Many people do take their time management skills seriously and what generally happens is that they do not accomplish their goals when they need to. Managing time is a very important skill that not only has to be developed but instituted as a routine discipline otherwise you will always fall short of accomplishing your desired goals. The problem managing your time properly is that people lack the formula that it takes for the time management skills process to actually work, and it is simpler than you think. How many times do you plan your week in your mind and then by the end of the week you have accomplished about 25 percent of those goals, if you continue that for a month you will have accumulated a large percentage of unfinished tasks that will keep piling up and pushing your progress so far back that you will find yourself in a large hole.
Taking Control for Time Management Skills to Work
There is as I mentioned a simple formula that can keep you on track that will not only eliminate stress but serve as successes that can improve your work status or pay. The first thing that many people have issues with is knowing how to say NO this is a common issue that is labeled a time bandit. Knowing how and when to say no will free you up to accomplish your tasks. Doing favors for other people can inhibit your time management skills progress. Many people either feel obligated to help others when they really need to attend to their own needs , you can only help others when your tasks are completed. Some other time bandits include not properly handling their emails. Employees spend 25-50% of each workday (2 – 4 hours) on email 36% of time spent on email is attempting to contact people, find information, scheduling meetings. Remember that only a small percentage need immediate response.
Below are some helpful email tips;
Keep messages focused, easy to read and brief
Don’t put anything in an email you wouldn’t want publicly broadcast
Make the subject line relevant and meaningful
Indicate if you need a response (what and when)
If it takes more than 2-3 emails to bring closure to a topic, make it a voice-to-voice conversation (it’s probably too complex for an email)
Using the Right Time Management Skills Tools
In addition to managing your emails and knowing how to say no, knowing how to prioritize your time is critical. This is where most people fall short because they do not institute a plan of actually of accomplishing their goals. You must select the goals that you want to accomplish, set a reasonable time frame then establish your priorities (the things that need your immediate attention), this is where most people get derailed because they let other things take over their priorities that could be done at a later time. You have to think like this; Crisis – urgent and important, Focus – not urgent but important, Waste – not urgent and not important and Trivia – urgent but not important. If you are able to assign your tasks to each of these categories you will be on your way to effective time management skills practice.
Steven Stasczak is a motivational speaker who facilitates professional speaking training and team building events/workshops. He spent his earlier career as a top business to business sales manager before beginning coaching and training around the U.S. professionally. His areas of expertise includes developing effective public speaking workshops and helping individuals overcome fear of public speaking. He also performs and facilitates leadership training , time management workshops and fun team building activities to align your team in the workplace