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| Time Management Information |
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Desktop Management Boosts Productivity
Many of us spend long hours at our desk. To assist make the most of every day we need to focus on creating an environment condusive to work. By establishing a good desk environment you are guaranteed to improve your efficiency and achieve more in your day. The paperless desk. Remove all paperwork from your desk: establish files for your projects; reference folders for information you need to access regularly; a reading file for articles, reports, journals and FYI documents; and a daily-file for administrative, miscellaneous and day-specific tasks, and keep these on shelves or in drawers. The only thing on your desk at any point in time should be information relating to the task or project you are currently working on. Before you move on to the next task or project, file your paperwork and ensure you only have items relating to the new task on your desk. Out of sight, out of mind. Remove your in-tray from your desk or get rid of it all together if you can! Keep it out of sight so the contents don't distract you and so that people don't drop new items into it without you noticing. Having an overflowing in-tray in front of you can make you feel guilty and tempt you to get distracted from the task at hand. Educate your colleagues to leave documents for you on your desk, where you will see and either action or file them as they arrive, rather than having them get lost in your in-tray. Avoid double-handling. Many people believe you should only handle paper once. This may not always be practical however if you get into the habit of making 'action notes' on each piece of paper your time will be well spent. Either write directly onto the paper or use a post it note to remind yourself of what action needs to be taken on that paper. This way you will avoid handling the paper multiple times. Stationery drawer. Keep stationary in cupboards or drawers rather than on your desk. Get rid of all the clutter and keep your desk clear for essential items relating to the current piece of work you are doing. Set up a comfort zone. Take the time to set up your PC, monitor, phone, chair and other vital tools properly. Make sure they are within easy reach and positioned for comfortable use. Inspire yourself. Surround yourself with positive images. Keep a photo or phrase that motivates you in view to remind you of, and motivate you toward continually striving for your goals: it could be a holiday destination you want to visit, a photo of your family or a quote that inspires you. Shut down. Take ten minutes to clear your desk at the end of every day: wash your coffee cup, empty your water bottle, put away pens and note pads, file documents and lock away confidential information. Leave each day with a clear desk and start each new day afresh. Neen is a Global Productivity Expert: by looking at how they spend their time and energy ? and where they focus their attention ? Neen helps people to rocket-charge their productivity and performance. A dynamic speaker, author and corporate trainer, Neen demonstrates how boosting your productivity can help you achieve amazing things. With her unique voice, sense of fun and uncommon common-sense, Neen delivers a powerful lesson in productivity. Find out more at http://www.neenjames.com/
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RELATED ARTICLES
10 Ways to Take Back Your Time I've divided my tips into two sections - 5 ways to manage your time and 5 ways to take back your time. Both offer daily or regular practices to try out in your life right now. Balancing Your Work, Family and Social Life Balancing Your Work, Family and Social Life By Gene Griessman, PhD � ����������� Many of us have an image of personal balance as a set of scales in perfect balance every day. But that's an unrealistic goal. You are in for a lot of frustration if you try to allocate within every day a predetermined portion of time for work, family and your social life.� An illness may upset all your plans. A business project may demand peaks of intense work, followed by valleys of slow time. ����������� Balance requires continual adjustments, like an acrobat on a high wire who constantly shifts his weight to the right and to the left. By focusing on four main areas of your life ? emotional/spiritual needs, relationships, intellectual needs and physical needs ? at work and away from� work, you can begin to walk the high wire safely. ����������� Here, drawn from my conversations with many high successful Americans, are ten ideas for balancing all aspects of your life: 1.����� Make an appointment with yourself. Banish from your mind the idea that everyone takes precedence over you. Don't use your organizer or calendar just for appointments with others. Give yourself some prime time. Regularly� do something you enjoy. It will recharge your batteries. Once you've put yourself on your calendar, guard those appointments. Kay Koplovitz founder of the USA cable television network, which is on the air 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. Koplovitz ran the daily operations of the network for 21 years. For more than two decades, there was always some potential claim on her time. Therefore she vigilantly protected a scheduled tennis match just as she would a business appointment. 2.����� Care for your body. Having a high energy level is a trait held by many highly successful people. No matter what your present level of energy, you can increase it by following these steps: Eat. Don't skip meals. Your physical and mental energy depend upon nourishment. Irregular eating patterns can cause a frayed temper, depression, lack of creativity and a nervous stomach. Exercise. Over and over again, highly successful people mention the benefit of exercise routines. Johnetta Cole, president of Bennett College for Women and former president of Spelman College, does a four-mile walk each morning. She calls it her mobile meditation. The benefits of exercise are mental, emotional, physical and spiritual. If you are healthier and have more stamina, you can work better and longer. Rest. A psychologist who has studied creative people reports that they rest often and sleep a lot. 3.����� Cut some slack. You do not have to do everything. Just the right things. Publisher Steve Forbes taught me a lesson: "Don't be a slave to your in-box. Just because there's something there doesn't mean you have to do it." As a result, every evening, I extract from my long list to-do list just a few "musts" for the following day. If, but three o'clock the next day, I've crossed off all the "musts," I know that everything else I do that day will be icing on the cake. It is a great psychological plus for me. There is nothing wrong with pushing yourself hard, disciplining yourself to do what needs to be done when you hold yourself to the highest standards. That builds up stamina and turns you into a pro. At time, though, you must forgive yourself. You will never become 100 percent efficient, nor should you expect to be. After something does not work, ask yourself, "Did I do my best? If you did, accept the outcome. All you can do is all you can do. 4.����� Blur the boundaries. Some very successful people achieve balance by setting aside times or days for family, recreation, hobbies or the like. They create boundaries around certain activities and protect them. Other individuals who are just as successful do just the opposite. They blur the boundaries. Says consultant Alan Weiss, "I work out of my home. In the afternoon, I might be watching my kids play at the pool or be out with my wife. On Saturday, or at ten o'clock on a weeknight, I might be working. I do things when the spirit moves me, and when they're appropriate." Some jobs don't lend themselves to this strategy. But blurring the boundaries is possible more often than you may think. One way is to involve people you care about in what you do. For example, many companies encourage employees to bring their spouses to conferences and annual meetings. It's a good idea. If people who mean a great deal to you understand what you do, they can share more fully in your successes and failures. They also are more likely to be a good sounding board for your ideas. 5.����� Take a break. Many therapists believe that taking a break from a work routine can have major benefits for mental and physical health. Professional speaker and executive coach Barbara Pagano practices a kind of quick charge, by scheduling a day every few months with no agenda. For her, that means staying in her pajamas, unplugging the phone, watching old movie or reading a novel in bed. For that one day, nothing happens, except what she decides from hour to hour. Adds singer and composer Billy Joel, "There are times when you need to let the field lie fallow." Joel is describing what farmers often do: let a plot rest so the soil can replenish itself. 6.����� Take the road less traveled. Occasionally, get off the expressway and take a side road, literally and figuratively. That road may take you to the library or to the golf course. Do something out of the ordinary to avoid the well-worn grooves of your life. Try a new route to work, a different radio station or a different cereal. Break out of your old mold occasionally, with a new way to dress or a different hobby. The road less traveled can be a reward after a demanding event, a carrot that you reward your self with or it can be a good way to loosen up before a big event. Bobby Dodd, the legendary football coach at Georgia Tech, knew the power of this concept. While other coaches were putting their teams through brutal twice-a-day practices, Dodd's team did their drills and practices, but then took time to relax, play touch football and enjoy the bowl sites. Did the idea work? In six straight championships games! 7.����� Be still. Susan Taylor, editorial director of Essence, sees to it that she has quiet time every morning. She regards it as a time for centering ? for being still and listening. She keeps a paper and pen with her to jot down ideas that come to her. The way you use solitary time should match your values, beliefs and temperament. Some individuals devote a regular time each day to visualize themselves attaining their goals and dreams. Others read, pray, meditate, do yoga or just contemplate a sunrise or sunset. Whatever form it takes, time spent alone can have an enormous payoff. Achievers talk about an inner strength they find and how it helps them put competing demands into perspective. They feel more confident about their choices and more self-reliant. They discover a sense of balance, a centeredness. 8.����� Be a peacetime patriot. Joe Posner has achieved wealth and recognition selling life insurance. Several years ago, Posner helped form an organization in his hometown of Rochester, NY to prepare underprivileged children for school and life and, he hopes, break the poverty cycle. You may find some equally worthy way to give something back through your church, hospital, civic club, alumni association or by doing some pro bono work. Or you may help individuals privately, even anonymously. There are powerful rewards for balancing personal interests with the needs of the common good. One of the most wonderful is the sheer joy that can come from giving. Another� reward is the better world that you help create. 9.����� Do what you love to do. As a boy, Aaron Copeland spent hours listening to his sister practice the piano because he loved music. By following that love, he became America's most famous composer of classical must. When I asked him years later if he had even been disappointed by that choice Copeland replied, "My life has been enchanting." What a word to sum up a life. By itself, loving what you do does not ensure success. You need to be good at what you love. But if you love what you do, the time you spend becoming competent is less likely to be drudgery. 10.� Focus on strategy. As important as it is, how to save time for balancing your life is not the ultimate question. That question is, "What am I saving time for?" Strategy has to do with being successful ? but successful at what? If others pay your salary, being strategic generally means convincing them that you are spending your time in a way that benefits them. If there is a dispute over how you should use your time, either convince the people who can reward or punish you that your idea about using time is appropriate, or look for another job. The "what for?" question should also be asked about the life you live. It is truly a comprehensive question and gets at the question of wholeness. � So what makes for a successful balance life? I can think of no better definition than the one given by Ralph Waldo Emerson: ���� To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because I have lived. This is to have succeeded. � Beyond Time Management ? Seven Ways to Leverage Your Time for Greater Results Most of us have a to-do list ? some of us have a very long one! While a to-do list is a valuable tool to help us stay on track for the urgent tasks of the day (and while there are many ways to improve your production and use of this list), that isn't the focus of this article. Hey, Free Agent, Did You Eat Your Breakfast Today? And when you finally sat down to eat breakfast, was it morning or ... 3 pm? 7 Ways To Improve Your Life In 7 Days Choose to be Happy Im Too Busy - Oh Really! If I had a dollar or even better a pound for every time I'd heard a business leader say this I'd be very rich. What to Do When Your Alarm Clock Doesn?t Wake You Up Tring ? Tring the alarm rings?but did you fail to wake up? You have a crucial meeting tomorrow. The last thing you do while sleeping is to set the timing s of your alarm clock, retaining full confidence in yourself of not making the blunder of getting late this time. But what happens? The alarm bell rings and falls on deaf ears. The time you realize that the dawn has broken, it's too late. Here are some nitty - gritty that should be followed in a terrible situation like this. 3 Ways To Do More With Less Time We live in a world where more is expected of us every day. 5 Time Savers You (Probably) Havent Tried Yet 1. Do tasks less frequently 10 Time-Saving Calendar & Scheduling Tips Nowhere is the line drawn more clearly between 'Industrial brains' and 'Electronic brains' than when it comes to the way people prefer to keep and use their calendars. These scheduling tips will really make your calendar talk to you, whether you use a packaged set, print out a computer calendar because you like the paper 'view' for better planning, or you synchronize your Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) with your laptop and office computer and it never hits paper. Time Managements There are the golden rules that apply to time. If followed, your life will be successful. If you ignore these, however, you will always be scratching to catch up. Do not be one of the people you always here say "I don't know where the time went, it just flew by!". Desktop Management Boosts Productivity Many of us spend long hours at our desk. To assist make the most of every day we need to focus on creating an environment condusive to work. By establishing a good desk environment you are guaranteed to improve your efficiency and achieve more in your day. Could you use a ?Stop Doing? list? One of the tried and true organization and time-management tools is the trusty old "to do" list. I was trained to diligently put one together at the end of the day for the following day, and whatever tasks I failed to complete, to carry it forward. This system has worked well in helping me prioritize and focus. But I have also heard many of my colleagues complain about having too much on their list, and feeling very discouraged and overwhelmed by the sheer number of items on their "To Do" list. To help ease the overwhelm, I want to introduce the concept of the "Stop Doing" list. Time Invested Wisely = Your Dreams This past Friday I was asked to speak with a person, who just signed into a home-based networking business -- which I know is one of the most effective entrepreneurial methods for an average person to achieve true financial success. My entire conversation/coaching session with this individual was based on the simple theme of working your plan and committing long-term with no thought of ever quitting until the achievement of your ultimate outcome. Ending Procrastination: A New Look at the Old Demon Do you believe that the best way to deal with procrastination is to "get tough" with yourself and "just do it?" Many people take this approach. What's behind it is the sense that procrastination is essentially a character flaw, a weakness, and that the only way to deal with it is to muscle past it through sheer will. But the truth is, there's a more effective way to approach it that also happens to be much more self- respectful. Making the Best Use of Your Time Time - it is the one thing that we are all running out of. It cannot be replaced. When it is spent, it is spent. Time Management Is Key Having a home based business can be overwhelming. When you work at home, there is a lot to do for both your home based business, your home and you family. The key to making a home based business work is managing your time wisely. When you work at home, other tasks can interfere with what you want to accomplish, so it is important to keep in mind the goals of your home based business. When is the Best Time to Plan Your Day? When is the best time to plan your day? Well, everyone is different. Let's take a quick look at some of the different possible times: Winning The Fight Between You And The Clock "Slaves to the clock" was the cover story in the March issue of CEO magazine. Isn?t It Time For You? Does it seem like there is never enough time in the day? Why is there plenty of time for everyone and everything but ourselves? The fact is that you only get one shot at this life so it is important to spend it doing something you love. The good news is that you have a choice, you can continue to go on being overwhelmed letting time and life slip away, or you can make the time and start living the life you really want. Yes, this is easier said than done, so here are ten strategies, some old and some new, to help you gain control over your time.
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