Sunday, April 5, 2009

6 Ways to Save Time in 2009

By Riche Goldmann

There are many time management techniques that one may indulge in to save more time in 2009. This is especially true when it comes to your professional career. In todays fast paced world, it is relatively simple to become bogged down in meetings, projects, and other items of interest that directly relate to your career. If you are seeking some simple strategies on how to make more time for the items that require your attention, you will likely benefit from the information contained in this step by step guide. Here, I will share with you 6 steps to saving more time in 2009.

1. The first step to saving yourself time at work is to create a way to document the amount of time that you spend doing different tasks at work. Do this every day for a week. This system will enable you to schedule events, keep track of time that is available for those events, and arrange time related projects to be adjusted as necessary. Not only will this enable you to keep account of where you spend hours every day, but it will also help you to specify precisely what it is that you need to do on a day to day basis.

2. With the help of your new time organizer, you can track where your time is going and make note of the places where you spend the biggest bulk of your time. For instance, you may notice that you spend 3 or 4 hours a day answering phones, checking and replying to email, and running back and forth around the office. By knowing how much time you are spending doing these activities, you can try to be more efficient and effective at doing these activities and decrease the time you spend doing them.

3. Now that you have figured out where you spend most of your time, you can begin to put into place a plan of action that will help you allocate your time. If you spend a lot of time checking emails, then you can allocate a 15 minute block in the mornings to answering emails. If you spend more time answering phone calls, then you can allocate 15 minutes in the afternoons to returning phone calls. Make sure that in both instances, you move quickly to your reason for communication and don't dilly dally.

4. If you are looking to save more time in 2009, and you find that you must consistently meet with your superiors, equals, or the employees that you manage, you may benefit from a computer based meeting software. One that most major corporations integrate today is called GoToMeeting. You can do several things with this type of software. Many in the corporate world use it to conduct meetings that are convenient for employees, and to create training programs for those same employees.

5. Better time management in 2009 begins with goal setting. Try and set aggressive goals for getting projects done. You can either choose to work on one at a time or multi-task and do several at a time. Whatever the case may be, if you goal set you will find yourself getting work done faster and wasting less time. You will again find that you have more time to get other things done and thus will be more efficient at what you do.

6. Finally, you must learn how to say no. Many times, people get overwhelmed with projects that they have volunteered to do, simply because you desire to lend a helping hand. Saying no to certain projects may be difficult to do, but remember that you are not responsible for other people's work. They must learn to get work done themselves if they want to keep their jobs. Saying no to people will not only save you time, but will allow you to focus on what you were hired to do and on what it is that you do best.

If you follow these 6 simple step, you will be a better time manager in 2009. You will now be able to focus your left over time on those things that you need to finish.

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