TIME WASTAGE

TIME WASTAGE

Most office employees waste at least 45 percent of their day once they get to their desks, according to the book, First Thing Monday Morning, by Dianna Booher. A study showed that only 22 percent of the employees said they work at full potential.

PROCRASTINATION IS BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH

According to Michelle Tullier, in her book, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Overcoming Procrastination, it can cause stress, anxiety, low self-esteem and even depression.

THE GREAT PUT-OFF

One Survey revealed that exercise is the number one thing that people procrastinate on. A worthy goal for this year is to persist in a regular exercise program until it becomes habitual. A longer and healthier life can be a great time saver.

TIMELY QUOTE

"The secret to success is setting priorities."
-Denis Waitley
 

DEADLINES CAN REDUCE STRESS

Alec Mackenzie, author of Time for Success, suggests the stress of incomplete tasks and last minute rushing can be eliminated by establishing realistic deadlines and checkpoints.

SET DEADLINE FOR E-MAIL REPLY

When requesting information or a reply, always include a deadline so your e-mail doesn't linger in the recipient's in-box

GOALS VS PRIORITIES

GOALS VS PRIORITIES

Prioritizing means deciding in advance what is important to you so you can utilize your time wisely. Goals and prioritizing go hand and hand. Once you have established your goals, you know your priorities.

TIMELY THOUGHT

A plan without action is like a car without a driver, it goes nowhere.

TIMELY QUOTE

"Keep the big picture in mind while attending to the daily details."
- Donald Trump in his book, How to Get Rich.
 

CELL PHONES AND DRIVING

A study by the AAA Foundation back in 1992 showed that holding a complex conversation via cellular increases the chance that you'll be distracted by 30 percent.

ORGANIZERS WON'T NECESSARILY GET YOU ORGANIZED

According to Lucy Hedrick, author of Five Days To An Organized Life (Dell Publishing, 1990) there were at that time over 300 organizers or personal planning aids on the market, with sales expected to exceed $200 million. Yet many people are still disorganized. Organizers are of little use if the person using them lacks the self-discipline to make then work.

MAKE COMMITMENTS TO GET THINGS DONE

You cannot postpone a commitment, you can only cancel it. If you postpone it, it's no longer a commitment.

A PLANNER IS A CONSTANT REFERENCE TOOL

Your planner should contain scheduled activities and events, lists of things to do, follow-ups required and projects due. Check it every morning - and throughout the day.

TIMELY QUOTE

"When you make a goal, you're building a bridge between who you are now and who you want to be in the future."   - Amy Dean, Author of Life Goals

 

 

ORGANIZE YOUR CD ROMS

ORGANIZE YOUR CD ROMS

Have an organized filing system for the various CDs and drivers you receive with software and electronic devices. Don't waste time searching for CDs when you have to reinstall a program. A minute or two invested at the time of purchase could save hours later.

BUSINESS CARD TIP

If you have an extension number for your telephone, include it on your business card so callers don't have to use the automated directory or go through an operator to reach you.

PAPER USE STILL INCREASING

Baha and Margaret Habashy's book, Overloaded ( www.integrity-plus.com), quoting David Shark, author of Data Smog states that paper consumption per capita in the U.S. tripled between 1940 and 1980 and tripled again between 1980 and 1990.

TIMELY QUOTE

Never put off until tomorrow what you can avoid altogether.

 

GROUP PROBLEM SOLVING

If you have time management problems at work, have a brain storming session with your staff to generate solutions.

A SLEEPLESS SOCIETY

According to Matthew Edlund, in his book, The Body Clock Advantage, Americans are sleeping two hours less each night than they did 100 years ago.

KEEP CALLS SHORT

To keep telephone conversations brief, don't lean back with your feet up. Keep alert and time conscious, even if it means taking your calls standing up.

TIDY DOES NOT MEAN IMMACULATE

TIDY DOES NOT MEAN IMMACULATE

The purpose of keeping a tidy desk is not to promote neatness, but to provide ample working space, reduce distractions and ensure items are easily accessible. Don't carry organization too far.

KEEP YOUR PLANNER OPEN

An open planner on your desk makes it easy to enter meetings, appointments, things to do and future activities as you read your e-mail, dispense with paperwork or carry on telephone conversations.

 

RETRIEVING INFORMATION FROM BOOKS

To retrieve information from books, it is time effective to do two things as you read. Highlight the relevant passage and mark the page. 3M are marketing a highlighter with a built-in supply of flags for that purpose. Available in office supply stores, it is called Post-it® Flag Highlighter.

A WARNING TO NIGHT OWLS

Don't sacrifice sleep to get more done. Most serious accidents occur between midnight and 6 a.m. For example, trucking fatalities increase up to forty times during that time period. (Source: The Body Clock Advantage by Matthew Edlund. Adams Media, 2003)

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Never schedule priority tasks late in the day or week or they may be the victim of accumulated problems that occur during the morning and early afternoon.

SCHEDULE TIME FOR YOU

The airlines tell you to put your own oxygen mask on before attempting to help others. Similarly, you should make sure you schedule enough time for your own needs before responding to the time needs of others.

SUGGEST A DEADLINE

SUGGEST A DEADLINE

Never ask others when they would like a request completed. Suggest a time that fits your schedule instead. Otherwise you may be stuck with unrealistic deadlines.
 

MORNING PEOPLE

As we grow older, our prime time - when we are most mentally alert - comes earlier. You should probably be getting up an hour earlier than you did thirty years ago if you want to maximize your productivity.

HANDLING INTERRUPTIONS

Robert K. Cooper, Author of The Other 90%, claims we should never use the negative expression "I only have two minutes" to an unscheduled visitor. Tell them you can spend two minutes with them now and can schedule more time later if needed. That tells them you're not brushing them off.

TAKE INTERRUPTIONS SITTING DOWN

Neuroscientists claim that when people are rushed, the brain is programmed to perceive standing conversation as far less genuine than seated talk. One minute standing can feel like nothing while one minute sitting can feel like ten. (Source: The Other 90% by Robert K. Cooper, Three Rivers Press, 2001)

SIMPLIFY YOUR TO DO LIST

Most people have more things on their To Do Lists than they'll ever have time to complete. The trivial talks only serve to distract you from the important ones. Get rid of items that don't have long-term consequences.

LONGER COMMUTE TIMES

In Great Britain the average trip to work in 1998 took 25 minutes, compared with 23 minutes in 1993. If the trend is to longer, slower trips to and from work, this time loss has to be made up in other ways. It is best to do it by increasing productivity at work than in stealing time from leisure time or sleep.

 

DULL OFFICES DECREASE CREATIVITY

According to Paul Dickinson, in his book, It's Not About Size, dull offices that lack good-natured joking and lighthearted banter produce bored and uninspired people who do not innovate.

TV TIME WASTER

According to AC Neilson Co., the average American watches 3 hours and 46 minutes of TV each day - more than 52 days of nonstop TV watching per year. So if you want to get all the important things done, stay away from the TV set.

REPLY TO EMAIL

With filters, e-mails being bounced back or disappearing into cyberspace, it's disconcerting not to know whether your e-mail actually arrived. You might want to invest a few seconds by acknowledging electronic business correspondence.

DON'T SCRIMP ON SLEEP

Researchers find that students who sleep six or fewer hours learned less and had difficulty remembering material.

ORGANIZING YOUR WORK SPACE

Lesley Bolton, in her book, Fastread Time Management, tells us not to skimp on ergonomics. Investing in a good chair, for instance, will help both your posture and your productivity.

 

RESPOND VS REACT

Reacting to interruptions means you are being distracted from your goal. Responding means you are handling the interruption in stride without losing sight of your original goal.

GOALS SHOULD BE FLEXIBLE

John C. Maxwell, in his book Be All You Can Be, warns not to set goals in concrete. To quote, ""If your goal is not expandable, it's expendable."

URGENT VS. IMPORTANT

Don't let the tyranny of the urgent distract you from jobs that promise permanent value.

TELECOMMUTERS

TELECOMMUTERS

People working from home increase their productivity by 40 to 50 percent due to fewer interruptions, absence of office politics and lack of travel time. (Source: Working at Home by Lindsay O'Connor.)

TIMELY QUOTE

"An excess of paper and possessions and an overload of commitments slows you down and leads to procrastination."
- Michelle Tullier, Ph.D., author and speaker

POWER OF WRITTEN GOALS

Those who write down their goals are 90 times more likely to accomplish them than those who don't. (Source unavailable)

ORGANIZING FOR COMFORT

Your work surface for writing should be 28 ½ inches from the floor. Your computer keyboard should be 24 to 27 inches from the floor. The monitor should 16 to 28 inches from your face. (Source: Working at Home by Lindsay O'Connor.)

PLAN & DON"T QUIT

Denis Waitley and Rani L. Witt, in their book, The Joy of Working, claims the majority of people never achieve their goals because first, they fail to plan, and second, if they do plan they fail to plan again.

THE PROOF IS IN THE PUTTING

If you're reluctant to throw things out because you might need them some day, try this. Put the contents of your junk drawer into a carton, quickly seal it, mark it and store it out of sight. When you next open it, perhaps several years later, you will find that you never missed, needed or looked for any of this stuff in the meantime.

TIMELY QUOTE

Trying times is no time to be not trying.

 

THE COST OF CLUTTER

THE COST OF CLUTTER

Michelle Tullier, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Overcoming Procrastination, suggests you calculate the cost of the office space your are leasing to store things you don't use or need. This could be an incentive to toss things out.

SAY NO QUICKLY

If you put people off, you will be making things more difficult for them and increasing the likelihood of your saying yes - if only out of a feeling of guilt. Quickly assess requests on the basis of your priorities, and make your decision without too much delay.

QUICK PRINTING

With the advent of e-mail the term quick print brings on a whole new meaning. Don't waste time bringing your flyers, brochures or other jobs to the printer. Simply e-mail them with your instructions. If you have them delivered, so much the better.

COMPUTER CLUTTER

Don't overlook your electronic files when it's time to purge. The more documents and files you maintain, the more time is wasted locating something. Make it a habit of deleting a few documents before turning off your computer for the day.

TIMELY QUOTE

"It's not what happens to us; it's what happens in us."
- John C. Maxwell, author of Be All You Can Be.

COMMITMENT TO YOUR FUTURE

Setting goals without commitment is a formula for failure. Goals don't get reached on their own. You must make a commitment to work on those goals on a regular basis. Let your daily activities reflect your aspirations.