we are fidgety, bored and tired. Some people work better in the mornings, while others prefer the afternoons. Find out which time of the day suits you and plan the more difficult and important jobs then.

7. Take time to refuel
Remember that energy comes from what you eat and drink. Are you experiencing highs and lows due to high consumption of things like sugar and caffeine? If so, then be aware that certain food and drink can affect concentration levels and your overall effectiveness.

8. Delegate
If you've got too much on your hands, try delegating. If you understand what drives your team it'll make delegating easier and enable you to delegate to the most appropriate team member.

9. Write things down
Make sure that you write everything down on a To Do list. It'll make things easier to manage and you'll know instantly where you are.

10. Learn to deal effectively with interruptions
Educate the team about when you can and cannot be interrupted. And, most importantly, don't be afraid to use the best time-saving expression - "no".

Produced by Caterer-online in association with learnpurple

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