//Do your priority tasks really get priority? //Are you constantly interrupted, and do you find fire-fighting P a necessity? a //Or do you see time as a resource that can be organized tr ic to maximize your effectiveness, and do just that? k //Really? F o r s Your personal productivity and effectiveness help determine your level of y t success. Yet sometimes, the sheer number of things to do and the pressure and h chaos that may pervade the workplace can overwhelm. The road to hell may be 1 100 paved with good intentions, but so is the road to effective time management. 0 0 Using your time effectively can transform your work patterns, performance and results, and the job satisfaction you get along the way. Time management G Great is also a career skill, one that influences not just job success, but whole career r e success, too. Yet it can be difficult to achieve, and success is in the detail. a t 100 Great Time Management Ideasis a book to dip into rather than read all Time T at one sitting (a fact that already makes it time effective!). As the author, Patrick i Forsyth, says, “One new idea may positively influence how you work; here, it is m no exaggeration to say that a steady stream of ideas can revolutionize it.” e Management M PATRICK FORSYTHruns Touchstone Training & Consultancy, an independent firm specializing in training in marketing, management and communications a Ideas n skills. He is also a successful author whose books appear in more than 25 a languages. In this series, he is also author of 100 Great Sales Ideas. g e m Other titles in the 100 Great Ideasseries e n from successful executives t and managers around the world I d e a s Patrick Forsyth £8.99 in UK only BUSINESS/SELF-HELP www.marshallcavendish.co.uk Cover design: www.stazikerjones.co.uk SO8028_Time Mgt ldeas.indd 1 9/17/09 11:23:07 AM 100 GREAT TIME MANAGEMENT IDEAS Patrick Forsyth 111179 Gt T Man Prelims.indd i 1/5/09 11:26:45 Copyright © 2009 Patrick Forsyth First published in 2009 by Marshall Cavendish Editions An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International 1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196 Other Marshall Cavendish offi ces: Marshall Cavendish Ltd. 5th Floor, 32–38 Saffron Hill, London RC1N 8FH, UK • Marshall Cavendish Corporation. 99 White Plains Road, Tarrytown NY 10591-9001, USA • Marshall Cavendish International (Thailand) Co Ltd. 253 Asoke, 12th Flr, Sukhumvit 21 Road, Klongtoey Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand • Marshall Cavendish (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Times Subang, Lot 46, Subang Hi-Tech Industrial Park, Batu Tiga, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia Marshall Cavendish is a trademark of Times Publishing Limited The right of Patrick Forsyth to be identifi ed as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Requests for permission should be addressed to the publisher. The author and publisher have used their best efforts in preparing this book and disclaim liability arising directly and indirectly from the use and application of this book. All reasonable efforts have been made to obtain necessary copyright permissions. Any omissions or errors are unintentional and will, if brought to the attention of the publisher, be corrected in future printings. A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-0-462-09943-9 Designed by Robert Jones Project managed by Cambridge Publishing Management Ltd Printed in Singapore by Fabulous Printers Pte Ltd 111179 Gt T Man Prelims.indd ii 9/15/09 2:39:32 PM CONTENTS Introduction 1 The ideas 1 See where time goes now 8 2 Plan, work—work, plan 10 3 Setting clear objectives 13 4 Speculate to accumulate 17 5 Using Pareto’s law 19 6 Tackling the tyranny of the urgent versus the important 22 7 Give clear instructions 24 8 Beware favorites 26 9 Use a “document parking” system 28 10 Aim at infl uencing particular result areas 30 11 Make use of checklists 32 12 Use abstracts 34 13 The best assistant 36 14 Communicate with your secretary 38 15 Be brief 40 16 A clear diary 42 17 What kind of system? 44 18 Good, better, best . . . acceptable 46 19 Trust the computer? 48 20 Cancellation as a time saver 50 21 Motivate your people 52 22 Thinking ahead 54 23 See the broad picture 56 24 Avoiding a common confusion 57 25 “Everybody’s gone surfi ng, surfi ng . . .” 59 26 And let’s send a copy to . . . 61 100 GREAT TIME MANAGEMENT IDEAS • iii 111179 Gt T Man Prelims.indd iii 1/5/09 11:26:45 27 Telephone effi ciency 63 28 A little help from some “special” friends 65 29 Give yourself some time rules 67 30 Don’t write 68 31 Avoid purposeless meetings 70 32 Handling telephone interruptions 72 33 Keep papers safe and tidy 74 34 Do not put it in writing 76 35 A magic word 78 36 The productive breather 80 37 Write faster 82 38 A cosmic danger 84 39 Morning, noon, or night 86 40 Technology to the rescue 88 41 Time to stay put 90 42 When being regular is a problem 92 43 Time to get noticed 94 44 The most time-saving object in your offi ce 95 45 What I meant to say . . . 97 46 Avoiding meeting mayhem 99 47 In the beginning—or not? 101 48 The confl ict/time equation 103 49 Too many head chefs 105 50 An idea that generates ideas 107 51 R eward yourself 109 52 Best time for appointments 111 53 But I know where everything is 113 54 One thing at a time—together 115 55 At the bottom of the pile 117 56 Resolve to “blitz the bits” 119 57 “If I had wanted it tomorrow I would have asked for it tomorrow” 121 58 Be secure 123 iv • 100 GREAT TIME MANAGEMENT IDEAS 111179 Gt T Man Prelims.indd iv 1/5/09 11:26:45 59 Where you are may be as important as what you do 125 60 Do a swap 127 61 Food for thought 129 62 Less in touch, more time 131 63 In times of (travel) trouble 133 64 While you were away 135 65 “Well, it’s always been done like this” 137 66 I was just passing 139 67 Encourage and help others 141 68 To meet or not to meet . . . 143 69 Categorize to maintain the balance 145 70 On occasion, let’s talk 147 71 Well spotted 149 72 Fighting the plague 151 73 Let the plant grow 152 74 Over to you 154 75 Know when to leave well alone 156 76 Is that the time? 158 77 Making it clear 160 78 Soldiering on 162 79 Driven to distractions 164 80 A clear agenda = a shorter meeting 166 81 The most time-saving phrase in the English language 168 82 Work to rule! 171 83 A balancing act 173 84 Avoid duplicating information unnecessarily 175 85 The right methodology? 177 86 Make skills save time 179 87 Timing and meetings 181 88 Plan your journey 183 89 Working the plan 186 90 Allow for the unexpected 188 91 So cats can play 190 100 GREAT TIME MANAGEMENT IDEAS • v 111179 Gt T Man Prelims.indd v 1/5/09 11:26:45 92 Coping with IT change 192 93 Time to tell a white lie? 194 94 On the move 196 95 Never compete with interruptions 198 96 Meetings: where to hold them 200 97 A time-aware team 202 98 More possibilities 204 99 Focus on what achieves results 206 100 Follow Sinatra 207 Appendix 1 Chairing a meeting 209 2 Delegating 211 vi • 100 GREAT TIME MANAGEMENT IDEAS 111179 Gt T Man Prelims.indd vi 1/5/09 11:26:45 INTRODUCTION Regret for the things you did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things you did not do that is inconsolable. Sidney J. Harris Time to think Time is a resource like any other. And an important one, respect for which can boost effectiveness and profi tability—so time management is a crucial skill. It can enhance personal productivity, allow you to focus on priorities, and ultimately act directly to improve your effectiveness and hence the overall success of the organization. The inherent diffi culties So, if time management is so much common sense and so useful, why is not everyone a time management expert? Sadly, the bad news is that it is because time management is diffi cult (but there is good news to come). The classic author G. K. Chesterton once wrote that the reason Christianity was declining was “not because it has been tried and found wanting, but because it has been found diffi cult and therefore not tried.” So it is too with time management. There is no magic formula, and circumstances—and interruptions— often seem to conspire to prevent best intentions from working out. Some people, perhaps failing to achieve what they want, despair and give up. This is not an area in which you can allow perfection to be the enemy of the good. Few, if any, of us organize our time perfectly, but some are manifestly better at it than others. Why? Simply, it is that those who are more successful have a different attitude to the process. 100 GREAT TIME MANAGEMENT IDEAS • 1 111179 Gt T Man Text.indd 1 1/5/09 11:27:16 They see it as something to work at. They recognize that the details matter. They consider the time implications of everything and they work to get as close to their ideal of time arrangement as they can. Little things do mount up. Saving fi ve minutes may not sound like much use; however, do so every working day in the year (some 230 days) and you save nearly two and a half days! Speaking personally, I could certainly utilize an extra couple of days, no problem. If time can be saved across a range of tasks, and for most people it can, then the overall gain may well be signifi cant. The best basis for making this happen, and the good news factor I promised was to come, is to make consideration of time and its management a habit. Now, habits are powerful. Those that need changing may take some effort to shift, but once new ones are established, then they make the approaches they prompt at least semi-automatic. The process of getting to grips with managing your time effectively may well take a conscious effort, but by establishing good working habits it is one that gets easier as you go on. The ubiquitous meeting Perhaps nothing provides a better example of wasted time than business meetings, especially internal ones. Which of us cannot remember a meeting that we emerged from recently saying, “What a waste of time!”? We all know the feeling, I am sure. Yet there is surely no reason for it to be like this. Some meetings can and do start on time. I can still remember an early boss of mine asking me to join an important executive committee. I hastened to my fi rst meeting, but could not fi nd it. The scheduled conference room was locked and no one seemed to know where the meeting was being held. Meeting up with my boss later and explaining the problem, I remember he simply looked me straight in the eye and 2 • 100 GREAT TIME MANAGEMENT IDEAS 111179 Gt T Man Text.indd 2 1/5/09 11:27:16 said, “When did you arrive?” The meeting was in the designated conference room—but he had locked the door! I was never late for one of his meetings again, and, barring accidents, nor was anyone else. He not only believed it was important to start on time; he organized things accordingly. The meetings tended to be constructive too. This is a very good example of the effect of culture and habit within an organization combining to save people signifi cant time. With clear intentions, good timekeeping, and a fi rm hand on the tiller, as it were, most meetings can be productive. This attitude and approach can be applied in many areas. Respecting how things must be done if they are to be effective and organizing so that the best way of working becomes a habit for all concerned pays dividends over time. Plan the work and work the plan The principles of good time management are not complex. Overall they can be summarized in three principles: • List the tasks you have to perform. • Assign them priorities. • Do what the plan says. It is the last of these principles that causes problems—and, to some extent, the second as well. The logic is usually clear. For example, in conducting training on presentational skills I am regularly told by participants that there is never enough time to prepare. Yet this is a key task. Skimp the preparation, make a lackluster presentation, and weeks of time and work may go down the drain. Putting the preparation time in the diary, setting aside a clear couple of hours or whatever it takes, and sticking to that in a way that avoids interruptions must be worth while. 100 GREAT TIME MANAGEMENT IDEAS • 3 111179 Gt T Man Text.indd 3 1/5/09 11:27:16