Now, if we ask a 'stupid' question "what do we manage in time management?", I'm sure most of us will reply "Time, stupid!" And just like October fest, I have to say that time management is NOT about managing time.
Sound like a shocker? Yes, it does because that is what many of us have believed or taught to believe in. Time ticks away all the time. It is unstoppable. It is the result that we want. Now, do we manage results (time) or we manage factors that influence our time? Actually we are managing factors that may cause us to lose time. Hence, you may now agree that we actually don't manage time but try to work on the factors that can steal our time away.
So, what do we manage actually? Time management can be divided into 2 parts : the technical part (internal efficiency) and the strategic part (external factors)
Technical part (efficiency)
This is one part that you can find in most books. There is a long list that you can pick up but below are golden rules that I believe strongly in:
- Plan 2 steps ahead in your first time - then you are always one step ahead after that
- Always have a contingency plan so that we are not caught with fire-fighting
- While waiting, do something. Read a book, call someone you should have been calling more often especially while waiting for a plane
- Review your activities and find the biggest time waster - eg. meetings, reading emails. A lot of people complain that they are stuck in meetings and so they cannot do other work. The problem is 'why are we choosing other work that cannot be done during a meeting?' If the subject is not related to you at that time, do some thinking! (unless someone can read minds!!)
- Know the peak performance time of the day. Even if you know, try different timing because as we age, our peak period may vary too
- Get tools that can help us organize better. I'm a firm believer in PDA phones.
The above list can go on but I'm sure you can find that in many books. Now, for the strategic part (or external part) this is where the major outcome is almost fixed if not managed well ie even if we can be very efficient, we probably can cut down by 20%.
Changing methods
This is one key part. We will always have 24 hours. And there is a maximum of things we can do in a day. We need to have a belief that changing the way we work can improve our efficiency. But to know exactly where to attack, we need to know where the bottle neck is. In my past job, I had a guy who was very good in IT. But his work was slow despite his expertise. Then, we found out later that it was delayed by his poorer command of English! So, in this case, he has to tackle the bottle neck by changing the way he works. He may ask someone to help, he may set an easier format or even may have to improve his command of the language. Do we use spell check? Are we thinking more in front of the computer or doing? If it is thinking, think over it during those boring meetings or during your coffee break.
Asking for or getting more resource
This is usually done but we are not aware of. Each time we are bogged down with work, we skip lunches, work overtime...it is actually a form of putting in more resources. But the problem is that this should only be used for emergency. If a task is continuously going to suck time, we need more resources. Same method, which area is the bottle neck? Once identified, we need to check if changing methods is necessary. If not, then we need more resources. But a few famous reasons thing pop up most of the time:
"My company has a budget constraint. We are not allowed to get more people"
"Everyone is busy, none of my colleagues can help me."
"The work is too complicated. I cannot delegate. "
Well, that is what teamwork is for. To start with, do you help others? Can others help you in more mundane work like keying in some data while you focus on this critical task alone? One key example : a friend's mother is sick and is hospitalized. There is not much you can help your friend but you can always help her pay some bills or bring food for her...
There is another resource that sometimes we forget. Extending deadlines! It IS actually asking for more resources.
Prioritization
When the above has been done and the list is still too long, then you need to prioritize. Of course all are important. But remember that we are now not choosing good from bad. That is done in the above. We are choosing 'worse' out from 'the worst'. It is about renouncing, letting go some for the benefit of all. It is about getting complimented for the good work done and AT THE SAME TIME, screwed for not doing the others. One may say not fair, but having ALL TASKS screwed is the worst.
