Time management is critical for everyone who wakes up in the morning. It is especially critical for supervisors, who not only must juggle others' work as well as their own, but must set a good example for the troops, build their confidence, and let them know that they matter by handling every task that involves them not only correctly, but promptly.
There are several ways to learn to manage time. Most of those involve reading an entire book on the subject, then making a list of everything one does for two weeks, then analyzing that list, then applying several different types of logic and physics in order to fight free of time wastage. But people who have time management problems rarely find time to read books about time management.
The other - and the only genuinely successful - way to learn to manage time is to change habits - quickly, firmly, immediately - by applying six simple rules, starting right now.
These six rules were devised by a sage named Alan Lakein more than 40 years ago, but they still work perfectly. Here they are:
1. List goals; set priorities.
2. Make a daily 'to do' list.
3. Start with As, not with Cs.
4. Ask, What is the best use of my time right now?
5. Handle each piece of paper (or email) only once.
6. Do it now.
Can a set of rules this old still work? It's actually the only set of rules that DOES work. Here is a little more on each item.
1. List goals; set priorities.
This is the only item that requires a bit of extra work, but not much. You know what your medium- and long-term main goals are: re-structure the work unit, re-wire the house, train the dog, write the novel. Call it by its new term if you like: a bucket list. Which of those is most important and/or critical to your mission or your life? Write them down.
2. Make a daily 'to do' list.
This list - written on paper, not stored in your head - must include individual items that will move you toward your long-term goals as well as every small item that you need to do: outline that novel, order a reference book, write your mother, take the car for an oil change, make a dental appointment, meet with a recalcitrant employee, clean up your email in box. Writing this list should take only a minute or two, especially after you get into the habit of doing it daily since much of it will come from yesterday's list. Yes, the list will include far too many things to do in one day, but that's okay because next - and most important of all these rules - you are going to...
3. Start with As, not with Cs
In front of every item on the list, put a letter A, B or C, depending on how urgent or important that item is in comparison with all the others. Don't confuse urgency with importance, by the way: there are tasks that are plenty noisy, but if there are no consequences to not doing such a task right away, it is not an A; it is only a B or a C and should not be done until all the As are done, unless not doing it will take longer than doing it.
Is everything on the list an A? No, it's not. Be honest here; we are trying to help you. Re-assess that list. As must be done; Bs should be done; Cs might benefit from never being done unless they rise in importance, or else they can be done at some time in the future rather than this week.
Are there more than one A? Of course there are. So go down the As, quickly assess which of those is the most important and urgent, and add a number to each (A1, A2, A3, etc) Do the same with the Bs and the Cs.
Unless there is an excellent reason to do otherwise (and checking your email is NOT such a reason), roll up your sleeves and do A1.
Once an item is completed, cross it off the list. (This simple stroke of a pen can be a source of immense satisfaction.)
As the day goes along, new tasks will arise. Don't just run off and do them, unless they actually are A1s. Put them on the list. Write them on in the margins, or between other items, and prioritize them. By the end of the day, many items will be crossed off and many added. You might or might not have finished all the As, but everything you did WAS an A. Tomorrow morning, write a new list, prioritize it, and get to work.
4. What is the best use of your time right now?
This is the rule that tempers the one before. You have a meeting in 15 minutes, which is not enough time to do your A1. What other A will take 15 minutes? Scan the list , find it, and do it, cross it off the list, then go to the meeting feeling clean and virtuous.
5. Handle each piece of paper only once.
This rule was created, of course, in the days before email, but it applies equally to that wonderful, terrible medium. You must know people whose desks are heaped with documents (but claim that's not a problem because 'I know where everything is') and who complain that they need more email space because the 'In" box is always full. Inevitably they believe that paging through a thousand-item mailbox to find a single item, or sorting through the desk top to find the memo they need to answer, is efficient.
No, it's not.
Here is the rule for papers and email: it is brutal, but it works.
If you touch it, you must act on it.
Papers coming in? As they arrive, sort them into A, B and C piles, and tackle them in that order. After that fast initial sort, if you touch it, you MUST do it. Once you have done what you need to do to each item, get rid of it: file it, shred it, put it in an envelop and toss it into the Out box.
And by the way, the C pile should not be on your desk. It should be across the room where you will be less tempted to rummage through it. You know that it's only Cs; they are not important. Do the As. In order.
How does this rule apply to email? Sort first. People who get a lot of emails, or those who take a day or a week off and return to an In box of several hundred items, must do this, and it's not that hard. It's exactly why God gave us clickable columns.
Depending on your organization's structure, you might sort first by the sender. You can then delete the daily lunch menus, routine personnel notices, and whatever else comes out daily and pertains only to that day.
Then sort by subject. Once everything on a particular subject is grouped, look at the latest items first: the very most recent might be a conclusion or final answer to the issue so that you won't have to read anything that came before.
Just like a paper item, if you open an email you MUST act on it. If you should and can answer it immediately, answer it and then delete it. If you can forward it to someone else for action, do that now. If it can and should wait, attach an electronic flag to it with a specific date and/or time when you need to respond. When it pops up again, act on it.
Need to keep a record? Save a copy of your Sent message in a separate electronic folder - outside of the email system - that you created just for that subject. Then delete the Sent message as well. There should be no more than a dozen un-acted-on items in your email In box at any time. There is NO valid excuse to have more.
6. Do it now.
Putting off the A1 because it's complex, contentious, or ugly? Take a deep breath and just do it. Every time you look at an item on the list, you are using time and thought that could be applied to actually doing it. Very soon, the seconds you used to excuse yourself from tackling it will add up to enough time to have done it, yet it will still sit there simmering. Do it. Yes, do it.
Now, close this window and go make your list.
For further reference.
There are several ways to learn to manage time. Most of those involve reading an entire book on the subject, then making a list of everything one does for two weeks, then analyzing that list, then applying several different types of logic and physics in order to fight free of time wastage. But people who have time management problems rarely find time to read books about time management.
The other - and the only genuinely successful - way to learn to manage time is to change habits - quickly, firmly, immediately - by applying six simple rules, starting right now.
These six rules were devised by a sage named Alan Lakein more than 40 years ago, but they still work perfectly. Here they are:
1. List goals; set priorities.
2. Make a daily 'to do' list.
3. Start with As, not with Cs.
4. Ask, What is the best use of my time right now?
5. Handle each piece of paper (or email) only once.
6. Do it now.
Can a set of rules this old still work? It's actually the only set of rules that DOES work. Here is a little more on each item.
1. List goals; set priorities.
This is the only item that requires a bit of extra work, but not much. You know what your medium- and long-term main goals are: re-structure the work unit, re-wire the house, train the dog, write the novel. Call it by its new term if you like: a bucket list. Which of those is most important and/or critical to your mission or your life? Write them down.
2. Make a daily 'to do' list.
This list - written on paper, not stored in your head - must include individual items that will move you toward your long-term goals as well as every small item that you need to do: outline that novel, order a reference book, write your mother, take the car for an oil change, make a dental appointment, meet with a recalcitrant employee, clean up your email in box. Writing this list should take only a minute or two, especially after you get into the habit of doing it daily since much of it will come from yesterday's list. Yes, the list will include far too many things to do in one day, but that's okay because next - and most important of all these rules - you are going to...
3. Start with As, not with Cs
In front of every item on the list, put a letter A, B or C, depending on how urgent or important that item is in comparison with all the others. Don't confuse urgency with importance, by the way: there are tasks that are plenty noisy, but if there are no consequences to not doing such a task right away, it is not an A; it is only a B or a C and should not be done until all the As are done, unless not doing it will take longer than doing it.
Is everything on the list an A? No, it's not. Be honest here; we are trying to help you. Re-assess that list. As must be done; Bs should be done; Cs might benefit from never being done unless they rise in importance, or else they can be done at some time in the future rather than this week.
Are there more than one A? Of course there are. So go down the As, quickly assess which of those is the most important and urgent, and add a number to each (A1, A2, A3, etc) Do the same with the Bs and the Cs.
Unless there is an excellent reason to do otherwise (and checking your email is NOT such a reason), roll up your sleeves and do A1.
Once an item is completed, cross it off the list. (This simple stroke of a pen can be a source of immense satisfaction.)
As the day goes along, new tasks will arise. Don't just run off and do them, unless they actually are A1s. Put them on the list. Write them on in the margins, or between other items, and prioritize them. By the end of the day, many items will be crossed off and many added. You might or might not have finished all the As, but everything you did WAS an A. Tomorrow morning, write a new list, prioritize it, and get to work.
4. What is the best use of your time right now?
This is the rule that tempers the one before. You have a meeting in 15 minutes, which is not enough time to do your A1. What other A will take 15 minutes? Scan the list , find it, and do it, cross it off the list, then go to the meeting feeling clean and virtuous.
5. Handle each piece of paper only once.
This rule was created, of course, in the days before email, but it applies equally to that wonderful, terrible medium. You must know people whose desks are heaped with documents (but claim that's not a problem because 'I know where everything is') and who complain that they need more email space because the 'In" box is always full. Inevitably they believe that paging through a thousand-item mailbox to find a single item, or sorting through the desk top to find the memo they need to answer, is efficient.
No, it's not.
Here is the rule for papers and email: it is brutal, but it works.
If you touch it, you must act on it.
Papers coming in? As they arrive, sort them into A, B and C piles, and tackle them in that order. After that fast initial sort, if you touch it, you MUST do it. Once you have done what you need to do to each item, get rid of it: file it, shred it, put it in an envelop and toss it into the Out box.
And by the way, the C pile should not be on your desk. It should be across the room where you will be less tempted to rummage through it. You know that it's only Cs; they are not important. Do the As. In order.
How does this rule apply to email? Sort first. People who get a lot of emails, or those who take a day or a week off and return to an In box of several hundred items, must do this, and it's not that hard. It's exactly why God gave us clickable columns.
Depending on your organization's structure, you might sort first by the sender. You can then delete the daily lunch menus, routine personnel notices, and whatever else comes out daily and pertains only to that day.
Then sort by subject. Once everything on a particular subject is grouped, look at the latest items first: the very most recent might be a conclusion or final answer to the issue so that you won't have to read anything that came before.
Just like a paper item, if you open an email you MUST act on it. If you should and can answer it immediately, answer it and then delete it. If you can forward it to someone else for action, do that now. If it can and should wait, attach an electronic flag to it with a specific date and/or time when you need to respond. When it pops up again, act on it.
Need to keep a record? Save a copy of your Sent message in a separate electronic folder - outside of the email system - that you created just for that subject. Then delete the Sent message as well. There should be no more than a dozen un-acted-on items in your email In box at any time. There is NO valid excuse to have more.
6. Do it now.
Putting off the A1 because it's complex, contentious, or ugly? Take a deep breath and just do it. Every time you look at an item on the list, you are using time and thought that could be applied to actually doing it. Very soon, the seconds you used to excuse yourself from tackling it will add up to enough time to have done it, yet it will still sit there simmering. Do it. Yes, do it.
Now, close this window and go make your list.
For further reference.
