Tri-County News

Tips to better control your time


Everyone feels like there just isn’t enough time to get everything done at one time or another. Good time management involves specific, learned skills. Eliminating time wasters is the first step in time management. Below are some suggestions for helping to take control of your time. Set objectives and priorities Identify your most productive hours during the day and maximize that time. Set it aside for those things that are priorities and for your most difficult tasks. Set one major objective to be completed each day and achieve it. Over-commitment Start planning to avoid over-committing. Learn to be more assertive and say “no.” If you are concerned about disappointing the person, offer alternatives. Delegation Don’t do it all yourself. Those things that are routine and trivial can be delegated or even eliminated. Be clear in your communication about what you will be doing and what you expect the other person to do. Indecision Indecision is a form of procrastination. When making decisions, act with boldness and decisiveness. Be sure to make any important decisions during your prime working time. Don’t waste time regretting past decisions or failures. Meetings Always use an agenda and stick to it. Respect the time of others by ending the meeting on schedule. Never call a meeting if a decision can be made individually rather than with a committee, or use the telephone as often as possible. When holding meetings, be sure the right people are there and it is the right place and time. Crisis situation Try to anticipate crises. We create many ourselves since we fail to plan or anticipate. Remember Murphy’s Laws: Nothing is as simple as it seems; everything takes longer than you think it will; and if anything can go wrong, it probably will. Turn a crisis into an opportunity to find a better way to do things. Take a time out Take a “think” break instead of a coffee break. Think about ways to improve your job results. Analyze your time to discover what to do, when and why. Then improve it! Source: Managing Clocks and Calendars, Gail Gunderson, North Dakota Extension Service.

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