Time Management : Set Priorities to Get the Right Things Done · PRIORITIES IN GOAL SETTING Michael Gerber, the best-selling busi-ness author, explains that professional priorities

TimeManagement

JOHN HOOVER

B E S T P R A C T I C E S :

SET PRIORITIES TO GET

THE RIGHT THINGS DONE

PREFACE

1 PRIORITIZE YOUR TIME 1 Managing Time and Goals 10

Prioritizing 19Making Lists 24Managing Your List and Priorities 36Getting It Done 42

2 ORGANIZE YOUR TIME 45 Scheduling 50 Project Schedules 60

3 USING YOUR TIME EFFICIENTLY 67 Managing Distractions 68 Maintaining a Healthy Rhythm 86

Contents

v

4 TIME MANAGEMENT IN THE WORKPLACE 91

Respecting Other People’s Time 96 Keeping Your Team Focused 111 Keeping Your Boss Focused 123 Committing to Personal Change 127

OFF AND RUNNING 130

RECOMMENDED READING 138

INDEX 146

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CREDITS

COVER

COPYRIGHT

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

Preface

Why do some people manage their timeso effortlessly, while others are alwaysbehind? How can you stay on top of dead-lines when obstacles crop up right andleft? Is there a trick to moving ahead onlong-term goals at the same time that youare dealing with your boss’s last-minuterequests?

In this book, we distill the wisdom ofsome of the best minds in the field of timemanagement to help you make use of yourtime more effectively and achieve yourlong-term goals. The language is simpleand the design colorful to make the infor-mation easy to grasp.

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Quizzes help you assess your knowledgeof time management. Case files show howpeople have addressed their own time-management problems. Sidebars giveyou a big-picture look at managing timeeffectively and highlight innovative, out-of-the-box solutions worth considering.Quotes from business leaders and experttime managers will motivate you as youtry to make every minute of the day count.Finally, in case you want to dig deeper intotime-management issues and other chal-lenges of the workplace, we recommendsome of the most important business booksavailable. The authors of these books bothinfluence and reflect today’s thinking aboutmanaging time and related managementissues. Understanding the ideas they coverwill inspire you as a manager.

Even if you don’t dip into these volumes,the knowledge you gain from studyingthe pages of this book will equip you tomanage your time more effectively everyday—to help you make a difference to yourcompany and in the lives of the people whosupport you.

THE EDITORS

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�PRIORITIZEYOUR TIME

“Time is the scarcestresource of the manager;if it is not managed,nothing else canbe managed.”

—Peter Drucker,management guru and author

(1909–2005)

�T

he 86,400 seconds in aday may sound like alot, but they go fast. Nomatter how quickly time

seems to fl y by for you, even themost skilled time manager’s hours,minutes, and seconds tick by atexactly the same rate.

T I M E M A N A G E M E N T

2

HOW DO YOU PERCEIVE TIME?

Read each of the following state-ments and indicate whether youagree, somewhat agree, or disagree.Then check your score and study theanalysis at the end.

1. Most of the things I do all day atwork are mechanical and not per-sonally gratifying.

� � Agree

�� Somewhat agree

�� Disagree

2. Most of the things I do all day areimportant to my employer but notto me.

� � Agree


�� Disagree

3. Most of the things I do all day areroutine, and my employer doesn’treally benefit from them either.

� � Agree


�� Disagree

Self-Assessment Quiz

P R I O R I T I Z E Y O U R T I M E

3

4. At home, most of the things I doare routine and don’t really benefitme or anybody else.

� � Agree


�� Disagree

5. At home, most of the things I doare important to other people butnot to me.

� � Agree


�� Disagree

6. At home, most of the things I doare mechanical and not personallygratifying.

� � Agree


�� Disagree

7. My priorities are set by others atwork.

� � Agree


�� Disagree


4

8. My priorities are set by others athome.

� � Agree


�� Disagree

9. If I had the choice, I woulduse my professional time muchdifferently.

� � Agree


�� Disagree

10. If I had the choice, I woulduse my personal time muchdifferently.

� � Agree


�� Disagree

SCORING

Give yourself 3 points for every ques-tion you answered “Agree,” 2 pointsfor every question you answered“Somewhat agree,” and 1 pointfor every question you answered“Disagree.”



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ANALYSIS

23–30 You see yourself as a victimwho has been robbed ofcontrol over your time. Youdon’t feel empowered toset your own priorities or todetermine how your time isused. As a result, much, ifnot most, of your time feelswasted.

17–22 You might be ambivalentabout the demands on yourtime. You accept the factthat life is about compromiseand have compromised yoursout of necessity and apathy.

10–16 You have a healthy outlookon how to use time andkeep your priorities straight.In your life, you maintaina healthy balance betweenwork and play.


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Some people seem to get so much more done.It’s not because they have more time, however,it’s because of their skill at time management.Managing your time will positively affect yourdaily output, your career and fi nancial goals,and, ultimately, your success.

THE WASTED HOUR

A manager earning $75,000 per yearwho squanders just one hour a daydue to lack of organization costs anemployer some $9,000 per year. Usingthe same formula, here’s what othercomparable time-wasters cost theircompanies:

Salary Lost annual profit$45,000 $5,625$55,000 $6,874$65,000 $8,125$85,000 $10,625$95,000 $11,875$105,000 $13,125$200,000 $25,000

If all of these managers worked for thesame firm, they would drain $81,294from the company’s bottom line eachyear.

SOURCE: The Organized Executive by StephanieWinston (Warner Books, 2001).

Behind the Numbers


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“Time is the substance of our lives,” writesAlexandra Stoddard in her book, Time Alive. Sheexplains that we don’t create time in our livesbut instead “create our lives in time.” But peopletoo often feel that, in their personal and profes-sional lives, time is running them. They feel theyonly have time for one life—personal or profes-sional—but not both. The difference in givingyour time more meaning or making it moreproductive is not found in trying to speed up or

slow down your days. It is what you choose to dowithin the time frames that constrain us all thatmakes the difference. Are you taking advantageof the time that’s available to you?

Some people seem to have been born with anatural understanding of time management.Fortunately for the rest of us, it’s a skill that canbe learned and developed. Leading organiza-tion expert and best-selling author Stephanie

“One cannot even thinkof managing one’s timeunless one fi rst knowswhere it goes.”

—Peter Drucker


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Winston claims that senior executives and CEOsseem to possess unique time management andorganization skills that enable them to dramati-cally increase their productivity. Indeed, peoplewho are good at managing their time have strongskills in several key areas. They have a clearvision of their big-picture goals at work and inlife—long-term, yearly, monthly, weekly, anddaily goals. They are skillful at breaking thesegoals down into smaller units, and they knowhow to translate these small units into action-oriented to-do lists fi lled with tasks. Finally, theyunderstand that achieving long- and medium-range goals means crossing off every task theycan on their to-do list, every day.

PRIORITIES IN GOAL SETTING

Michael Gerber, the best-selling busi-ness author, explains that professionalpriorities are an essential element of asuccessful business. He believes thatmanagers should set appropriate goalsand then specifically choose to spendtime on productive tasks that will helpachieve those goals.

His bottom line: Don’t waste timeon things that don’t bring more life toyour business.SOURCE: The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E.Gerber (Collins, 2005).

The BIG Picture


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Ultimately, how well you manage time boilsdown to your level of personal motivation. Howwilling are you to learn from the mistakes you’vemade about using time in the past? How will-ing are you to go after the things you know areimportant to do for the future? Most peopleknow what needs to be done; they even knowhow to do it. They just don’t have their priori-ties straight at the moment they make decisionsabout how to spend their time. Being more effi cient in the present will help you achieve the

THE ELEMENTS OF GOAL MANAGEMENT

Managing your time is predicated onsetting and accomplishing your goals.These are the three elements of goalmanagement:

• Long-term goals – These are the pur-poses toward which you direct yourefforts. Typically, long-term goalsare completed in a year or more.

• Objectives – These are the stepsneeded to achieve a long-term goal.Objectives are typically completedin a month or more.

• Tasks – These are the series ofdaily and weekly actions required tomeet your objectives.

• POWER POINTS •


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future of your dreams. First, however, you needto motivate yourself to change some of yourthinking and your habits.

MANAGING TIME AND GOALSIn one sense, time management is about manag-ing your goals. If you know what you want toachieve in the future, you can fi gure out how touse your time in order to get there. To help youget the right things done—that is, get where youwant to go at work and in life—it’s important toline up your daily actions and your long-termgoals. Thus, the fi rst step is setting the right long-term goals and then making sure your objectivesand daily actions support those goals.

GoalsA goal is a purpose toward which you directyour endeavors. For example, your goal could beto increase your company’s sales revenue by 15percent. A soccer team’s goal might be to win theannual championship. Another goal might be toearn an MBA degree.

There’s an art to setting goals. The mosteffective goals are specifi c and measurable andshould be motivating. If a goal is too vague—for example, the resolution to make your fi rmthe “best company in the world”—you willnot be able to monitor your progress towardthat goal, or even know whether or not youhave achieved it. Does the “best company inthe world” mean “greater sales than any other”or “a greater return on sales than any othercompany”? Does it mean that your employee


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retention rate is the highest of the fi rms in yourfi eld? If the goal you articulate can’t be mea-sured, take another stab at defi ning it.

An effective goal is also ambitious but notimpossible to achieve. For instance, a goal

KEEPING YOURSELF MOTIVATED

It’s important to keep your energy andmotivation high when you’re trying toimprove your time-management skills.To avoid losing momentum, considerthe following:

�� Do write down your goals and postthem in a prominent spot whereyou’ll see them regularly.

�� Do remember what you ultimatelyhope to achieve. Keep your eye onthe prize, so to speak.

�� Don’t forget why you’re doing whatyou’re doing.

�� Do work with a teammate who willkeep you honest about your prog-ress—and compliment you on yourefforts.

�� Do celebrate and reward yourselfwhen objectives are met and goalsare accomplished.

Dos & Don’ts R


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of earning an MBA within 6 months is notrealistic; getting the degree within 2 or 3 yearsis reasonable. Assigning a reasonable amount oftime for the completion of your goals is essential.Only if you’ve established a clear and realisticdeadline will you be able to determine how tobest accomplish that goal. How you defi ne along-term goal is, to some degree, up to you: Isit a goal you want to achieve in 5 years, 1 year, 6months, or 3 months?

Regardless of what that time frame is, strongtime managers break down their long-termgoals into objectives. If your long-term goalis to fi nish a particularly complex project

THE BASICS OF GOALS

A goal is a purpose toward which youdirect your endeavors.

• Goals should be specific andmeasurable.

• Effective goals are ambitious butnot impossible to achieve.

• Assigning a reasonable amountof time to complete your goal isessential.

• To successfully achieve your goals,break them down into objectivesand tasks.



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within a year, for example, your objectives willstate what you need to do in the next month,3 months, 6 months, and so on to meet yourlong-term goal.

To move toward achieving these objectives,effective time managers break these objectivesdown further into tasks—things that you need

THE BEST TIME

Some times are better than others forcertain tasks. When the sun comes up,so does your blood pressure. With high-er blood pressure, you’re good to riseand shine. Your temperature goes up aswell, and your metabolism gets readyfor work as you do. At midday, yourliver enzymes spring to action, ready todeal with your lunch. After dinner, yourpineal gland cranks out melatonin, thehormone that makes you drowsy. Youneed to pay attention to your own bodyclock to determine which part of theday is best for you to make decisions,avoid making decisions, engage inphysical activity, do your most creativethinking, and mentally process newinformation.

SOURCE: “Unwinding the Body Clock” by DanaBauer, Research Penn State (October 7, 2004).

Outside the Box


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to do in the short term—within the week, theday, or the hour. This process of dividing a long-term goal into smaller segments is also knownas chunking. Look at a goal as you would a bigbar of chocolate. It’s just not possible to stuffthe whole thing in your mouth at once, even ifthat’s your fi rst impulse. So you break it intopieces: First, you divide it in halves or quarters,and then you break apart the individual squares.Most people eat the chocolate bar a square at atime—and it doesn’t take long for the whole barto disappear.

The most important thing to rememberis not to obsess about your long-term goal,though you are thinking about it, discussing itas appropriate, and perhaps jotting down notesto yourself about it on occasion. This will helpyou remember the direction you’re headed,as you focus on the chunks that you havedetermined will take you there. Keeping yourultimate goal in the back of your mind ‘fl avors’the chunks you’re doing at any moment andgives them more meaning than they mightotherwise have.

Remain focused on implementation andaction. Achieve your tasks and objectives, andyou’ll hit the big target right where and whenyou’re supposed to. As long as your goal-settingachieves the proper traction, you’ll reach yourdestination, no matter how far down the roadit is. When working toward your goals, remem-ber the Eastern proverb that wisely states “ajourney of a thousand miles begins with asingle step.”


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Objectives Objectives are smaller goals that must be com-pleted in order to achieve a long-term goal. Forexample, the soccer team that wants to qualify

for the annual championship play-offs (their goal) must win enough games during the season.Winning each game is their objective. If they winenough games—that is, meet their objectives

“Don’t say you don’thave enough time. Youhave exactly the samenumber of hours perday that were given toHelen Keller, Pasteur,Michelangelo, MotherTeresa, Leonardo daVinci, Thomas Jefferson,and Albert Einstein.”

—H. Jackson Brown,author of Life’s Little Instruction Book


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during the season—the soccer team will achievetheir long-term goal of making the play-offs.Reaching objectives moves you closer to achiev-ing your long-term goals.

If you’re responsible for the performance ofothers in your department or work area, youneed to be sure your employees understand the long-term goals everyone is working toward.Then explain how the objectives you’ve set foreach employee help to achieve those long-termgoals. Describing how these objectives fi t in thelarger picture will give meaning and purpose toeach employee’s work.

When monitoring the progress of youremployees’ objectives, don’t be too rigid. Whensomeone is meeting objectives like monthlysales or production goals with aplomb, don’t

THE BASICS OF OBJECTIVES

Objectives are incremental steps onthe way to achieving a long-term goal.

• Failing to reach objectivesjeopardizes the long-term goal.

• Reaching objectives buildsconfidence.

• Completing objectives on timekeeps goal achievement onschedule.



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tell him, “That was great. Now give me 12 moreweeks just like that one.” The pressure mightbe too much and the bar set too high, leadingthe person to bail out emotionally. It’s better toencourage the employee incrementally. Say, “Let’stry for those numbers again next month.”

TasksReaching your objectives requires a series ofactions or tasks. Tasks are the most specifi c stepsneeded to achieve an objective, and, in turn, along-term goal. The amount of time required tocomplete a task can vary from a couple of hoursto a couple of weeks.

In order for a soccer team to win games(objectives) and reach the play-offs (the goal),team members must practice before each game,

IT’S UP TO YOU

The only one who can decide whetheryou are using your time productivelyis you. Ask yourself: Are you achievingwhat you want for yourself and yourfamily through your use of time? If theanswer is yes, then you’re managingyour time well. But if you’re constantlyswinging into periods of frantic activ-ity, you need to rethink your use oftime and learn how to manage it moreefficiently.

The BIG Picture


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review the roster of players, and strategizeaccordingly. Winning a spot in the play-offsultimately comes down to how well the teammembers accomplish these tasks. Tasks areactions that you can accomplish and check off.They give “traction” to objectives and, ultimately,to goals. Without tasks, you’re spinning yourwheels. Tasks help you catch hold of the pave-ment and move forward.

When goals seem overwhelming or intimi-dating, you break them into objectives. Whenobjectives seem daunting, you break them intotasks. If a task seems too time-consuming or

THE BASICS OF TASKS

Although tasks are the smallest incre-ment in time management, they leaddirectly to the successful attainment oflarger goals.

• Tasks are critical to achieving long-term goals.

• Tasks can be accomplished in a fewminutes, hours, or days.

• Tasks must be taken as seriously asyour larger objectives and goals.

• Tasks that seem intimidating shouldbe broken down into smaller actionitems.



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complex to tackle all at once, give some thoughtto how you can break it down into “actionitems”—items that can usually be completedwithin hours or a day.

Don’t ignore or minimize the importance oftasks just because they’re small. If you make apoint of accomplishing each day’s tasks, the bigpicture will take care of itself. If you tell yourselfthat you’ll get a task or a certain number of tasksdone by 10:00 a.m. and then succeed, the feelingof accomplishment is gratifying. You feel thatmuch closer to achieving your objectives andreaching your ultimate goal, which is an encour-aging feeling on its own.

PRIORITIZINGIn our complex business world, you can’t waituntil you have reached one long-term goal beforeneatly moving on to the next. On any givenday, you will be working on short-term tasksassociated with multiple long-term goals andobjectives. So how do you decide which to dofi rst? You prioritize them.

But how do you decide which tasks takepriority over others? Which tasks should becompleted fi rst, second, third, and so forth?The fi rst step is to have a clear understandingof what’s involved in each task by asking thefollowing questions—who, what, when, where,why, and how.

Who? Who needs this to be done—your boss,a customer, a coworker, or a subordinate? Whowill be performing the task? Who will benefi tfrom this? Does the person asking you to do this


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task understand the demands it will make onyour time and energy?

What? Exactly what are you required to do? Isit valuable in the big picture? Does the benefi t ofdoing the job justify the investment of your time,energy, and resources?

When? By what date do you need to completeyour task? Do you have the time to accom-modate this request? Former president DwightD. Eisenhower explained that truly importantthings are rarely urgent and urgent things are

BEING EFFICIENT VS. BEING EFFECTIVE

It’s possible to be efficient withoutbeing effective. In other words, youcan be busy without moving towardyour goals. In order to determinewhether you are using your timewisely, answer the following ques-tions, “Am I efficient only at doingunimportant work? Am I busy justdoing things, or am I getting thingsdone?” To ensure that you are beingboth efficient and effective, it’s criti-cal that you match your priorities withthe right tasks, and focus most ofyour attention on those things thatwill help you reach goals. That’s timewell spent.

THE BOTTOM LINE


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PRIORITIZING TIPS

If you are having trouble dealing withyour workload in a reasonable amountof time, it might be time to considerthese tips. Followed routinely, they willmake a seemingly endless list of tasksmore doable.

�� Do ask yourself the basics:Who, What, When, Where, Whyand How.

�� Do make lists and stick to them.According to experts, lists areone of the most effective timemanagement tools.

�� Do allow yourself more time thanyou think you need to performnecessary tasks.

�� Don’t let distraction sabotage yourlist of tasks.

�� Don’t forget to factor in timesinks like e-mail and returningphone calls.

�� Don’t fall into time traps likeprivate net surfing or excessivechatting with coworkers.

Dos & Don’ts R


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rarely important. Unimportant things usuallybecome urgent because of poor planning. Keepyour priorities in mind as you take on new work.

Where? Are there any geographic differencesthat will have an impact on the timelines of thetask you’ve been assigned? Are there time-zonedifferences, for example, that will need to betaken in consideration? If you are working withsomeone in a different offi ce, state, or country,do you need to consider the time it will take totraffi c communications or documents back andforth between those two locations?

Why? Why have you been asked to completethis task? Why is it necessary in the context oflong-term goals? Understanding the big picturewill help you stay focused and prioritize better.

SIGNS OF POOR TIME MANAGEMENTWhen a workplace is in a constantstate of emergency, it’s usually a resultof poor time management. In managingyour own time, be sure to anticipatethe possibility that others may be oper-ating in a state of chaos. Watch out for:

• Constant last-minute pleas to beginor finish projects

• Exhausted staff members

• Harried and harassed bosses

Red Flags �


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TAKE ACTION

CREATE A TO-DO LIST OF TASKS

SET OBJECTIVES

DEVELOP LONG-TERM GOALS

REPEAT DAILY

WORK FLOW TOOLS

MANAGING TIME BETTER


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How? How should you complete the task? Howwill your completed task be measured or evalu-ated? “How” something needs to be done has ahuge effect on time management decisions andon the quality and cost of the task.

MAKING LISTSYou’ve heard the advice a thousand times:“Write things down.” Yet you still try to carry

“We are far moreproductive than perhapsany other generation inhistory. We now havethe tools—technological,strategic, and personal—that can help us inour efforts to manageour time, enhance oureffi ciency, and bettermanage our lives.”

—Marc Mancini,author of Time Management


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things around in your head. Busy, stressed-outmanagers are in a class by themselves when itcomes to the number of important details oraction items they need to be on top of. It goeswith the territory.

Writing things down has a surprising benefi tbeyond merely helping you remember importantinformation. After writing down your list of

THE COMPUTER TO THE RESCUE

Computers and the digital age havegiven us the ability to do more—andkeep track of more—than ever before.These are some of the benefits of usingtechnology to manage your lists:

• Updating a list on a computer isfaster than rewriting a list on paper.

• Knowing where your list is saves youthe time of searching for it.

• Storing old lists digitally allows youto refer back to them if needed.

• Setting up e-mailer reminders—afeature of many programs—alertsyou when something is due.

• Sharing lists with others is easy todo when lists are created and storeddigitally.

Outside the Box


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what has to get done, you’re more likely toexperience a sudden “aha” moment about thebest way to accomplish it and the order in whichto get specifi c things done. That will help you domore in less time.

According to many time-management experts,writing down lists of tasks is the key to effec-tive time management. Lists help you organize

THE ART OF THE LIST

If you have more on your plate thanyou think you can deal with, making alist is the single most important stepyou can take in the planning process.A written record allows you to see it allin front of you.

�� Do write things down.

�� Don’t try to rely on memory aloneto remember important notes. Writethem down on a piece of paper,which can always be referred todown the line.

�� Do list your tasks in order of prior-ity. Complete the most urgent tasksfirst and then get to other pertinentbut less important tasks.

Dos & Don’ts R


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your goals, objectives, and tasks. Effective timemanagement is less about saving time at any costthan about using the time you have effi ciently.

Lists work on many levels. First, they are greatmotivators. Time-management experts knowthat almost nothing motivates most people morethan crossing things off a to-do list. Second, listsimprove your results. Without a list, it’s easy to

�� Do use your list as a referencewhen confronted with new tasks.You will have a good idea of exactlyhow much time you can dedicate tothese assignments.

�� Don’t get bogged down by a seem-ingly endless list.

�� Do make schedules using softwareprograms such as Microsoft Office,which will send you an e-mail togently remind you of an impendingdeadline.

�� Do have a particular place whereyou keep your list so that it is easyfor you and others to refer to it.

�� Don’t forget to remove tasks thathave been completed from your listso they do not clutter the list ofwhat still needs to be done.


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forget all the small tasks that need to be accom-plished toward reaching an objective.

Finally, lists make you feel in control. Whenthere is a carefully planned strategic agenda,people have a road map for their time. Evenmore important, creating lists forces you tomake decisions about how to use your time. Thebest lists are based on the priorities or relativeimportance and urgency of the things you needto accomplish. If you fi nd yourself wonderinghow best to use your “now,” check the list. If it’s asound and comprehensive list, the answer will beright in front of you.

With a good list, you won’t ever have to rear-range your priorities on the fl y. You won’t have

THE BENEFITS OF LISTS

Writing down the things you need toaccomplish as a to-do list offers manytime-saving benefits, including:

• Prioritizing what is most urgent,second most urgent, and so on

• Showing other people what you’redoing and how your time is spent

• Keeping you focused on the impor-tant tasks

• Providing a visual reminder of yourlong-term goals



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to formulate plans during a crisis. Making listsalso organizes your thinking, which is extremelyimportant to effective time management. Scat-tered thinking wastes time.

Organized thinking, according to experts, isalso the most creative and innovative thinking.Diane Deacon, president of the Creative Think-ing Association of America, and Mike Vance,cofounder of that organization and the fi rst deanof Disney University, the legendary trainingorganization inside the Walt Disney Company,explode the myth that creativity comes out ofchaos and disorder. On the contrary, they argue,

KEEP YOUR FOCUS

Caving in to others’ demands on yourtime can cause you to lose sight ofyour goals and derail them entirely. Donot become distracted by attending toeverything and everyone around you.Remember what’s important to you andwhat work means on your terms. Yourtime belongs to you first and foremost.If you’re not careful, you can wind upso consumed by other people’s busi-ness that you have no time left toaccomplish your own goals.

SOURCE: Time for Me by Helene Lerner (Source-books, 2005).

Plan B


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organization and well-ordered time managementopen up space and time for creativity.

Not only do lists help you get organized, theyare a constant reminder of what you’re workingon and can improve how you communicate yourefforts to others on the job. This is not to sug-gest that you should post all of your lists for theoffi ce—although shared electronic calendars on

MANAGE YOUR LISTS

It’s one thing to create a to-do list oftasks, but quite another one to manageit effectively. To get the most out ofyour list, follow these suggestions:

• Arrange tasks in order of theirimportance and urgency.

• Rewrite your list as prioritieschange or fluctuate.

• Tackle your list by completing thefirst item on it, then moving on tothe next one.

• Clean up and rewrite your to-dolist every day before you leave theoffice.

• Take an upbeat attitude towardyour tasks so that each one seemsworthy of your time.



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computers and lists for entire teams and depart-ments are increasingly popular—but when a

ORGANIZATION AND CREATIVITY

Many people think that being orga-nized and structured creates a rigidenvironment that stifles creativity andcreative impulses.

Not so, according to authors MikeVance and Diane Deacon. Creativitydoes not tend to flourish in a disor-ganized environment. This is wheremany team leaders and project teamsgo wrong. They approach a project inan unstructured manner in hopes thatcreativity and innovation will abound—only to be disappointed.

Creativity, innovation, and big resultsoccur faster in an organized environ-ment. For example, Disney Imagineersuse “displayed thinking” or life-sizedstoryboards that cover entire walls topost ideas, draw correlations betweenthem, and capture new ideas thatspring from old ones. None of thatwould be possible without organizingthe ideas first.SOURCE: Think Out of the Box by Mike Vance andDiane Deacon (Career Press, 1995).

Plan B


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supervisor or coworker imposes a new demandon your time, consulting your to-do list will helpyou give a reasonable and realistic date and timefor fi nishing the task. You won’t need to guess.Although you can’t tell your boss to adjust her priorities, you will have a ready answer when sheasks if you’re busy or if you can help: “Let’s takea look at my to-do list and see what I can workout.” It also avoids one of the most frustratingsituations in business, which is to be over-whelmed with work without anyone else beingaware of it.

DON’T JUST SAVE TIME—MANAGE IT

There is nothing on your to-do listthat can’t be accomplished with pro-fessionalism. Your motto should be:“Excellence everywhere and in allthings.” Put another way, if anythingon your to-do list isn’t worth doing withenthusiasm, why are you doing it atall? A positive attitude will make timeseem to pass more quickly. So whynot make the time-management deci-sion to make all your time, even timespent doing mundane tasks, qualitytime—that is, time doing a good joband doing it with a positive attitude?

The BIG Picture


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How to Make a ListMaking a list can be as simple as writing thingsdown on a piece of paper and numberingthem sequentially or as sophisticated as usinga software program. Some software, such as

Microsoft Offi ce Suite Outlook, allows youto enter and schedule action items and set e-mail reminders of upcoming tasks. Thereare dozens of calendar, time-management,

“Highly productivepeople know exactlywhat they should beworking on during theirdiscretionary time. Theybreak projects down intomanageable pieces, sotheir short-term actionstranslate into long-termsuccess.”

—Laura Stack, author of Leave the Office Earlier


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project-management, personal informationmanagement, and customer relations softwareprograms that help you create and managelists, designate priorities, and set up multiplereminders and alerts. People in your company’sIT department can help you identify tools thatwould be particularly useful.

Some people prefer to jot their lists on yellowlegal pads. Others print them out or programthem into handheld devices. Most computer-ized or preprinted to-do list templates ask forthe item or task to be done and when it’s due. Inother words, what’s the time frame or deadline?There are also places for you to make specialnotations. If you’re making your own to-do list,you can simply label the columns “ Tasks,” “WhenDue,” and “Notes.” That will cover just abouteverything you need to know.

Managers who are visually oriented sometimesuse a dry-erase marker board and hang their listin clear view. You can easily update it, you canmark the priority items in red, you can refer toit easily if someone calls with a scheduling ques-tion, and, best of all, as you accomplish yourtasks you can draw a line through them—a vis-ible reminder that you are getting things doneand moving forward.

The most important thing is to have a par-ticular place where you keep your list, whetherpaper or electronic. You don’t want to waste timehunting for your time-management list! Jottingnotes on the backs of envelopes that get stuck inyour pocket is not a good system. Neither is writ-ing lists on loose sheets of papers that too easily


35

disappear on your desk and can even be thrownaway by mistake.

Day planners from Franklin Covey and othertime-management presses, such as Day-Timer,are great organization tools, as are most pre-printed portable calendars. Keeping to-do listson your personal digital assistant ( PDA) or cell

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Once you’ve decided to manage yourtime better, start by making a list ofall your unfinished business. Writedown every outstanding item—all thatto-do stuff floating around in yourbrain—even if it’s more than a hun-dred items: picking up your dry clean-ing, purging old files, researching newideas, and so forth.

Most people feel overwhelmed by thesheer number of items on that page—sometimes there are so many thatyou’d need to be superhuman to getit all done. The first step is to acceptthat some of the items won’t ever getdone without help. The second step isto prioritize the list and set a deadlinefor yourself. And finally . . . just do it.SOURCE: Get Organized by Ron Fry (ThomsonDelmar Learning, 2004).

THE BOTTOM LINE


36

phone allows you to access, organize, store, andwork on your list on the run.

Wherever you keep your list and whateverform it takes, get into the habit of looking at itoften. Review it fi rst thing in the morning as wellas every hour on the hour and—as almost alltime-management courses strongly urge—beforeyou go home at night, while your work is fore-most in your mind.

Each time, update it and add to it, repriori-tizing any tasks you haven’t fi nished. At night,clean up your list by crossing off the tasks you’veaccomplished. Then rewrite the list with thetasks rearranged by priorities, especially if your priorities have changed. In the morning, you’llbe prepared to dive right in.

MANAGING YOUR LIST ANDPRIORITIESMost time-management experts recommendranking to-do items in terms of priorities. Onceyou’ve ranked the tasks on your lists, it’s impor-tant that you start with the fi rst item—the mostimportant or urgent—on your list and onlymove to the next task when you’ve completedthe previous one. If you usually take a list oftasks arranged in the correct order of priority,but then dive in at number fi ve or six, you arenot using your list effectively. Often people skiptasks high on their lists when they fi nd themtoo intimidating. If that’s the case, then thesetasks haven’t been suffi ciently broken down intomanageable bites; try breaking them into smallerchunks again. Also, remember that tasks high on


37

your list are the most urgent. It might be wiseto tackle them earlier in the day, when you havemore energy and stamina.

Managing the Variables on Your ListsYou are now primed to prioritize your tasks,put them on a to-do list and cross them off, andthen go after what’s next. But there is one moredimension to prioritizing your time: chang-ing contexts. Things like fi nancial imperatives, deadlines, other projects, and other commit-ments affect priorities. Anticipating rapid and

“All work takes placein time and uses uptime. Yet most peopletake for granted thisunique, irreplaceable,and necessary resource.Nothing else, perhaps,distinguishes effectiveexecutives as much astheir tender loving careof time.”

—Peter Drucker


38

unexpected changes can help you stay on top ofthings when your priorities shift.

Financial Priorities. Your fi nancial priorities,which affect you and those who depend on you,both at home and in the workplace, are a majorfactor when you create a to-do list. If your com-pany doesn’t succeed fi nancially, neither will you. Tasks on your to-do list must refl ect the needto build fi nancial stability for the enterprise. Asconditions shift and economic threats appear,shift the emphasis of your tasks to help make thebusiness more profi table.

ACCOUNTING FOR VARIABLESAll kinds of factors affect your abilityto manage time effectively. You needto anticipate and be prepared for eachof them:

• Financial concerns, both personaland professional

• Deadline priorities that changewhen you’re not looking

• Issues with coworkers or subordi-nates at work

• Other projects that pop up

• Commitments inspired by obligationor a desire to avoid conflict



39

Deadline Priorities. Are the choices you’remaking about your time infl uenced by dead-lines? Are these deadlines externally imposed,

self-imposed, or a combination of the two?Do the items on your list refl ect someoneelse’s agenda or your own? If deadlines changeconstantly as a result of someone else’s poorplanning or project volatility, renegotiate timeframes so that nobody accuses you of con-stantly fi nishing late. In general, remember thatwhenever your job depends on contributions

“There’s nothing . . .NOTHING! . . . easierthan writing a 50-item‘to-do’ list. In whichEACH ONE OF THE 50ITEMS is truly of theUtmost Importance.”

—Tom Peters,management guru and

founder of Tom Peters Company


40

or direction from others, your timeliness is heldhostage to their time-management habits aswell.

Outside Infl uences. How do your coworkers,subordinates, and clients affect your to-do list? Ifthe answer is, “More than I would like,” consider

GET IT DONE

After you’ve set goals and broken theminto manageable objectives and doabletasks, all you need is a get-it-done atti-tude to move forward.

�� Do tackle the hardest items inyour to-do list first each day.

�� Do multitask when necessary tostay current with your tasks.

�� Do adjust priorities as necessary.

�� Don’t allow the tasks you don’tcomplete to accumulate.

�� Don’t procrastinate; focus on howgood it feels to accomplish tasksand dig in.

�� Do invest energy and enthusiasm inyour tasks when executing them.

�� Do make a pact with yourself to fol-low through on your to-do list.

Dos & Don’ts R


41

once again where you can best invest your timeand energy to balance the interests of the com-pany, customers, your career, and other peoplewho matter to you.

Other Project Priorities. When you take ona large project in addition to your job respon-sibilities, such as a philanthropic campaign, acooperative effort with another company, or aproject with a church, temple, or communityorganization, it’s easy to be overwhelmed. Takea macro view, so that you clearly understand thebigger picture and portion out your time accord-ingly. No matter how big and overwhelming theproject seems, it will become more manageableas soon as you break it down into chunks.

“If you wait until all thelights are ‘green’ beforeyou leave home, you’llnever get started on yourtrip to the top.”

—Zig Ziglar,motivational speaker


42

Confl icts and Commitments. How manyof your priorities are based on commitmentsinspired by guilt, obligation, or a desire to avoidconfl ict? Completing these tasks may not be thebest use of your time. To avoid confl ict at theexpense of time management is bad policy. Don’tbe afraid to say “No.” Once you’ve set your pri-orities in the fi rst place, stand your ground whenothers try to get you to change them against yourbetter judgment.

GETTING IT DONEWhen a project keeps expanding or contract-ing, it’s helpful to keep priorities fl exible. Whenyou lay out goals and priorities, have a Plan B.For example, how often have you wasted timebecause you struggled unnecessarily with some-thing that obviously needed to be delayed? Ifa thing near the top of your to-do list can’t bedone today, either break it into smaller chunksor reschedule it for another day, and move on.However, don’t make postponing tasks a habit.Focus on how good it feels—rather than on howhard it is—to accomplish things, and dig in.

In Leadership When the Heat’s On, Danny Coxadvises that you make the fi rst hour of your dayyour most productive by tackling the hardestthings then. He also recommends looking at theitems on your daily to-do list and prioritizingthem according to the following criteria:

Do today no matter what: Items that absolutelymust get done

Do today if possible: Items that ideally shouldbe done


43

Do today if time remains: Items that can waitbut should be done if time allows

Don’t procrastinate. By making this pact withyourself to follow through on your to-do list, youwill feel better and more effi cient at the end ofeach day. You will avoid feeling guilty about put-ting diffi cult things off for another day. Consider,too, that hourly or daily tasks left uncompletedaccumulate. Before you know it, unfi nished dailytasks interfere with accomplishing weekly objec-tives. Unfi nished weekly objectives muddy thewaters for your goals to be reached. Executingthe immediate tasks at hand sets the stage forexecuting your objectives and long-term goals.

The only way to achieve goals is one small stepat a time. You must address these small stepsin the moment. That makes the “now” prioritynumber one. Use it or lose it.

�ORGANIZEYOUR TIME

“Anything becomesurgent if you waitlong enough.”

—Danny Cox,author of Leadership When the Heat Is On

�T

he effi cient use of time can make all the difference between effectiveness and

ineffectiveness. It is a natural outgrowth of organization, which makes the most of your time and energy.


46

YOUR ORGANIZATION I.Q.

Read each of the following statementsand indicate whether you agree or dis-agree. Then check your score and studythe analysis at the end.

1. I let mail accumulate.

�� Agree

�� Disagree

2. The horizontal spaces in my workarea are so covered with stuffthere’s no space to work.

�� Agree

�� Disagree

3. People get annoyed because I neverreturn calls or answer e-mails.

�� Agree

�� Disagree

4. I avoid socializing because I don’thave the time or energy left to dealwith people.

�� Agree

�� Disagree

5. I have piles or boxes full of thingsI will go through “when I get thetime.”


O R G A N I Z E Y O U R T I M E

47

�� Agree

�� Disagree

6. I put off making decisions until thesituations become emergencies.

�� Agree

�� Disagree

7. I have so many to-do lists that Idon’t know which one to do first.

�� Agree

�� Disagree

8. I feel uncomfortable hiring peopleto do things for me.

�� Agree

�� Disagree

9. I am so plagued by interruptionsthat I can’t get anything done.

�� Agree

�� Disagree

10. The clutter in my life is so over-whelming I don’t know where tobegin sorting it out.

�� Agree

�� Disagree


48

While some people are highly organized, manypeople are drawn into chaos by the demands ofwork and of others.

In fact, they are so habitually disorganized andstressed that they feel they cannot invest the timenecessary to bring order to their lives, no matterhow much they need guidance.

But organizing yourself and your time is not asdiffi cult as it seems and it will eliminate a greatdeal of stress. It involves creating systems—con-sistent ways of doing things. Systems transformyour daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly goals,objectives, and tasks into a coordinated whole.

SCORING

Give yourself 1 point for every ques-tion you answered “Agree” and 0points for every question you answered“Disagree.”

ANALYSIS

0–3 You are a relatively organizedperson. You deal with thingspromptly, know how to keepdisruptions to a minimum,and have efficient routines.

4–7 There are some organizationissues that you shouldface, but you’re withinstriking distance of recovery.



49

They create consistency, and consistency savestime. If, for example, you know exactly howyou’re going to get ready for work in the morningor how you’re going to process e-mails when youarrive at work, you’ll do these tasks with less timeand effort than if you reinvent the wheel everyday. By developing systems—and then maintain-ing them—you will bring order to your day.

After you’ve identifi ed what your priorities are,as discussed in Chapter One, you must have thediscipline to do the things that represent the bestuse of your time and say no to the things thatinterfere. Structure in your daily affairs comes

You probably go throughcycles of disorganization,depending upon the amountof pressure you’re under.You could benefit from someorganization training.

8–10 You are so used to chaosthat it seems normal. To pre-vent your life from runningyou instead of the other wayaround, start using the prin-ciples in this book.

SOURCE: How to Get Organized by Stephanie Culp(Writer’s Digest Books, 1986).


50

from thinking ahead and planning. It includesscheduling wisely, meeting deadlines consis-tently, and organizing yourself and those aroundyou, including your team, boss, and clients.

SCHEDULINGFor many working professionals, a day is an exer-cise in playing catch-up. You may be late for your

TIME TYPES

According to author Julie Morgenstern,there are many “types” of time. Whichof these are most important to you?

• Work time is time allotted to earn-ing money.

• Self time recharges your batteriesand restores your physical, spiritual,and emotional well-being.

• Family time allows you to build andsustain relationships with the mostimportant people in your life.

• Relationship time involves otherpeople who matter to you—old andnew friends, and collaborators onschool, church, or civic projects.

• Financial time goes to financialplanning, investing, budgeting,

The BIG Picture


51

ten o’clock meeting because you had to respondto an urgent e-mail. The meeting itself runs toolong. A crisis with a client interrupts lunch onthe run. Before you know it, three o’clock rollsaround and you are just barely getting startedwith the tasks that need to get done that day. Thesecret to avoiding chaotic days such as this one iseffective scheduling.

dealing with bills and taxes, andso on.

• Community time is spent improvingyour community, in such ways asreligious fellowship and serving theneeds of the less advantaged.

• Education time is devoted to learn-ing by taking classes, watchingfilms, reading, or studying online.

You might have other types of timethat are important to you: hobby time,exercise time, or travel time. Whateverthey might be, understanding the dif-ferent types of time will help you man-age them and balance your life moreeffectively.

SOURCE: Organizing from the Inside Out by JulieMorgenstern (Owl Books, 2004).


52

Scheduling is all about being prepared. Mostproblems or crises you face on a daily basis arerarely that much of a surprise. You probablyhave encountered them before: That weeklyten o’clock meeting always runs late and thatparticular client always threatens to go to yourcompetitor after receiving the fi rst cost esti-mate for a project. Proper scheduling takes intoaccount all your on-the-job knowledge andexperience to prevent expected—and even unex-pected—problems from knocking you fl at.

A good schedule is fl exible enough toaccommodate unforeseen developments andcomplications. Developments and complications

SOUND SCHEDULING

When you begin to make a detailedschedule, it is good to be aware ofany pitfalls that may be lurking in theshadows. A good schedule is alwaysprepared for and ready to accommo-date surprises.

�� Do be prepared for crisis andcatastrophe. Schedule time forthem.

�� Don’t forget to be flexible.

�� Don’t neglect to have a Plan B incase of unforeseen emergencies.

Dos & Don’ts R


53

that can be anticipated should never push the agenda off track. A good scheduler always has a Plan B. Creating a schedule that anticipates allpossible snafus is critical.

Setting Up a Sound ScheduleThe fi rst step to creating a sound schedule isassessing your to-do list. If you’ve ranked theitems on your to-do list according to theirpriority, then you’ll have a clear idea of what tasksabsolutely need to get done in any given week. Atthe beginning of the week, take a look at your to-do list and estimate how long it will take you tocomplete each task. If you aren’t good at fi guring

�� Do assess your to-do list accordingto priority.

�� Do become aware of how muchtime you need to complete certaintasks. This will help you bettermanage the time that you have.

�� Don’t try to get it all done in oneday; instead, spread specific tasksover the course of a week.

�� Do schedule time for thinking—avital part of getting the work done.


54

out how much time is needed to do various tasks,start keeping track of how long it takes you tocomplete each task, including any interruptions,and make a note to yourself for the future.

Once you’ve determined how long each taskwill take, plan when you will tackle them. Decidewhich day you will do item number one, numbertwo, and so on, and plug the tasks into a dailyplanner or online calendar. Don’t cram as manytasks as possible into the fi rst day of the week.Instead, distribute the tasks evenly throughoutthe week, taking into consideration alreadyscheduled meetings and deadlines for tasks.

SEIZE THE TIME

In 5 minutes, you can put a pot of cof-fee on to brew and, while you’re wait-ing, check e-mail and voice mail, senda fax, and address an envelope anddrop it by the mail room. The coffeewon’t brew any faster with you staringat it, so adopt a “Do it now!” attitude.Use the small spaces between the bigthings in your life to attack the littlethings that clutter your days. In thisway, you’ll consolidate chunks of timeto tackle your really important goals.

SOURCE: Time Alive by Alexandra Stoddard(HarperCollins, 2005).

Outside the Box


55

Be sure to factor extra time in the day to com-plete daily activities, such as responding toe-mails and returning phone calls.

Always allow more time to complete each taskthan you’ve estimated. If you think a projectwill take an hour, give yourself an hour and 15minutes or even an hour and a half. Rememberthat it doesn’t take a crisis to gobble up timeunexpectedly. Activities you forget to include in

DON’T WAIT FOR THE BIG IDEA

Author Jim Collins points out thatgreat companies like Walt Disney andHewlett Packard didn’t start out witha single great idea. Their creatorsworked on one idea after another untilseveral took hold. Then they pouredout an endless stream of new ideas. Ifthey had spent their time waiting forthe one perfect idea instead of actingon their many reasonable ideas, theselegendary companies would have neversucceeded as they did.

Stop waiting for a big idea to launchyou. Kick into action and trust thatthe organized time you’re spending onroutine ideas will set the stage for bigones.SOURCE: Built to Last by Jim Collins andJerry Porras (HarperBusiness, 2004).

THE BOTTOM LINE


56

your schedule will wipe out what you thoughtwas extra time in the margins of your day.

Troubleshooting Your ScheduleIf, after scheduling daily and weekly tasks as sug-gested above, you are still frustrated that you can’t

CREATING A SOUND WEEKLY SCHEDULE

An effective schedule can restoreorder to your day by building time tocomplete expected and unexpectedtasks. Here are a few tips for creatinga sound weekly schedule:

• Assess your to-do list.

• Estimate realistically how long eachtask will take to complete.

• Build in extra time to allow for dailyactivities, such as responding toe-mails and phone messages, aswell as unexpected interruptions.

• Factor in “thinking” time to strat-egize or work through an issue orproblem.

• Distribute tasks throughout theweek as evenly as possible, takinginto consideration deadlines andother obligations.



57

blaze through your to-do list, you may not beaccounting for distraction time. Almost any task isinterrupted multiple times before it’s completed.That’s why conferences, special strategy sessions,and other activities that require intense focusare so often held away from the offi ce. Theoreti-cally, moving away from your base of operationsreduces distractions. It also lends a certain air ofenhanced signifi cance to what you’re working on.

Another reason you might not be able to com-plete your to-do list in a timely fashion is that

USE YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS TO SAVE TIME

Have you ever had “aha!” or “eureka!”solutions pop into your head days afteryou needed them? Begin to consciouslydelegate projects to your subconscious.When faced with a difficult decisionor situation in which you are havingtrouble coming up with options, try toforget about it for the moment. Whenyour mind is at rest, the answer willcome. This is known among scholarsas the incubator technique, or thoughtincubation. While the solution is incu-bating, use your time to continue workon another project.

SOURCE: Taking Control of Your Thoughtsby Harrison Shorter (Harrison House, 2003).

Outside the Box


58

you are not building in time to “think.” Periodsof concentration devoted exclusively to wrappingyour mind around a major project or strategiz-ing how best to respond to a problem are criticalto executing tasks effectively.

Often, however, we postpone thinking aboutlarger questions and issues until it’s absolutelynecessary. “I can’t think about that rightnow. If I do I’ll go crazy. I’ll think about thattomorrow,” sighs Gone With the Wind heroineScarlett O’Hara. But if you bump your thinkingfrom one day to the next, you might run outof time. Trying to produce a strong strategyor plan of execution without enough time to

THE TWO-LIST SYSTEM

Organizing expert and authorStephanie Winston suggests keepingtwo lists of tasks at all times: a mastertask list—a kind of a reservoir of “todos”—and a daily to-do list. The key isto write any and every task that needsto get done on the master list, even ifthose tasks need to be done a monthor two away. The daily to-do list detailsthose tasks that must be done thatday, organized according to their high,medium, or low priority. There’s a goodreason for prioritizing the tasks on yourdaily to-do list.


59

think it through might cause problems laterdown the line.

Whenever you schedule “thinking” time, beaware that you might require more fl exibility inyour schedule than is otherwise needed. Whenyour brain says, “That’s enough thinking for oneday, let’s switch to a less intense activity,” do it.This may be the time to sort papers, do some fi l-ing, or clean out your e-mail.

Sometimes you may devote your thinkingtime to large questions and issues, but everyday you should also set aside time to thinkabout the next day’s activities and demands onyour time. This will ensure that you are better

A small task, such as filling the carwith gas or picking up dry cleaning,may seem like a low priority in and ofitself. But if you need to accomplish itbefore you can complete a high-prioritytask, such as going on a job interview,that may change the urgency regardingthe first task. You can jot down yourlists on a piece of paper or type theminto an electronic document—butalways keep the daily, scheduled to-dolist handy.

SOURCE: Getting Organized by Stephanie Winston(Warner Books, 2006).

THE BOTTOM LINE


60

prepared to tackle the next day’s tasks andallow you to reschedule any task that wasn’tcompleted by the end of the day.

PROJECT SCHEDULESA project is, in essence, a goal and should behandled accordingly: by breaking it into smallerobjectives, creating and prioritizing a to-dolist of tasks, and scheduling those tasks. Whenyou schedule or draft a timeline for a project,you are creating a map that will tell you exactlyhow you will spend your time leading up to theproject deadline.

CASE FILETAKE-NO-PRISONERS TIME MANAGEMENT

The rebuilding of highways in LosAngeles after the Northridge earth-quake in 1994 is a good example oftake-no-prisoners time management.On January 17, the earthquake injuredmore than 9,000 people and damagedor destroyed 54,000 buildings, includ-ing the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10),one of the world’s most heavily traf-ficked highways.

Rebuilding the freeway began lessthan 24 hours after the quake. Whenthe contractor was told that it wouldtake 3 weeks to ship steel beams torepair two fallen I-10 bridges, he


61

Completing your project on time is important,if only because ineffi ciency on your part can becontagious. Even the overachievers in your groupmight slack off when they realize you are notdealing successfully with your own deadlines. Inaddition, missing a deadline may mean that allthe time, energy, and resources you spent on aproject were wasted.

Setting Up a Project ScheduleThe fi rst thing you should do when schedulinga project is to assess how realistic its deadline is.As soon as you have been asked to complete a

chartered trains himself. He usedquick-curing concrete, although it costmore, and rebuilt both bridges at oncerather than in sequence, with laborersworking 12 hours at a time and crewsout 24 hours a day rain or shine. Asa result, I-10 reopened in a lightning-fast 66 days. The contractors blewpast all typical roadblocks—paperwork,supply issues, manpower—in a primeexample of effective time managementproducing excellent results.SOURCE: “Lessons for Post-Katrina Reconstruction”by Peter Phillips, Economic Policy Institute (October6, 2005).


62

project within a given time, identify all the fac-tors that could derail the project’s timeline: Doyou have the resources you need? Can vendorssupply in time? How long will approvals take?Also consider: Who’s done this before? Can it bedone again faster? Who can teach me how to getthis done on schedule? If, after considering thesefactors carefully, you feel the deadline is notreasonable, go back to your superior or whoeverassigned the project to renegotiate the due date,if possible.

Once you’ve decided on a realistic deadline,it’s time to create a timeline. The best way toschedule a project is by working backwards from

OUTSIDE HELP

At times even a well-organized,time-efficient department or projectteam comes up against a deadlinethat seems insurmountable. Whenthis occurs, interns, temp workers,freelancers, or independent contractorsare worth considering. Such outsidehelp can take over busywork, leavingyou and other project team membersfree for the most critical tasks. Moreexperienced freelancers bring freshideas. They excel at breaking logjams,offering tested solutions and


63

the project’s due date to the present. Plot thesequence of tasks that need to be completed toget you to the fi nish line. These tasks may notalways be evenly distributed throughout thecourse of the project, but rather grouped tightlytogether at certain intervals.

Take a cue from moviemakers, who rarelyshoot scenes in the order the audience sees.Don’t be afraid to complete tasks out of order.You may choose to fi nish the last piece of theproject fi rst and the third piece seventh if it willhelp you maximize resources and key players.Engage your team’s help to determine what taskscan be done quickly and inexpensively and which

inspiring, as well as helping, you.Most critically, freelancers can helpyou accelerate your project schedule.Freelancers tend to be conscientiousbecause their livelihood dependson referrals and repeat business.If you anticipate that you won’t beable to meet your deadline with staffresources, don’t wait until the eleventhhour. Ask your boss or the human-resources department for whateveroutside resources you need and call inreinforcements.

Plan B


64

will take longer and cost more. Then, sketch outa reasonable sequence for things to happen. Asyou schedule the project, focus not only on the

PROJECT SCHEDULING

Your upcoming project involves manysteps, too many to remember on yourown. After assessing your time andresources, make a step-by-step list thatwill take you seamlessly from start tofinish.

�� Do assess how realistic your dead-line is.

�� Do identify and anticipate possibleroadblocks and setbacks.

�� Do plot a project’s sequence ofevents from start to finish.

�� Don’t be afraid to complete stepsout of their chronological order.

�� Do determine what tasks can bedone quickly and inexpensively andwhich will take longer and costmore.

�� Don’t fritter away your downtime.Use it wisely.

�� Do try and complete some tasksaway from your regular workplace.

Dos & Don’ts R


65

time it will take you to get these tasks done, butalso on what you will do or what needs to hap-pen during quiet periods—intervals in which notasks need your attention.

If, after you’ve started your project and workis underway, you feel frustrated that you’re notstaying on schedule, you might not be account-ing for these quiet periods, when little work getsdone. If it feels as if your project is crawling at asnail’s pace, it is important to review what canbe done to minimize downtime and keep tasksmoving.

Take the example of a project that involvescreating new stationery for a corporate client. Tospeed up the project, you might limit your paperselection to stock that’s available domestically. Byeliminating paper that has to be specially orderedfrom Asia and takes a month to deliver, you’reeliminating downtime during which nothingwould be accomplished.

�USINGYOUR TIMEEFFICIENTLY

“Saying ‘No’to someone elseis like saying ‘Yes’to yourself.”

—Helene Lerner,author of Time for Me

�E

verybody facesunexpected roadblocksthat interfere with howthey use their time. The

difference between people whoachieve their goals and those whofail is their skill at navigatingaround the roadblocks thatthreaten to stop them.


68

MANAGING DISTRACTIONSTime traps such as too many e-mails, phoneinterruptions, poorly run meetings, and chattycoworkers can derail even the most sound sched-ule and wreck havoc with your to-do list. To dealeffectively with these distractions, it’s essentialthat you remain in control of your time and thatyou don’t give in to people’s attempts to imposethemselves on your schedule.

This chapter will explore the many “time-traps” that you are likely to encounterthroughout the workday and ways to avoid orcounteract them.

Cope with E-Mail and Paper OverloadIn today’s wired workplace, hundreds of dailye-mails, instant messaging, and messages sent via

AVOIDING E-MAIL DISTRACTIONS

E-mail has improved our work produc-tivity by making communication fasterand more efficient. But if not usedeffectively, e-mail can become one ofthe most dangerous time traps:

�� Do delete junk e-mails right awayas well as e-mails from lists yousubscribe to but rarely read.

Dos & Don’ts R

U S I N G Y O U R T I M E E F F I C I E N T L Y

69

BlackBerries and other wireless devices competefor our attention. Technology has made commu-nication easier and faster, but it has also buriedus in information. In the past, handling corre-spondence was simply a matter of going througha stack of letters and memos. Now, it’s notuncommon to receive over 50 e-mails a day thatdemand your immediate attention. Meanwhile,even as technology promised to bring about “thepaperless offi ce,” we still receive plenty of hardcopies of reports, memos, letters, and junk mail.

When you receive an e-mail or document, readit to evaluate whether it requires any action onyour part. If you receive hundreds of e-mails aday, reading everything that shows up may bepointless. Master the “art of the glance” and deter-mine what you can justifi ably ignore. Learn to

�� Don’t read every e-mail right away.Scan over messages to determinewhich require immediate action.

�� Do designate a specific time of theday to handle e-mails.

�� Do respond to e-mails promptly.

�� Don’t let e-mails accumulate andclutter your inbox. Delete or filethem after you’ve dealt with them.


70

identify junk e-mails or messages from e-mail listsyou subscribe to that can be immediately deleted.

Once you’ve determined whether an e-mail ordocument requires action on your part, take careof it. Respond to e-mails promptly. Be brief—bywriting short, well-articulated e-mails, you willsave time, and so will the e-mail’s recipient.

The most important thing is to keep on topof your e-mail in-box; don’t let e-mails that

AVOID MAIL CLUTTER

Your e-mail in-box chime goes off andthere is something waiting for yourattention. The postal carrier drops offa big stack of mail with a rubber bandaround it. It takes time to process thatstuff. If your paper mail and e-mail arenot managed well, they could swallowup all of your available time reactingto them. Stay in control of paper mailand e-mail clutter by:

• Not opening paper mail or e-mailthe moment it arrives

• Making sure you do something withit within 24 hours

• Setting up a particular part of theday to toss, file, or respond topaper mail or e-mail



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require immediate action accumulate. Afteryou’ve responded to an e-mail, delete it or fi leit in an e-mail folder. Don’t let the e-mails thatyou’ve already taken care of clutter your in-boxand potentially hide other e-mails that stillrequire your attention.

Similarly, once you’ve opened a piece ofmail or received a document that you’ve

THE THREE “R”S

When e-mail and paper documentsdon’t get handled efficiently, theypile up, disorganize your work area,and waste invaluable time. To keepe-mails from clogging your in-box anddocument stacks from growing, time-management author K. J. McCorrysuggests adopting the three “R”s:

• Read it

• Respond to it

• Remove it

If you can’t do one of these thingswith the e-mails and papers in yourlife, you don’t have an organizationproblem, you have a decision-makingproblem.SOURCE: Organize Your Work Day in No Time byK. J. McCorry (Que, 2005).

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determined needs your attention, handle itas soon as possible. Don’t toss it in a pile of“stuff ” that needs to be reviewed and acted on.Not only will important papers get lost, butthis pile can quickly grow to an unmanage-able size and eventually take hours and hoursto sift through. Once you are done with thedocument, toss it in the recycling bin or fileit. Don’t let it sit idly on your desk, taking uproom and possibly distracting you from otherimportant papers.

Some people fi nd it useful to designate aparticular chunk of their day to writing andresponding to e-mails and paper mail. Forexample, you might decide to dedicate an hour

TELEPHONE AND TIME

The phone is one of the most impor-tant communication tools, but it canalso interrupt and distract you frommore crucial things on your to-do list.Here are a few tips for using the phoneefficiently:

�� Do take important calls andschedule time for the rest.

�� Don’t go “off-line” or “silent” forsuch extended periods of time thatpeople feel you are unresponsive.They’ll just call more often.

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or more every morning to writing and returninge-mails. That clears the rest of the day to workon tasks unrelated to e-mail. If you think thisapproach would work for you and for your par-ticular job, try making it a routine. Knowing thatyou’ve dedicated a particular amount of time todealing with your e-mail and papers will helpyou schedule your daily tasks and create a morerealistic agenda for the day.

Manage the Telephone TrapAlthough the telephone is a useful communica-tion tool, it can become a problem when yourphone habits fail to follow the principles of yourtime-management system. Incoming calls are

�� Do use your cell phone and otherwireless devices to turn dead timeinto productive time.

�� Don’t allow your cell phone orother wireless devices to interrupt ameeting. Set boundaries.

�� Don’t rely on Post-it notes to writedown phone messages, which arelikely to get lost or buried underother work. Keep a dedicated note-book for this purpose by the phone.


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beyond your control; they can interrupt you inthe middle of a task and derail your schedule.But whether you are receiving or making calls,adopt these tricks to save valuable time.

Avoiding the phone. One way to avoid phoneinterruptions is to not answer the phone whenyou are intensely focused on something impor-tant. Instead, schedule a time to check voicemail. That way, you’re not ignoring peopleindefi nitely, but you are protecting blocks oftime from interruptions. When you go through

MANAGING TELEPHONE CALLS

Whenever your phone rings, someoneis making demands on your time. Ifyou’re not careful, calls can wasteenormous amounts of time. Here aresome telephone management tips toremember:

• Plan your telephone strategy inadvance.

• Don’t answer the telephone untilyou’re ready to.

• Return telephone calls at a pre-designated time of day.

• Tell callers right away how longyou’re willing to talk.



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your voice mailbox, you will be able to screenunimportant calls faster and more easily thanyou could by picking up the telephone everytime it rings.

Beware, though, of making a habit of alwaysletting the phone ring without answering. Ifpeople, particularly clients or customers, realizethat they can’t routinely reach you by phone,they’ll fi gure out another way to fi nd you—probably by e-mail—and create another way tointerrupt you.

Returning calls promptly. Of course, missingphone calls while you are at meetings, client calls,lunch appointments, and so on is unavoidable.Make sure your voice-mail greeting is friendly,but brief and concise. Specify what information

HIGH-TECH INTERRUPTIONS

Unfortunately, technology gives morepeople greater access to you and toyour time. Keeping control of your timeand your schedule means focusing onthe priorities you’ve set. But it alsomeans tuning out the things you don’tneed to be doing. Occasionally avoide-mail, cell phone calls, the addictivehandheld wireless device, and anythingelse that might take on a life of itsown and detract from yours.

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to leave. If you want the caller to reach you onyour cell phone or at another number, say so. Ifthere is a staff member who fi elds your phonecalls, refer callers to that person. If you’re notgoing to be returning calls until a certain time,state that clearly.

As with responding to e-mails, you mightwant to dedicate a particular time of your day toreturning phone calls. Whenever possible, youwant to return all calls by the end of the busi-ness day—phone messages that accumulate will

TELEPHONE EFFICIENCY

When you do dial the phone or accepta call, you still want to make efficientuse of the time. It’s tempting to relaxand chat when there’s a telephonereceiver in your hand. To stay in con-trol of telephone time, remember to:

• Avoid giving callers a chance tochat endlessly.

• Ask callers politely to get to thepoint.

• Give verbal cues when it’s timeto move on or end the call.

• Write out your talking pointsbefore you call.



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only load up the next day with unexpected andunscheduled tasks.

Keep a record on your calendar of who youcalled back and when. If you spend too muchtime playing phone tag with someone, send himan e-mail instead; calling him repeatedly mightbe bothersome to him and it takes up your time.

Stating your availability clearly. One way tolimit interruptions from incoming calls is tostate clearly that your available time is limited.When asked whether you have time to chat, say,“I have two minutes. Shoot.” Don’t give falseexcuses or lie, such as telling a caller you have torun to a meeting when you don’t have to. You

CONFUSING SUCCESS AND SPEEDA common misconception is that timemanagement is about fast, faster,fastest. Do you confuse success withspeed? Many people do, confusing theexhilaration of speed during the jour-ney with satisfaction upon arrival. Timemanagement is much more about bal-ance and satisfaction in life. Not wast-ing time on nonessentials so that youcan do something more meaningfulwith your time is far more importantthan getting there first.SOURCE: Get a Life Without Sacrifi cing Your Careerby Dianna Booher (McGraw-Hill, 1996).

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have important work in front of you and don’tneed to apologize for excusing yourself to getback to it.

Don’t give people on the telephone—or inperson—openings for lengthy conversations. Ifa person refuses to specify what he wants dur-ing a phone call, ask, “What can I do for you?”If he won’t get to the point, help him by say-ing, “I need to sign off now. Before I go, is there

“There are a few thingsthat you can do that willyield better results thanyour doing a whole lotof other things . . . andit’s your duty to yourselfand your team to knowwhere your highestpayoff activities are andeliminate activities thatyield the fewest results.”

—David Cottrell,author of Monday Morning Mentoring


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anything else I can help you with?” If he doesn’tjump to the point right then and there, he didn’thave one.

Keeping yourself focused helps you keep othersfocused, especially during a phone call. If what’sbeing discussed doesn’t move something forwardin a palpable way, shift the focus until it does.

People who may feel like chatting in the morn-ing or at midday are less likely to be chattyaround fi ve o’clock. If you need to cut off alengthy description of their weekend at the lake,ask politely if you can call back to hear the endof the story, then call back about 4:45. The restof the lake saga will probably be brief.

AGENDAS SQUEEZE OUTTHE SMALL STUFF

Avoid getting bogged down in thesmall stuff, particularly during meet-ings. Well-thought-out agendas helpyou and the meeting attendees focuson the “vital few” ideas rather thanthe “trivial many.” They help everyonekeep their eyes on the prize. Settingthe proper agenda is half the battlewhen it comes to running efficientmeetings.

SOURCE: Defeating Procrastination by MarleneCaroselli (Skillpath Publications, 1997).

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Making effi cient calls. Offer the same courtesyto people you call that you’d like them to extendto you. Begin the call by telling the person onthe other line that you understand she is busyand you will only take a few minutes of her time.Even if the person you’re calling is not too busyto chat, she will take your cue—you have cour-teously indicated that you need to get down tobusiness. Truly busy people will appreciate yourconsideration. Before you make a call, thinkabout the points you need to cover.

When leaving a message on someone else’svoice mail, always note what you’re calling about.A clear message will help you stick to an agendawhen your call is returned.

THE PERILS OF TAKING WORK HOME

One of the most insidious time trapsyou can fall into is the belief that byworking a little longer, or by takingwork home on the weekends, you canfinally catch up. Face it: Work can,and will, consume all of your free timeif you let it. You need to draw theline and maintain a healthy balancebetween your personal life and work.Each must have its limits.

SOURCE: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to ManagingYour Time by Jeff Davidson (Alpha, 2001).

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Avoid Inefficient MeetingsMeetings—face-to-face events and teleconfer-ences alike—can be great consumers of collectivetime. While it’s often important to meet as agroup to get work done, it’s equally important toconduct meetings in a timely fashion. To run aproductive meeting, preparation is key. You needto make sure there’s a valid reason for the meet-ing and that the right people are invited.

Purpose. Determine what you want to accom-plish at the meeting. Let everyone know inadvance why their presence is required, whattheir roles are, and how their participation fi tsinto the big picture.

Never waste time at the beginning of a meet-ing deciding what should be on the agenda.Prepare and distribute an agenda in advance.When participants know the overall agenda,they come better prepared, leaving more timeduring the meeting to move the group’s think-ing forward.

People. Who needs to be involved? Invitingpeople to a meeting who don’t really need to bethere wastes their time—as well as everybodyelse’s—by bringing up unrelated issues. Whenyou invite people to a meeting, always tell themwhy you have asked them. For example, tellGeorge in Finance, “We need a fi nancial servicesrepresentative to advise us on the fi scal bound-aries related to this project.” If you can’t tell aperson precisely why he is needed at a meeting,don’t extend the invitation. (If you are askedto a meeting that you have no reason to attend,politely decline.)


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Let those invited know how much you expectthem to contribute. You might tell Jill fromhuman resources, “As our human resourcesrepresentative, will you please report on the staff-ing needs of this project?” The advance noticegives Jill the chance to do some research or tohand the request off to someone else. Having theright person at the right meeting is a fi rst step toensuring meetings will be more productive andtime effi cient.

Time and place. What’s the best venue for themeeting? Should it be on- or off-site? A tele-conference or online? Although logistics oftendictate the answer, your goal should always beto minimize the impact the meeting will haveon your and other people’s time. Be consider-ate of the attendees’ time constraints—askingsomeone, for instance, to meet you off-site might

“An organization in whicheverybody meets all thetime is an organizationin which no one getsanything done.”

—Peter Drucker


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WELL-RUN MEETINGS

If they are not run efficiently, meetingscan easily consume inordinate amountsof your valuable time.

�� Don’t call a meeting unless youhave a good idea of what you wantto accomplish in it.

�� Do consider carefully who shouldbe invited to the meeting.

�� Do cancel the meeting if key deci-sion makers can’t be present.

�� Don’t plan the agenda at the begin-ning of meeting; prepare and dis-tribute it ahead of time so peoplearrive focused.

�� Do start the meeting on time.

�� Don’t wait for latecomers to beginthe meeting.

�� Do keep track of time and ensureall items in the agenda are dis-cussed.

�� Do be considerate of attendees’time constraints when calling anoff-site meeting.

�� Do end the meeting on time.

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be a nice idea, but not necessary to get your taskaccomplished. Indeed, it may be a time sinker forboth of you, and a teleconference would be moreconvenient and time effi cient.

Meeting manners. Start on time—don’t letlatecomers derail the meeting agenda and sched-ule even before the meeting has started. Once ameeting begins, get people quickly into meetingmode. If half the room is distracted by their cellphone or handheld wireless devices, ask them toput their electronic gadgets aside for the remain-der of the meeting, unless such tools will bespecifi cally needed. Monitor the time you spendon each item on the agenda and keep moving the

MANAGING MEETINGS

Meetings can turn into incredible time-wasters. They can also be an effectiveuse of time, especially when it comesto exchanging real-time informationand getting real-time feedback. Makethe most of your meetings by:

• Having a clear purpose to be pro-ductive

• Distributing an agenda in advance

• Planning logistics to minimizedisruption



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conversation toward a resolution. Always end themeeting on time. If the meeting is running overits allotted time, invite people to continue theconversation, but give them the chance to leaveif their schedules don’t allow them to stay.

When you promise to get people in and outpromptly and give them ample opportunity toprepare for a meeting, you’ve set the best pos-sible stage for accomplishing the purpose ofthe meeting in a time- effi cient manner.

Stop Excessive Chatting in Its TracksOf all the time traps in the workplace, one of thebiggest is distracting conversations. Chatting orengaging in casual conversation with coworkersis a natural part of the work day—and some-times necessary to build strong relationshipsbetween colleagues. Still, excessive casual conver-sation can gobble up minutes and hours of yourvaluable time.

Adopt some conversational phrases to put astop to it. When someone comes to your offi cedoor unannounced, don’t be rude and wavethem off. Look up, smile, and say, “Good to seeyou. I’m in the middle of something, but I’vegot about two minutes to hear what’s up withyou.” You’ve now established a parameter thatthe other person has to respect, and you’veannounced exactly how much time you can give.

Don’t cut people off—simply let them knowup front that you’re guarding your time. Yourcomments force a brevity that wouldn’t other-wise be there. People learn quickly and will stoptrying to engage you in lengthy conversations.


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MAINTAINING A HEALTHY RHYTHMEven if things are going smoothly and you arepracticing effective time-management tech-niques, don’t let yourself get complacent. If youare ahead of schedule on a project, don’t waste

DEALING WITH DISTRACTION

The best way to get over the littlehurdles in your day that eat up yourprecious minutes is to fully acknowledgethat distractions happen. The fasteryou admit you have been derailed, thefaster you can correct the issue and getback on track. While there is no magicto eliminating distractions, they can bedealt with easily and without too muchdamage if handled properly.

�� Do set aside a certain amount oftime for responding to e-mail andreturning telephone calls.

�� Do keep e-mail messages succinctand to the point, but friendly none-theless.

�� Don’t forward jokes and junk e-mailto others, especially if you yourselffind them a waste of time.

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precious time by slacking off. Instead, keep goingat your typical pace. In fact, the time to step onthe gas is when you’re ahead of schedule, notwhen you’re behind. When your back is to thewall, you can’t properly negotiate for the things

�� Don’t allow telephone calls to turninto lengthy conversations thatdrain precious time away from moreimportant tasks.

�� Don’t feel bad about cutting phonecalls or other coworkers short whenyou are working on somethingimportant.

�� Do let others know that you arebusy, but don’t forget that othersare too. Mutual understanding oftime constraints will make thingsrun more efficiently.

�� Don’t let office chatter become atime-consuming distraction. Letothers know up front that you arebusy but willing to hear what theyneed to say.

�� Do be mindful and respectful ofother people’s time and schedules.


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you need—such as more resources—becauseyou’re in a position of weakness. It’s like trying toaccelerate in a car that badly needs a tune-up.

However, be aware of burnout. If you are effi -cient and self-disciplined, you may be proud ofyour ability to accomplish a great deal—and youmight well take on too much, determining thatanything and everything requires your utmostattention. The truth is that by doing too much,

STAY FOCUSED AND IN RHYTHM

Allowing yourself to become too casualat work can cause you to slip into poortime-management practices. On theother hand, pressing too hard can burnyou out. Develop and maintain a goodtempo by:

• Avoiding casual conversationsat work that will put you behindschedule

• Letting people know up front thatyou’re consciously guarding yourtime

• Knowing when to step on the gasor ease off to meet deadlines forwhat’s on your list

• Scheduling mini-breaks and vaca-tions to establish the pace you wantfor your health



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you might be under-producing and wastingvaluable time. That’s because, by overloadingyour time, you can quickly wear yourself out.You may even inadvertently isolate yourself from,or alienate, people with whom you could developthe synergy to produce at an even higher level.

In fact, taking care of yourself is so importantthat you should not leave it to chance. Sched-ule mini-breaks throughout the day, and gosome place where you can’t be interrupted. Planweekends so that you don’t wind up on Sundayevening wondering when the recreation is goingto begin. Don’t overlook the restorative andregenerative effects of vacation time on yourbody and your spirit.

Sound time-management practices areintended to make you more—not less—incontrol of both your life and your work. Byaggressively protecting your work time—sched-uling your activities and planning ahead—youcan then afford to keep your work and personallife in balance.

Some of the most productive people and besttime managers are not the superhumans whocan work around the clock and bounce back formore. They are the ones who establish an evenpace and trot along at a moderate rate of effi -ciency. Like the tortoise, they get to the fi nish linein good shape, having done good work.

�TIMEMANAGEMENT INTHE WORKPLACE

“I am miserly with mytime in some areas sothat I can be profl igatewith my time in otherareas.”

—Stanley Marcus,cofounder of Neiman-Marcus (1905–2002)

�You’re on your way tomastering the use ofyour own time. Nowyou need to consider

how your time is affected byothers. In an offi ce, no worker isan island. Building a workplacein which time management isa priority not only improveseveryone’s productivity, but alsocreates an environment of respect.


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TIME MANAGEMENT:PROBLEM OR SOLUTION?

Read each of the following statementsand indicate whether you agree ordisagree. Then check your score andstudy the analysis at the end.

1. When I’m offered more moneyto work additional hours, I tryto negotiate a solution based onimproved time management ratherthan simply more hours.

�� Agree

�� Disagree

2. When I’m offered the opportunityfor promotion if I work additionalhours, I try to negotiate asolution based on improved timemanagement rather than simplymore hours.

�� Agree

�� Disagree

3. When I’m offered the opportunityto gain more prestige by workingadditional hours, I try to negotiatea solution based on improved timemanagement rather than simplymore hours.


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�� Agree

�� Disagree

4. When I am not offered anythingto work additional hours, I amreluctant to work beyond mydesignated work week.

�� Agree

�� Disagree

5. When I’m offered the opportunityto work additional hours for noparticular gain, except to help outa coworker I respect, I’m willing towork beyond my designated workweek.

�� Agree

�� Disagree

6. When I’m pressured to workadditional hours for no particulargain, except to help out a bossI don’t like, I try to negotiate asolution based on improved timemanagement rather than simplymore hours.

�� Agree

�� Disagree


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7. When I’m offered the chance towork fewer hours, even if it meansmaking less money, I stronglyconsider the benefits of morepersonal time.

�� Agree

�� Disagree

8. When I’m offered the chance towork additional hours and myfamily doesn’t want me to, I refuseto give up any family time to work.

�� Agree

�� Disagree

9. When I’m given the opportunity towork additional hours, I feel myfirst obligation is to myself, myfamily, or my friends.

�� Agree

�� Disagree

10. If I am given the opportunity towork extra hours on a project thatwill benefit my personal growth ordirectly benefit my family, I jumpat the chance to do somethingmeaningful for people I care about.



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�� Agree

�� Disagree

SCORING

Give yourself 2 points for everyquestion you answer “Agree” and 1point for every question you answer“Disagree.”

ANALYSIS

10–13 You might be in serious needof money and seek out everypossible chance to rack upovertime, no matter whatelse it costs you in life. Thiscould be a result of poortime management, moneymanagement, or both. Youmight also derive all or mostof your sense of self-worthfrom the work you do. Youcould also be too timid tosay “No” to authority figures.Whatever the reason, ifyou scored in this range,your actions are signaling apotentially serious problemwith your time management.


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Indeed, respect and focus are both at theheart of managing time—both yours and thatof others. Being considerate of the time of yoursubordinates, coworkers, and boss requires asmuch discipline as protecting and organizingyour own time. Encouraging people to remainfocused on goals and tasks that are critical to thebusiness—and to dedicate their time to accom-plishing those goals—can be a challenge.

RESPECTING OTHER PEOPLE’S TIMEPerhaps the best way to gauge how important itis to respect the time of others is to think of howyou feel when a boss, coworker, or subordinate

14–17 You have a fairly well-balancedapproach to work and life. Youare susceptible, however, tomanipulation by bosses whowill gobble up time that wouldotherwise be yours. Beware ofbeing talked into doing tasksthat will eat up your valuabletime. At some point, you willneed to decide what you trulyvalue and reflect that in howyou choose to use your time

17–20 You understand that morecan be done in less time



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wastes your time—especially when you’re at yourbusiest. Colleagues impose demands on yourtime every day: by sending confusing messagesor setting unclear expectations, chatting aboutirrelevant topics, calling unnecessary meetings,and being late to meetings. And in turn, youneed to be aware of how you may be imposingdemands on other people’s time.

Communicating EfficientlyTo be respectful of other people’s time, it is criticalto become a good communicator. If you cannotclearly communicate a message, you might senda coworker on a wild goose chase that squanders

through time management.You also have a strong senseof boundaries between worktime and personal time. Morethan that, you don’t tend toderive your personal identityor sense of self-worth from thework you do. You value yourpersonal time as well as yourrelationships with family andfriends. You do run the risk ofbeing too detached from workand not balancing your timeadequately.


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her precious time. If you don’t communicateexpectations clearly to your subordinates, theymight misinterpret your directions and wasteefforts on unnecessary tasks. If you take 20 min-utes to explain a simple issue to your boss, the

“If concentrationprovides the energyand attention neededfor right action to takeplace, and discrimination(prioritizing) providesthe attention andstandards needed toknow what action needsto be taken, thenorganization providesthe room for rightaction to take place.”

—Michael E. Gerber,author of E-Myth Mastery


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next time something comes up he might be reluc-tant to meet with you, knowing you will take upmore of his time than you need to.

When composing an e-mail or leaving a mes-sage, take the time to structure your thoughts

CASE FILETHE TIME LOG

When former World Bank chiefeconomist and U.S. Secretary of theTreasury Lawrence H. Summers taughtat Harvard, his students complainedabout not having enough time. So hetaught them about time logs. He hadthem write down the amount of timethey spent on each activity each day:sleeping, eating, writing papers, play-ing sports, and so on. The studentswere able to understand just how theyspent their time, then use that infor-mation to make some changes.

Many other management gurus andsuccessful businesspeople keep timelogs. For instance, the late PeterDrucker strongly advised using them.And former Chick-fil-A presidentJames L. S. Collins found the practiceso helpful that he never gave it up.SOURCE: Time Tactics of Very Successful People byB. Eugene Griessman (McGraw-Hill, 1994).


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fi rst and prune out extraneous information.Don’t pour your message out in a stream-of-consciousness style. Keep your communications

PUT ON AN ACTION ATTITUDE

Time can get the best of you—or youcan get the best of time. To make timework for you, action is required on yourpart.

If something is bothering you, speakout and do something about it—don’tprocrastinate. Change what you canchange; let go of what you can’tchange—quickly. When you feel your-self tensing up, breathe deeply, takea break, and cool off. A few momentsto collect yourself can save you frommaking wrong, time-wasting decisions.When you make a mistake, don’t wastetime by dwelling on it. Move on assoon as possible.

When you’re criticized, take onlywhat fits and leave the rest. Whenyou’re about to criticize someone, stopbefore you waste your time and theirs.When disputes arise, don’t waste timetrying to prove you’re right; insteadlook for common ground—it’s there.

Remember, any time you save is timefor you.

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short and to the point, while remaining friendly.Coworkers will appreciate your brevity. If youthink certain e-mails are a waste of time, chancesare your peers do, too. If forwarded joke e-mailsseem pointless, don’t forward them yourself.

When calling someone, let him know youwon’t take more than a few minutes of his time.He will be relieved that you are taking his timeseriously and will be more likely to be responsiveto your conversation.

Be aware of other people’s verbal and non-verbal cues. If someone doesn’t immediatelyengage in casual conversation when you walkinto her offi ce, realize that she might be trying tofocus on an important task and doesn’t want tobe interrupted. When you walk into someone’soffi ce uninvited, don’t immediately launch intoa discussion; instead, ask if this is a good timeto talk and be respectful of the person’s answer.If she responds that it isn’t a good time, don’tinsist; ask her if you can schedule some othertime to talk.

When you communicate with your boss, beespecially mindful of time. Some people get solittle attention from their bosses that they hoardit when they fi nally have it. But if you suffocateyour boss, she will be impatient with you fornot valuing her time. Before meeting with yourboss, make a list of issues you want to cover andmentally outline your conversation. Pay atten-tion to your boss’s signals to determine howmuch information and detail she likes. Thendeliver it, stay on point, and move the conversa-tion along briskly. You want to provide prime


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information in optimal time. Your boss mightnot consciously know that you are respectingher time, but she will be glad to keep her dooropen to you.

In meetings, be the one who asks the time-factor questions when dealing with projects,particularly with other departments. Saying, “Iknow everyone’s time is valuable,” or “I knowthat your time is valuable,” sends a clear messagethat you respect others’ time and don’t intend to

COMMUNICATING WELL TO SAVE TIME

Nothing shows that you respect otherpeople’s time as much as the way youcommunicate:

• Be brief in your written communi-cations, especially e-mail.

• Always let people you call know youwon’t take more than a few minutesof their time—and then keep toyour promise.

• Avoid barging into someone’s office;instead ask the person if this isa good time to talk—and respecttheir answer.

• Be especially mindful of your boss’stime. Don’t hoard it!



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waste it. That will certainly be appreciated. Moreimportantly, you will also be taking a leadershiprole in the use of time and resources—a proac-tive and respectful stance that people will cometo identify with you.

Being on Time“Be on time from sun up to sun down,” say old-school time managers. Poor time-managementpractices almost always affect your daily schedule.If you fail to accurately estimate how long it takesto accomplish what you have to do and to buildin time to deal with unexpected interruptions,

“I don’t care how muchpower, brilliance orenergy you have, if youdon’t harness it andfocus it on a specifi ctarget, and hold it thereyou’re never going toaccomplish as much asyour ability warrants.”

—Zig Ziglar


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you probably won’t be able to keep to your sched-ule. As a result, you’ll get behind in your tasksand, before you know it, you will be late—for anappointment, a meeting, a conference call, or animportant deadline.

Being punctual is a gesture of respect for theother person’s time. But the person your latenesshurts the most—especially if you’re habitually late—is you. Being known as a punctual person

FOCUSING ON THE RIGHT THINGS

Time management and organization areamong the most widely taught skillsin corporate training. The problemwith some time-management instruc-tion is that it typically concentrateson teaching people how to get thingsdone more effectively. But unless youconsistently focus on identifying anddoing those things that have a sub-stantial impact on your job or that areimportant to you, being better orga-nized could end up filling your timewith meaningless or unimportant tasksthat will make you more frustrated inthe long term.SOURCE: The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Timeand Life Management by Hyrum W. Smith (WarnerBusiness Books, 1995).

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WHAT’S YOUR TIME WORTH?

We can all benefit from reframing oursense of time. How can you lead onesuccessful hour after another? Put itin numbers:

• A person earning $30,000 per yearis earning roughly 30 cents perminute, or about $18 per hour.



• A person earning $100,000 peryear is earning roughly $1 perminute or about $60 per hour.

If you wrote yourself a mental check atthe end of every day for the minutesand hours you used effectively, whatwould it total? If you billed yourself forthe minutes and hours wasted, whatwould the amount be? Would you windup with a net profit or loss for the day?

SOURCE: Leadership When the Heat’s On by DannyCox with John Hoover (McGraw-Hill, 2002).

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is a plus if you want to position yourself as asuperior time manager.

To be punctual, you need to make a habit ofplanning ahead. When you are planning to catchan airline fl ight, you don’t just check your depar-ture time the morning you are supposed to leave;you check a day or so before to decide when youshould leave for the airport and how you will getthere. Why should planning to arrive on timeat meetings be any different? Plan for meetingsahead of schedule by setting time reminders inyour calendar and allowing plenty of time to getto the meeting place.

Also, you can’t keep your day on schedule—and help others keep their schedules as well—ifyou come out of a meeting late. If a meeting

PUNCTUALITY RULES

Being punctual to meetings and appoint-ments not only reduces time wasting butis also a powerful way to demonstrateyour respect for other people’s time.

�� Do plan ahead by setting reminders inyour calendar.

�� Do arrive a few minutes early to meet-ings and appointments.

�� Don’t start meetings late for latearrivals.

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runs long, excuse yourself once the main busi-ness is completed, explaining that you haveanother commitment. Ask someone to takenotes on the balance of the meeting for you.You can also end an appointment by tactfully,but fi rmly, excusing yourself. You’re a managerwith a mission now, and that doesn’t includerunning late.

Be particularly vigilant about respectingyour boss’s time, even if he is constantly wast-ing yours. When your boss is expecting youat two o’clock, be a few minutes early—evenif that means you have to wait. It’s not up toyou to decide that what you’re doing is moreimportant than meeting with your boss. If yourboss is chronically late, make sure you come

�� Don’t derail your schedule by comingout late from meetings. If the meetingis running long, excuse yourself.

�� Do be vigilant about being on time toappointments with your superiors.

�� Don’t assume your team membersknow the importance of punctuality.Remind them frequently that punc-tuality increases productivity andreduces stress in the department.


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prepared—and that he comes prepared—byletting him know ahead of time the agenda forthe meeting, so he can consolidate his thinkingbefore you meet. You can gently remind himabout the meeting by asking, “Is there anythingelse I can prepare to make the two o’clock meet-ing run more smoothly?” If your boss is still lateto your meeting, at least being prepared mightspeed up your discussion and ensure that themeeting is productive and ends on time.

When you are on time, you are also settingan example for your staff. Don’t assume yourpeople know how to be punctual. Remind themthat starting and ending meetings promptlyis important and that restarting meetings for late arrivals wastes everybody’s time. It’s alsodisrespectful of those who showed up on time.Ensuring that your subordinates are routinely punctual reduces time-wasting throughoutyour department.

Setting an example of good time managementand respect for other people’s time is critical.Start by explaining why and how you value yourtime. Remember that the way you protect andmake the most effective possible use of yourtime—and theirs—sets a standard for thoseunder you. If you consistently demonstrate thebehavior you want your employees to adopt,your example will be effective.

The same thing is true with your peers.Although you lack the institutional power toeffect changes in how your coworkers managetheir time, you can encourage them to be ontime to meetings and appointments, especially


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meetings you are attending together, by sendingthem short and friendly reminders. There arealways circumstances beyond your control. Butto the degree that you can plan and execute yourschedule, being punctual (overcoming bad habitsif necessary) will benefi t both you and others.

Staying FocusedStaying focused means learning to shelve tasksthat don’t require your immediate attention, to

FOCUSED ON TIME

Even the best time-management skillswon’t help you much if you focuson the wrong tasks. A superior time-management plan helps you decidewhat is the best investment of yourenergy. Remember:

• Good time management helps youto focus on the task at hand.

• Sharing your agenda is a good wayto let folks know when to leave youalone.

• Learning to say “No” to time wast-ers is like buying extra time.

• Focusing on time managementmeans you’re focusing on yourwork.



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manage other people’s demands by sharing howyou are using your time, and to say no whenappropriate.

This doesn’t mean ignoring everything thatpulls you from your task—you don’t want to

STAYING FOCUSED ON TIMEMANAGEMENT

Fostering respect for other people’stime is the first step to nurturing anorganization committed to making themost of the time available. Still, sav-ing time is not of much use if peoplefocus whatever time they’ve saved onthe wrong tasks. The key to effectivetime management is focus.

When you are focused on a goal ortask, your mental and physical ener-gies are all applied to achieving it.Concentrating and keeping a clearfocus on your goals, tasks, and priori-ties helps you fend off the interrup-tions and demands from others thatthreaten to derail you from succeed-ing. When you are focused, you are incontrol of your time: You know what’simportant, you know what your pri-orities are, and you know how to putthose priorities first.

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become isolated and lose sight of what’s going onin the workplace around you. The point of beingfocused is not to completely tune out distrac-tions, but to manage them.

If poor time-management habits have alloweddistractions to derail your goals, then focusingcan put you back on track. When you are askedto take on extra work, for example, make it clearthat your availability depends on the prioritiesyou are currently focused on. “I’ll certainly try tohelp,” you say, turning to your schedule. “Let mesee where that fi ts into my agenda.”

KEEPING YOUR TEAM FOCUSEDWhen your team members are tearing their hairout, you can be reasonably assured that theirtime-management skills are lacking and theyare not focusing appropriately. Their failureto accomplish goals and tasks becomes yourfailure. You need to step in and help them learnto focus on the right things and to managedistractions.

As the boss, you are the one who ultimatelyhas the responsibility to be a good steward ofall resources—especially time—available toyou and your department. That means doingwhatever you can to improve the effi ciency andthe time-management skills of the members ofyour group. One way to approach that goal is toremember the saying that the best way to learnsomething is to teach it. The smartest thing youcan do to help everyone improve their time-management techniques is to teach each other.You can take both a macro and micro approach


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TIME MANAGEMENT IN ACTIONFOR TEAMSIf the members of your team are not incontrol of their time, their productivityand efficiency will suffer. Here are afew ways to improve your team’s time-management skills:

• Lead by example – Be the first toenroll in time-management training.Put the techniques you learn intopractice.

• Keep everyone aware that time isimportant – Respect other people’stime and urge them to respect yours.

• Create a time-management plan foryour team – Discuss ways in whichthe whole group can eliminate time-wasting efforts.

• Match the right person to the rightjob – When an employee’s naturalabilities are not aligned with his job,boredom and restlessness set in,leading to wasted effort.

• Organize your work area – How youallocate your space—assign workareas and place filing cabinets andstorage space—can significantlyaffect your group’s productivity andefficiency.



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to encouraging your team to adopt positive time-management skills.

Macro ApproachCreate a time-management plan. When youfocus on time management in your depart-ment, you and your staff begin supporting eachother in a joint effort. Discuss ways to preventtime wasting in areas of your department that

seem especially ineffi cient. Set up an infor-mal forum, in which your staff can share theirtime-saving tricks. Some people have a natu-ral sense of how to use time effectively, andeveryone can benefi t from their wisdom. Don’tforget to offer your own suggestions. Thendraft a time-management plan that allowseveryone to focus on tasks and objectives thatsupport the company’s goals.

“There’s never time todo it right, but there’salways time to do it overagain.”

— Meskimen’s Law


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Assign time-management responsibility toeveryone on your team, but don’t forget that asthe person in charge, you must lead by example.You don’t need to become a time monster andride everybody relentlessly. People are human

SLOW DOWN TO SAVE TIME

Good time management doesn’tnecessarily mean leaping into action.Playing fast and loose with decisionsmight work in the short run, but toomany poor decisions, made in haste,can turn out to be penny-wise andpound-foolish. Patching that holein the loading dock door with ducttape might be a quick fix, but takingthe time to repair it correctly—perhapseven installing a new door—will savemuch more time later. When confront-ed with a problem, take the time towrite down all your available solutionsand alternatives. Before making adecision, consider the value of thetime that will be saved in the longrun by adopting a solution that maybe slower but will be permanent.

SOURCE: The 25 Best Time Management Tools andTechniques by Pamela Dodd and Doug Sundheim(Peak Performance Press, 2005).

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and they may wiggle a little on their time-management plans. If you’re too tough onthem, your people will resent you and begin toabdicate responsibility. Defi ne benchmarks tomonitor your group’s collective progress towardthe completion of tasks, objectives, and goals.Continuously review how time could be betterused. Make updates on your time-managementplan a priority.

Sharpen your organizational skills. Onceyou’ve begun to set priorities and organized your

TIME, MOTION, AND OUTPUTTime and motion studies are used tohelp some businesses maximize effi-ciency. Time studies record the time ittakes to perform each task in order toestablish time standards for every job.Motion studies analyze each move-ment made in accomplishing eachtask. Although it might seem tediousto study time and motion so closely,it is the only way to determine themost efficient sequence of actions andestablish standards upon which to pre-dict business performance and growthpotential.

SOURCE: The Small Business Handbook by IrvingBurstiner (Fireside, 1997).

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people to function in the most time- effi cientmanner possible, step up your organizational-design skills. Making sure that all employees inyour department are placed in the right posi-tion for their skills can save precious time in thelong term. When a person’s natural talents andabilities are not aligned with his job, boredom,restlessness, and resentment can set in. As aresult, his time is squandered. The more peopleare misaligned, the more complex your time-management challenge. Putting your people towork at tasks that are aligned with their ownabilities and that complement their colleaguesensures that you’re achieving maximum effi -ciency from the time you have.

YOU ARE LESS PRODUCTIVE THANYOU THINK

How many of your workday hours aregenuinely productive in terms of pro-ducing revenue? How many are spentcommuting, filling out paperwork,attending meetings, dealing with ven-dors, and in other such activities? Onestudy of Fortune 500 CEOs revealedthat CEOs spend an average of 28truly productive minutes per day.

SOURCE: No B.S. Time Management for Entrepre-neurs by Dan Kennedy (Entrepreneur Press, 2004).

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Learn from other departments. If you workclosely with another department that is operat-ing on a different calendar or schedule fromyours, talk to your counterparts in other areasand fi nd out how you can compare schedulesand coordinate plans to maximize effi ciency

CASE FILEORGANIZERS BUILD ORGANIZATIONS

Evidence suggests that the key peopleat formative stages of visionary compa-nies exhibited a stronger organizationalorientation than those at comparable,but less-than-visionary, companies,regardless of their personal leadershipstyles. For instance, Jack Welch playeda huge role in revitalizing GE, makingreorganization a high priority.

Among other things, Welch’s lead-ership saved the company’s ailinglocomotive division, and it rocketed tothe top of the industry. In GE shops,locomotives were repaired and putback in service faster and less expen-sively than ever before. The locomotiveteam’s results were truly astonishing.Superior organization saved time andturned a greater profit.SOURCE: Built to Last by Jim Collins and JerryPorras (HarperBusiness, 2004).


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between departments. You can also learn fromtheir best practices and fi nd out about how theyfocus their energies and efforts and managetheir time to achieve greatest effi ciency. How dothey value time relative to their organization’sfi nancial performance? Their protocols might

TIME MANAGEMENT ANDTHE ORGANIZATION

Good time management seldom justoccurs on the spur of the moment.What you want to accomplish must bethought out in advance and plannedcarefully.

�� Do consider the time efficiency ofyour whole group.

�� Do create a time-management planfor yourself and your department.

�� Don’t forget your use of time is set-ting an example.

�� Do be punctual and respect otherpeople’s time.

�� Don’t ignore the time-planningtricks you can learn from youremployees or other departments.

�� Do organize your work area to maxi-mize efficiency.

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shed light on ways that you waste time, effort,or resources. The more information you shareamong work groups, departments, areas, ororganizations, the stronger the foundation youare laying for an integrated time-managementeffort across the company.

�� Don’t work so fast and furiouslythat the quality of your worksuffers.

�� Do plan and strategize how you canhelp your boss be more timeefficient.

�� Don’t allow your boss’s poor time-management habits to derail yourschedule.

�� Do assign time-managementresponsibility to members of yourteam.

�� Don’t waste other people’s timewith meaningless assignments.

�� Don’t allow intrusions and distrac-tions to rob your time-managementfocus.


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Micro Approach Organize your work area. How you organizeyour team’s space can also help them save timeand stay focused on their goals as well as those ofyour company. Psychologists have recently found

ORGANIZE AND RECOGNIZE

It’s easy to believe that if you’rerunning at full throttle you must begetting a lot done. You might bewasting time looking for things thatbetter organizing skills would havemade more accessible. When peopledemonstrate good organization andtime-management skills, don’t let it gounnoticed.

• Keep your work space well-organized to help people movequickly and efficiently.

• Rid your physical space of clutterto make information easy to access.

• Coach your people into goodorganizing habits and watch forprogress.

• Be sure to recognize people whoshow good time-management andorganizing skills.



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THE SPACE ATTACK

Organizing expert and author JulieMorgenstern developed the SPACE planfor attacking clutter and organizingyour physical environment:

Sort – Sort things into groups of simi-lar items.

Purge – Toss it, give it away, sell it,put it in long-term storage—but get itout of your working space.

Assign a Home – Things you’ve decidedto keep need a place. Be efficient withyour storage: Consider size, accessibil-ity, safety, and sequence of use.

Containerize – Containers keep cat-egories of items separated and makeretrieval, cleanup, and maintenanceeasy.

Equalize – Monitor your bins, shelves,wall units, and drawers. When some-thing doesn’t work, make a change.If you begin accumulating again,“attack” your SPACE.

SOURCE: Organizing from the Inside Out by JulieMorgenstern (Owl Books, 2004).

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that cubicles with higher partition walls tendto give workers a “rat in a maze” complex, whilelower walls encourage a freer exchange of ideas.When organizing your project teams, bear inmind that their geographical space will affect thetime it takes to get them to work together.

In order for your organization to move quicklyand effi ciently, you need to make sure that dataand information are disseminated among teammembers and other critical players at an optimallevel. Physically confi guring your team’s workspace will affect their agility. Filing systems,both physical and digital, should suit the needsof your team and be fl exible and adaptable.De-cluttering is often cited as a surefi re way to

“The job of negotiatinga mutually satisfactoryagreement about timeis part of the manager’sjob.”

—John Kao,author of Jamming


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become more time effi cient. The critical issueis not aesthetics, but the accessibility of data:Someone who can quickly fi nd what she needsin a mountain of clutter is better off than some-one whose work space is neat as a pin but mustsearch for hours to fi nd anything.

To heighten awareness of time managementamong your team, it’s also vital to instill a time-management awareness and a sense of focus ineach individual. Remember, the chain is onlyas strong as its weakest link. Monitor everyindividual’s progress toward adopting the time-management plan. In one-on-one meetings orcoaching sessions, review your team members’to-do lists and ask questions about how theirplans fi t into the department’s plans.

Finally, make special recognition possible forpeople who demonstrate the best time-manage-ment techniques. Then spread the word. Offerincentives to workers who suggest better time-management approaches to assignments, tasks,projects, and initiatives. Anticipate that peoplemight actually have extra time, and be preparedto help them fi nd ways to use it wisely.

KEEPING YOUR BOSS FOCUSEDMost workers are occasionally exasperated bytheir boss’s lack of concentration. The highersomeone moves up the corporate ladder, themore distractions he has to deal with. But asthe single most important player in your work-ing life, your boss exerts the most control anddemands over your time. You are in a bind if heis terrible at focusing and managing time.


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Your ability to infl uence your boss’s ability tofocus time-management skills or at least keep hisweakness from diminishing your own effective-ness takes fi nesse and diplomacy. You can’t forcehim to change. But there are things you can do toimprove the situation.

First, ask yourself where your boss goes wrong:What does he do that wastes time? Does hecause delays and disruptions by losing informa-tion? Does he assign tasks to the wrong people?

RATIO ANALYSIS

To determine how efficient you are,check the relationship between yourtime and income. If you earn $400 fora 40-hour week (about $10 per hour),the ratio of your income to an hour ofyour time is 10 to 1. If you get a 25percent raise, the ratio might seemto increase to 12.50 to 1. But thepromotion may mean spending moretime at work. If you spend 80 hoursa week at work but are compensatedfor 40, the ratio becomes 12.50 to 2.Promotions can be expensive, unlessyou learn how to manage your work-load and time better. As you climbthe corporate ladder, it is important tobecome more time efficient.

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Does he ignore incremental deadlines? Does hewait for a task to become a crisis before it snagshis attention? If any of this affected him alone, itwouldn’t be your problem. If you can anticipateyour boss’s distractions and time-managementweaknesses, you will be better prepared to dealwith them.

PERSONAL CHANGE

Time-management skills can belearned. They can even be practicedwith self-discipline. But true timemanagement must become a way oflife, if you expect to derive all of thebenefits it has to offer you personallyand professionally. Don’t forget that:

• Serving customers faster, morecheaply, and better occurs withgood time management.

• Saving money and resources bydoing things right the first time is aresult of good time management.

• Working on time-management skillswith subordinates and peers willbuild stronger relationships.

• Using better time-managementtechniques can begin right now.



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If it’s hard to get your boss’s attention inthe offi ce, try to meet off-site, perhaps over ameal. If you get him away from his desk andwork distractions, you’ll have a greater chanceto get him to focus on you and your needs andaccomplish more in a shorter period of time. Ifyou know he often takes long to give authoriza-tion or sign off on projects, build extra time inyour schedule to account for your boss’s lackof speed. If he doesn’t articulate his thoughtsclearly in impromptu meetings, provide himwith a well-thought-out agenda in advance ofyour conversation so he has a chance to collecthis thoughts.

LEARNING ABOUT YOURSELFFROM OTHERS

Why is your boss’s negligent behaviorso irritating? Do you have the samehabits? It’s often hard to endure faultsin others that you see in yourself. Atthe same time you’re studying yourboss, also consider how you man-age your time at work. For instance,do you, too, wait to take action untilthings have reached crisis proportions?By noting your own time-managementflaws in someone else, it’s easier to seehow to improve them.

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Even if you can’t infl uence what your bossfocuses on, you might be able to engage his helpin removing obstacles or roadblocks that areaffecting your team’s ability to focus on the rightgoals and tasks. If anybody will understand theprofi t and performance payoffs that fl ow fromthe ability to focus, it will be your boss.

By diplomatically working around your boss’sfl aws and practicing good time-managementskills, you can lighten the load for you and yourboss—and enhance your market value. Plus,learning to cope with an ineffi cient boss canmake your workplace far more tolerable. It’s nolie that workers “don’t leave bad jobs, but fl eefrom bad bosses.”

COMMITTING TO PERSONAL CHANGEGetting a handle on time management can be anoverwhelming proposition. Yet imagine havingcontrol over your time and workload. Imaginesaying “no” to your inner workaholic. Imaginesaying “no” to your subordinates, peers, andsuperiors who make inappropriate demands onyour time. Imagine saying “no” to the minutiaethat threaten to overwhelm you.

Now that you’ve learned to prioritize yourtasks, stay focused, avoid distractions, teachyour subordinates to manage their time, andwork around your boss’s time-managementdefi ciencies, you are in the best position tofi nally gain control of your time. Focus on elim-inating wasted time or effort, refusing work thatdoesn’t move your agenda or your company’sforward, keeping track of your projects, and


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staying on top of your to-do lists. In so doing,you will positively affect not just your time-management habits, but those of other peoplein the organization.

The Case for Time ManagementTime is one of your most valuable assets andneeds to be managed well if you are to make themost of it. The difference between successfulmanagers with bright futures and unsuccessfulmanagers who stay stuck in one spot usually hasless to do with their intelligence or skill level andmore to do with how effectively they managetheir time. If you want to begin moving up fasterin your career, start by improving the way youmanage your time.

You can become the poster child for produc-tivity, the champion of time effi ciency—notby nagging but by being alert to opportunitiesto serve internal and external customers faster,cheaper, and better. You can use every oppor-tunity your peers offer to organize your mutualspace and working relationships. With your boss,you can become the go-to person who relievesdepartmental pressures by getting it done rightthe fi rst time and on time.

Setting and enforcing time-managementhabits isn’t easy and can’t be done in an instant.Chances are that what is really standing inyour way is a lack of self-discipline. Changingbehavior is diffi cult—but incredibly rewarding.And it is most successfully achieved by small,incremental, manageable steps. You’ve heardthe mantras: “A journey of 1,000 miles begins


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with a single step,” and “You climb a mountainone rock at a time.” If you really want to man-age your time better, recognize that, yes, it willtake a major effort to overcome the ineffi cienthabits that have become ingrained. But it is alsotrue that the fi rst step to change may be as easyas getting out a piece of paper and starting yourto-do list right now.


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You are now ready to put what you havelearned from this book into practice.Use this section as a review guide.

CHAPTER 1.PRIORITIZE YOUR TIME

• Everybody gets the same hours in aday: It’s really a matter of how youuse them.

• Good time management bringsbenefits: Increased daily output,meeting career and financial goals,and better opportunities for successare all possible.

• Be more efficient with your time:Efficiency in the present will helpyou achieve what you want in thefuture.

• Prioritize according to your bodyclock: See when you are most effi-cient at making decisions or focus-ing on work and devote that timeexclusively to those tasks.

• Don’t overwhelm yourself: Takebig tasks and subdivide them intosmaller tasks. Remember, a journeyof a thousand miles begins with asingle step.

Off and Running >>>

O F F A N D R U N N I N G

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• Understand the big picture: Thiswill help you stay focused and pri-oritize better.

• Always keep priorities in mind:Unimportant things usually becomeurgent because of bad planning.

• Write things down: Even those withsteel-trap minds sometimes forgetimportant details or items that needattention.

• Don’t get bogged down: Prioritizeyour list and focus on the mostimportant items.

• Make a list on a computer or digi-tal planner: You’ll always be ableto find it and can update it morequickly. If you must cross-out itemson your to-do list, print out a copyand mark it up.

• Remember the real object of timemanagement: Use the time youhave efficiently rather than cuttingcorners to save time at any cost.

• Time management helps creativity:Rather than wasting time maneu-vering through chaos and disorder,good time management opens up


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space in your life, allowing moretime for the creative process.

• Know where your list is and keepit there: Jotting things down onbacks of envelopes and loose piecesof paper won’t help you progress;you’ll just waste time looking forthat scrap with that great idea.

CHAPTER 2.ORGANIZE YOUR TIME

• Don’t reinvent the wheel: Use tem-plates and already created formsor e-mail signatures so you do nothave to write the same thing overand over again.

• A good schedule is flexible: Thatway, unforeseen developments andcomplications can be accommo-dated.

• Have a Plan B: This will ensure thatyou don’t spin your wheels whenthings go awry.

• Do it now: Use those pausesthroughout the day to get the littlethings that need doing done.

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• Give yourself enough time:Remember incidentals in your daysuch as e-mails and taking andreturning phone calls. Activities youforget to include in your schedulecan wipe out the extra time in themargins of your day.

• Don’t be afraid to complete tasks“out of order”: The important thingis to maximize resources and keyplayers.

• In a pinch, hire a temp: Sometimeswith deadlines looming, there’s toomuch to do, and it’s time to call insome reinforcements.

• Oil the squeaky wheel: Figure outwhat is slowing you down to getthings moving again.

CHAPTER 3.USING YOUR TIME EFFICIENTLY

• Avoid e-mail distractions: Don’tread every e-mail right away; des-ignate a specific time of day forhandling them. Delete or file themaway after you’ve replied or other-wise dealt with the content.


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• Manage the phone trap: Screenyour calls when you are focusing onan important project; then returnthem in their order of importance.

• Set agendas for meeting: Everybodyhas things to do; stay on course andfinish the meeting sooner ratherthan later.

• Start meetings on time: This willavoid wasting valuable time wait-ing for late comers and signals thattimeliness is a priority.

• Maintain a healthy rhythm: Don’t becomplacent, don’t slack off—keepit going.

• Don’t burn yourself out: Know whento step on the gas or ease off tomeet deadlines.

CHAPTER 4.TIME MANAGEMENT IN THE WORKPLACE

• Build a workplace where time man-agement matters: This improveseverybody’s productivity and createsan environment of respect.

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• Communicate effectively: relatinginformation clearly will save every-body involved time and effort.

• Don’t dwell on mistakes: Everybodymakes them; change what you canchange and proceed.

• Respect other peoples’ time: Don’tramble, interrupt somebody ondeadline, or take more of yourboss’s time than she wants to give.

• Be punctual: The person yourlateness hurts most—especiallyif you’re habitually late—is you.Remember, a punctual person is awalking advertisement for superiortime management.

• Stay focused: Learn to shelve thingsthat don’t require your immediateattention.

• Keep your team focused: Help themlearn to focus on the right thingsand manage distractions.

• Create a time-management plan:Draft a plan that allows everybodyto focus on tasks and objectivesthat support the company’s goals.


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• Sharpen organizational skills:Aligning a person’s natural talentsand abilities with his job ensureshis and your department’s success.

• Learn from other departments:Compare schedules and coordinateplans to maximize efficiency.

• Organize your work area:Decluttering and organizing canhelp your team stay focused ongoals.

• Give recognition to those who dem-onstrate the best time-managementtechniques: Public praise is a goodimpetus for reinforcing positivebehaviors.

Off and Running >>>


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• Learn about yourself from others:Seeing your own time-managementflaws in somebody else makes iteasier to see how to correct them.

• Be committed to making changepermanent: Prioritize tasks, stayfocused, avoid distractions, teachyour subordinates to better man-age their time, and work aroundyour boss’s time-management defi-ciencies. Staying the course willimprove your life.

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The One Minute Manager Meets the MonkeyKen BlanchardThis step-by-step guide by best-selling authorBlanchard shows managers how to free them-selves from doing everyone else’s jobs andensure that every problem is handled by theproper staff person.

Putting the One Minute Manager to Work: Howto Turn the 3 Secrets into SkillsKen BlanchardThe second book in this phenomenallysuccessful series shows how to apply the tenetsof the One Minute Manager to one’s day-to-dayexistence to bring out optimum efficiency.

The On-Time, On-Target Manager: How a “Last-Minute Manager” Conquered ProcrastinationKen Blanchard and Steve GottryIn this engaging parable, Blanchard and Gottryoffer practical strategies any professional canput into practice to improve his performance

RecommendedReading

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and transform himself from a crisis-prone Last-Minute manager into a productive On-Time, On-Target manager.

Get a Life Without Sacrificing Your CareerDianna BooherBooher offers time-saving tips and argues thatsetting realistic expectations and the right goalsare key to establishing priorities that align withone’s personal values.

The Small Business HandbookIrving BurstinerThis is a comprehensive nuts and bolts guide tostarting and running a small business that cov-ers topics from making the decision to start abusiness to managing employees.

Defeating ProcrastinationMarlene Caroselli, Ed.D.This book presents 52 tips (one a week for a year)to help readers choose progress over procrastina-tion and includes exercises to help improve pro-ductivity and efficiency.

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make theLeap . . . and Others Don’tJim CollinsThe findings from Good to Great will surprisemany readers and shed light on virtually everyarea of management strategy and practice.

Leadership When the Heat’s On: 24 Lessons inHigh Performance ManagementDanny Cox with John HooverIn Leadership When the Heat’s On, former testpilot Danny Cox discusses how to adapt theresults-driven characteristics of fighter pilots

R E C O M M E N D E D R E A D I N G

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to any organization and presents strategies foroptimum efficiency in today’s fast-changingworkplace.

How to Get Organized When You Don’t Have theTimeStephanie CulpCulp offers an easy-to-follow five-step program toget organized for busy people.

The 25 Best Time Management Tools andTechniquesPamela Dodd and Doug SundheimThis short but comprehensive book presents thebest of what time-management experts have tooffer.

The Daily Drucker: 366 Days of Insight andMotivation for Getting the Right Things DonePeter F. Drucker with Joseph A. MaciarielloWidely regarded as the greatest managementthinker of modern times, Drucker here offers hispenetrating and practical wisdom with his trade-mark clarity, vision, and humanity. The DailyDrucker provides the inspiration and advice tomeet life’s many challenges.

The Effective ExecutivePeter F. DruckerDrucker shows how to “get the right thingsdone,” demonstrating the distinctive skill of theexecutive and offering fresh insights into old andseemingly obvious business situations.

The Practice of ManagementPeter F. DruckerThe first book to depict management as a dis-tinct function and to recognize managing as aseparate responsibility, this classic Drucker work


141

is the fundamental and basic book for under-standing these ideas.

The E-Myth RevisitedMichael E. GerberThe original best seller is revised, with moreinformation on why so many small businessesfail and what you need to know to run a success-ful business.

The Power PointMichael E. GerberThe author of the best-selling E-Myth seriesexamines the biggest companies in their fieldsand shows how they stay on top.

Time Tactics of Very Successful PeopleB. Eugene GriessmanGriessman offers a collection of time tacticsused by a variety of highly successful peoplesuch as Malcolm Forbes, Jr., and Ted Turner.

It’s Not the Big that Eat the Small . . . It’s theFast that Eat the Slow: How to Use Speed as aCompetitive Tool in BusinessJason Jennings and Laurence HaughtonThis instructive text tells how to create strategicplanning and creativity to speed your businessefficiently past the competition.

“Yes” or “No”: The Guide to Better DecisionsSpencer Johnson, M.D.Best-selling author Spencer Johnson presents apractical system anyone can use to make betterdecisions in both one’s professional and personallife.


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What Really Works: The 4+2 Formula forSustained Business SuccessWilliam Joyce, Nitin Nohria, and Bruce RobersonBased on a groundbreaking 5-year study, analyz-ing data on 200 management practices, WhatReally Works reveals the effectiveness of prac-tices that really matter.

Time for Me: A Burst of Energy for Busy Women!Helene LernerThis parable illustrates how working women needto take time out from taking care of everyoneand everything else in order to make time forthemselves to become more efficient in the longrun.

Organize Your Work Day in No TimeK. J. McCorryThis book shows how simple time-managementtechniques can help managers and employeesdo their work in less time.

Managing Crises Before They Happen: WhatEvery Executive and Manager Needs to Knowabout Crisis ManagementIan I. Mitroff and Gus AnagnosThe heads of the consulting firm ComprehensiveCrisis Management give tips and advice on heed-ing the warning signs, thinking outside the boxto devise coping strategies, and learning fromprevious debacles to plan for the future.

Organizing from the Inside Out: The FoolproofSystem for Organizing Your Home, Your Office,and Your Life, 2nd editionJulie MorgensternOrganizational expert Julie Morgenstern teachesreaders how to organize their work space


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and offers solutions that are tailored to theindividual’s habits and personality.

In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’sBest-Run CompaniesThomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr.Based on a study of 43 of America’s best-runcompanies, In Search of Excellence describeseight basic principles of management that madethese organizations successful, along with pro-viding helpful advice on getting things done.

Quiet Leadership: Six Steps to TransformingPerformance at WorkDavid RockRock demonstrates how to be a quiet leader,master at bringing out the best performance inothers, by improving the way people processinformation.

The 10 Natural Laws of Time and LifeManagementHyrum W. SmithSmith, vice chairman of the board ofFranklinCovey, explains the natural laws thatgovern time management and explores how byorganizing your time, you’ll organize your lifeand derive a sense of satisfaction and well-beingfrom doing so.

Leave the Office Earlier: The Productivity ProShows You How to Do More in Less Time . . .and Feel Great About ItLaura StackStack introduces readers to ten productivity fac-tors and presents an individualized and effectiveapproach to getting organized.


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The Cycle of Leadership: How Great LeadersTeach Their Companies to WinNoel M. TichyUsing examples from real companies, Tichyshows how owners and managers can begin totransform their own businesses into teachingorganizations and, consequently, better-perform-ing companies.

The Leadership Engine: How Winning CompaniesBuild Leaders at Every LevelNoel M. TichyA framework for developing leaders at all levelsof an organization helps to create the next gen-eration of leaders so that a company can growfrom within, which is the key to excellence,stability, efficiency, and the building of teamloyalty.

WinningJack Welch with Suzy WelchThe core of Winning is devoted to the real“stuff” of work. Packed with personal anecdotes,this book offers deep insights, original thinking,and solutions to nuts-and-bolts problems.

Getting OrganizedStephanie WinstonConsidered one of the classics in the field oforganization and time management, this bestseller offers tips on how to organize time, paper-work, financial records, and meals, along withsetting priorities, getting rid of clutter, andteaching organizational skills to children.


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The Organized Executive: A Program forProductivity—New Ways to Manage Time, Paper,People, and the Electronic Office, RevisedEditionStephanie WinstonWinston reveals how to analyze organizationneeds, optimize performance, end paper build-up, increase productivity, and combat procrasti-nation.


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Index

Aaction items, 19

agendas, 28, 39, 53, 73, 79,

80, 81, 83, 84, 108,

109, 111, 126, 127

BBauer, Dana, 13

Booher, Dianna, 77

Brown, H. Jackson, 15

burnout, 88–89

Burstiner, Irving, 115

Ccalendars, 30, 35, 54

Caroselli, Marlene, 79

chatting, 77–80, 85–87

Chick-fi l-A, 99

“chunking,” 14, 41, 36, 54

clutter, 69–73, 120–123

e-mail, 69–73

Collins, James L. S., 8, 55,

99, 117

Collins, Jim, 8, 55, 99, 117

communicating, 22, 97, 98,

99, 100–103

concentration, 58, 98, 123

consistency, 49

Cox, Danny, 42, 44, 105

creativity, 29–31

crises, 51–52, 55, 125

Culp, Stephanie, 49

DDavidson, Jeff, 80

day planners, 35

Deacon, Diane, 29, 31

deadlines, 37, 39, 50, 54, 56,

61–64, 88, 125

distractions, 21, 29, 57,

86–87

managing, 68

Dodd, Pamela, 114

147

I N D E X

downtime, 64–65

Drucker, Peter, x, 7, 37,

82, 99

Ee-mail, 21, 27, 33, 51, 54,

59, 6873, 75, 77, 86,

99, 102

effi ciency, 17, 20, 45, 48, 62,

76, 80–85, 88, 116,

121–124

departmental, 117–119

Ffamily time, 50–51

focus, 29, 57–59, 88, 104,

109–111, 123

Fry, Ron, 35

GGE, 117

Gerber, Michael E., 8, 98

goals, 8–14–19, 60, 82, 110,

111

basics of, 12

long-term, 9–10, 12, 16,

18, 19, 23, 28, 43

managing, 9, 10

setting, priorities in, 8

HHewlett Packard, 55

Hoover, John, 105

KKao, John, 122

Kennedy, Dan, 116

Llateness, 39–40, 50–53,

103–109

Lerner, Helene, 29, 66

lists, 8, 21, 24–36, 37, 47,

58, 59, 68, 70, 123,

128

benefi ts of, 25–32

digitally stored, 25

making, 33–36

managing, 30, 36–39

Mmacro approach, 113

Mancini, Marc, 24

Marcus, Stanley, 90

McCorry, K. J., 71

meetings, 54, 68, 75, 79,

81–85, 97, 102,

106–108, 116, 123,

126

Meskimen’s Law, 113

micro approach, 120

Microsoft Offi ce, 27, 33

Morgenstern, Julie, 50, 51,

121

motivation, 9, 11, 27, 145

NNeiman-Marcus, 90

Oobjectives, 9, 15–17

basics of, 16

organization, 45–50, 71,

112, 117, 120

148

Pperception of time, 2–3

personal change, 99, 109,

127

personal digital assistants

(PDAs), 35, 59

personal time, 7–9, 50–51

Peters, Tom, 39

Phillips, Peter, 61

plan B, 29, 31, 42, 53, 62,

114

Porras, Jerry, 55, 117

priorities, 8, 32, 36–42,

41–42, 110–111

prioritizing, 19–24, 28, 38,

39, 40–42, 58, 60

procrastination, 40, 42–43,

100

productivity, 7–9, 24,

42–43, 86–89, 116

punctuality, 103–109, 118

Qquality time, 7–9, 32,

50–51, 100

Rrhythm, 86, 87, 88, 89

Sscheduling, 50–60, 64, 88

projects, 60–65, 88

troubleshooting, 56–60

Shorter, Harrison, 57

Smith, Hyrum W., 104

Stack, Laura, 33

Stoddard, Alexandra, 7, 54

stress, 48, 107, 139

Summers, Lawrence, 99

Sundheim, Doug, 114

Ttasks, 9, 17–19, 34, 38, 104

basics of, 18

teams, 111, 112

telephones, 72, 73, 74, 75,

76, 77, 78, 79, 80

thinking time, 59–60

time logs, 99

time-management plan,

109, 112–115, 118,

123

time traps, 21, 68, 80, 85

troubleshooting, 56–60

two-list system, 58, 59

VVance, Mike, 29, 31

variables, in plans, 37, 38

WWalt Disney, 29, 55

Welch, Jack, 117

Winston, Stephanie, 6, 8,

58, 59

ZZiglar, Zig, 41, 103

I N D E X

John Hoover is a former executive with Walt Disney Productions and McGraw-Hill and holds master’s degrees in marriage and family therapy and in human and organizational development, as well as a Ph.D. in human and organizational systems. Dr. Hoover is a leadership coach, organizational communications specialist, organizational behavior consultant, workshop leader, and keynote speaker for organizations, including the American Society of Training and Development, the Boeing Leadership Center, Delta Air Lines, IBM, Motorola, the New York State Training Council, the Society for Human Resource Management, Xerox, and many others.

He is also the author and coauthor of 12 management and motivation books, including Bullwinkle on Business: Motivational Secrets of a Chief Executive Moose, How to Work for an Idiot, How to Live with an Idiot, How to Sell to an Idiot, The Art of Constructive Confrontation, Unleashing Leadership, Leadership When the Heat’s On with Danny Cox, and Time Management in the Collins Best Practices series.

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