Friday, October 22, 2010

Time Management - How to Get More Done in Less Time

Tick Tock may not be a sound heard very often in our ears anymore but it certainly a sound we all hear in our head. There never seems to be enough time in any day to get everything done that we need to do. Time management is more important then ever before to maximize productivity both at work and at home. Understanding a bit about ourselves and how we use our time can help.

When developing a time management plan you need to begin by identifying your common time wasters. Things like spending time talking to friends and family during business hours, getting sidetracked and surfing the web instead of getting the information you need, checking e-mail every 2 minutes and not planning what needs to be done are all time wasters and should be eliminated. Some other time wasters include a cluttered messy work space and old broken down tools and resources such as that rickety copier down the hall.

A good time management plan includes ways to help you identify these as well as other habits you may have developed that eat away at your day. Other things you should take into consideration when making a time management plan include setting priorities, planning your time, reviewing what remains to be done and most important taking time out.

Setting priorities is a very important step with any time management program. Knowing the difference between what must be done and what should be done as well as what someone else can do will help you to plan your time for maximum efficiency. Make a list and label it urgent, very important and important and list all the tasks to be completed. This will not only help you prioritize and plan but will also help you to trim the excess by giving some of it away. At home perhaps your child can set the table while you finish cooking.

Time management to be effective is a plan. Setting a time to do each task can help you to stay focused on that task until it is complete. If you need to do research on the computer setting 15 minutes aside to do it may help to keep you from surfing the net and wasting time.

Stopping to to take time out may feel like a time management no no but it is actually needed. A break can actually help you to be more productive by clearing your mind for a few minutes throughout the day. And if you know that at 2 pm you will take 5 minutes to call your friend chances are you will not take 20 minute when you should be doing something else.

Time management is not really difficult but does require us to break habits we may have formed and develop new ones in their place.


Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Time Management Articles - 10 Tips to Manage Your Time

Time is absolutely precious and valuable. It can be your friend or an enemy. It all depends what you do, and how you deal with it. This is called Time management.

Take your time before time takes you. Don't rush after time, but control it.

All managers coaches, teachers, leaders have taken instructions about how to manage their full agendas. Some tips are common sense and above all, discipline. You can make hundreds of lists to start with, but without a proper focus and mind set your list will not be more than a piece of paper.

So here come some valuable tips to make your list alive:

1. Get an agenda small enough to carry with you, but big enough to write down your priorities. Make a flexible "to do list". This allows you to manage unexpected situations that might occur.
2. Work on your habits. Measure the time you spend with habits that maybe makes you spend unnecessary time. Bad habits can even cost you money that you could save! There are leisure habits that can be addictive and never good. TV and Play Station/video games are made for you to stay and never leave. So watch out the bad habits.
3. Now lets pay attention to top priorities: - writing them down helps you to think and reflect on how to do them from start to finish. Your "to do list" is supposed to help you achieve your prioritised plans.
4. How often do you say a big fat NO to someone who is challenging you to watch a football match or to go out for a coffee? - Its difficult to resist and its here that you need your discipline to work on your behalf!
5. Don't overload yourself with more tasks than you can manage.
6. plan going out in advance. Then you know you will have time to finish your tasks and deserve that long break!
8. Work as a team: spread tasks that others can do. It will help you to get focus on priorities and really have the work done better and faster. You don't have to do everything by yourself.
9. organize your little corner. Have you ever thought about how much time you spend looking for things? Organisation improves efficiency.
10. Settle your goals reasonably and remember that this is critical to keep you motivated. And it proves efficiency for you need that "to do list" to be well done.


Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Delegation - A Time Management Article

The word time management is a very broad term with many meanings. In the workplace leaders are always tasked with more projects or things to accomplish with the same amount of time as before. An understandably daunting task at times! I will not confess and say I have the answers to the challenge; there are many factors in the success of someone's ability to manage time wisely. One thought to help with the burden of not enough time is delegation.

Delegation, as defined in the Merriam Webster Dictionary states Delegation; as the act of empowering to act for another. Kind of confusing? I remember as a manager delegating tasks to assistant managers and employees. As I look back I might have been confused as to what delegating really was. When time is tight and we are busy, the term "delegating" can often be associated with the term "dumping." Dumping is when you give a task that is simple, boring, tedious, or something that needs little or no direction/explanation. I would delegate things such as cleaning an office or calling about an order that was placed. As I progressed in my career it became obvious that if I wanted to work less than 60 hours a week and keep my sanity I need to figure out how to better manage my time. After some effort, it became clear I could not continue to do all that I had and not spend 60 hours a week. After talking with a close colleague, I walked away with a plan to hand over some very important tasks. In the restaurant world one of the most important tasks is food orders. On average you have to place three orders a week and it takes two hours each time, plus the time to check in the order two days later. This equates to 12 hours a week of important work. I put a plan together with an employee who had the prior experience to place orders. After a month of working hand and hand with him, I officially delegated all food orders to him. I would never thought of handing such an important item to someone. As I quickly learned he took more time and precision in placing orders than I was capable of with all that needed to be done every day. When deciding to delegate, there are several factors to think about and here are a couple that comes to mind:

* Who are you going to delegate to? Traditionally speaking we will find the strongest team player and "dump" because we know they will get it done. When I sat with my colleague, he reiterated the famous saying that, "You are only as strong as the weakest team member." Can you delegate to someone other than the strongest member?
* What can be delegated? When time is tight, it is easier to dump than to delegate. It takes time to bring someone up to speed on what and how it needs to be done correctly, but in the long run some extra time up front can save time.
* Ask questions! I wrote an earlier article about engaging people and the fact people want to have a voice in the work they do. I looked at the task of food orders as an old hat and honestly boring. Once I sat down and discussed the opportunity to help the team and the restaurant, he jumped on board fully engaged and feeling valued.

Here are a couple of thoughts about delegation: It will take time and trust in the person's ability to accomplish what you have delegated. Once you reach this point, you may have to help by coaching on errors or mistakes and follow up once in a while. Once they have an understanding and some experience, it will ultimately begin to free up some time for you. As my old colleague would tell me, "It takes time and needs to be a priority for it to work."

What can you delegate right now that will free up your time a bit and will help someone else on your team or staff to grow and learn?


Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

Saturday, October 16, 2010

articles on project time and schedule management

• Project Management 101 (Part 3)
Project Management 101 outlines the four basic things a project manager must manage successfully. Part 3 focuses on time and schedule management.

• Project Management - Project Resources Articles | PDU Training ...
Project Management Times - Project Manager Resources including Articles, PDU Training, Software, Blogs, White papers and more. ... eTraining Schedule, Date ...

• Project Management | EVM: Project Management with the Lights On ...
Earned value is basic cost accounting applied to the one-time events we call projects. .... Schedule Performance Index (SPI): indicates whether the project is ... or more articles elaborating how to determine EVM with real life example ...

• Project Management Articles
Project management articles on various topics including project planning, ... and your boss wants to see a project schedule at next week's status meeting. ..... People, including project managers, do not spend sufficient time on this ...

• Six Time Management Tips for Project Managers
Time management is a basic skill for project managers. The best project managers ensure they ... If you schedule an hour for the meeting, make sure it lasts for an hour and no longer. ... Related Articles. Pareto Analysis Step by Step ...

Friday, October 15, 2010

article on time management of daycare

• Tough Transition - Leaving Work at the Office
5 Apr 2010 ... They are dedicated to being the premier daycare learning facility for your children and this article is one of the many ways we help build the communities we serve. ... 3 Simple and Effective Time Management Techniques ...

• Managing Your Day Care Business Effectively
12 Sep 2007 ... There is a lot of work attached to opening a daycare business. ... Would you like to be notified when a new article is added to the Small-Business category? ... Keep firm tabs on your time management especially if your ...

• Time Management Articles
Time Management Tips Kristine Geimure - Managing Time Article. To achieve maximum success and ... Managing Your Time Brian Tracy Time Management Article ...

• Time Management Training from MindTools.com - How to manage time ...
The first article introduces you to the importance of time management skills. To read it, click "Next article", below. And for other useful techniques, ...

• Free Articles in Time Management - tips, advice, strategies ...
Free resources in Time Management -- effective project systems, quality tracking software, effective task monitoring and more.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

research articles on time management

• Time Management Articles
Time Management articles & Time tips by experts in business, finance and motivation on the Business & Motivation Portal Woopidoo.com.

• Personal time management and goal setting guide
Time management is the base of good study habits. Recommendations and reviews of articles on improving student time management. ...

• Time Management
There is an interesting article on innovative research methods in your field, ... The struggle of time management isn't simply a case of cutting back or ..... Finally, Grad Resources has articles available on many of the issues raised ...

• Time Management In The Workplace - Research and Read Books ...
Subscribe now and do better research, faster with tools and automatic ... Click here for more books and articles on time management in the workplace ...

• Time Management Articles, Research and Tips by Priacta
Time management articles, original research, and tips from Priacta. Beyond GTD—taking it to the next level. GTD alternatives. Time management challenges and ...

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

time management articles

• Time Management Articles
Time Management articles & Time tips by experts in business, finance and motivation on the Business & Motivation Portal Woopidoo.com.

• Personal time management and goal setting guide
A selection of online information on effective time management, with short reviews of good time management articles, time management courses, and seminars. ...

• Self-Improvement - Time-Management EzineArticles
This article describes the negative impact of clutter, the time management benefits of personal organization, and tips on achieving order in your space, ...

• Time Management Training from MindTools.com - How to manage time ...
Download the Time Management Skills Section - download the public articles in the Mind Tools time management section in PDF format. Print or store on your ...

• Time Management
Learn about time management on this page from the Free Management Library.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

articles on time management

• Personal time management and goal setting guide
Time management is the base of good study habits. Recommendations and reviews of articles on improving student time management. ...

• Time Management Articles
Time Management articles & Time tips by experts in business, finance and motivation on the Business & Motivation Portal Woopidoo.com.

• Free Articles in Time Management - tips, advice, strategies ...
Free resources in Time Management -- effective project systems, quality tracking software, effective task monitoring and more.

• Self-Improvement - Time-Management EzineArticles
EzineArticles - Expert Authors Sharing Their Best Original Articles ... Time management is the exercise of certain procedures in order to accomplish goals ...

• Time Management
The struggle of time management isn't simply a case of cutting back or acquiring ..... Finally, Grad Resources has articles available on many of the issues ...