Time Management For Dummies, UK Edition E-Book

Clare Evans

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 320

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

If you’re finding yourself tied down by piles of paperwork, endless unanswered emails and thousands of to-do lists, then this is the book for you! Become a more efficient, effective and productive you with Time Management For Dummies- your one-stop guide to taking control of your life.

Packed with hundreds of time-saving ideas, techniques and strategies, you’ll be able to: get on top of your workload, communicate effectively, make the most of your business meetings, organise your desk and files, prioritise and delegate well, and kick the procrastination habit. With tips on getting more out of your time away from your desk, maintaining a productive home office environment and still finding time to see to your finances, health and social life, these time management tools will leave you feeling in control of your life – at work and at home.

Time Management For Dummies covers:

• What is Time Management?
• Getting Your Time in Order
• Organising The Work You Have To Do
• Working From Home
• The Bigger Picture

Leseprobe

Time Management For Dummies®

by Clare Evans

Time Management For Dummies®

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About the Author

Clare Evans is a personal and business coach working with individuals and businesses to improve their time management, increase productivity, and create a better work life balance in these time-challenged times.

Clare worked in the corporate sector for a global company for many years. Managing IT projects and working with global teams, she understands the pressures today’s working environment places on people’s time and the difficulty of creating a better work–life balance.

Now running her own business, Clare coaches people one-to-one and runs workshops, seminars, and teleclasses on the subjects that challenge our time. She frequently writes and publishes articles for newsletters and magazines such as Zest, Cosmopolitan, and New Woman magazines, Better Business Focus (a monthly Internet magazine for business advisers),and Financial Solutions (the Personal Finance Society’s magazine for financial advisers).

Everyone cares about the best use of their time. Clare specialises in enabling people to achieve what they want in ways that makes people master their use of precious time.

For additional information about time management, or to invite her to speak at your meeting or event, you can contact Clare at [email protected]. You can visit her website and sign up for her free newsletter at www.clareevans.co.uk.

Author’s Acknowledgements

My thanks to all the team at Wiley for pulling this book together. Wejdan Ismail for getting things started, Rachael Chilvers for her patience and encouragement throughout the process of writing, and the rest of the team at Wiley who edited, tweaked, and proofread.

Special thanks to Christine Brown, Stephen Cotterell, and Martin Bamford for their support and encouragement throughout the writing process. To friends and family who have checked in along the way to see how the writing was going.

Thank you to Rory Singer for the conversation that got me started on writing the initial outline for the book and for one of those synchronous moments.

My thanks to my many clients who have shared their challenges and questions over the past few years and given me the opportunity to use my skills and experience to make a difference to their lives. For all those who are always coming to me with their questions and challenges, it’s been a pleasure to not only be able to answer them but to see the significant changes that some of them have made.

Last but not least, thanks to my parents, who have always been there and from whom I no doubt inherited most of my skills at organising my own time. To my Dad for being able to prove that it’s possible to have organised ‘chaos’ and my Mum for just being organised and having a list for everything.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Rachael Chilvers

Development Editors: Rachael Chilvers and Charlie Wilson

Copy Editor: Martin Key

Proofreader: Anne O’Rorke

Commissioning Editor: Wejdan Ismail

Publisher: Jason Dunne

Executive Project Editor: Daniel Mersey

Cover Photos: © Paul Hardy/Corbis

Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

Project Coordinators: Erin Smith, Lynsey Stanford

Layout and Graphics: Reuben W. Davis, Melissa K. Jester

Indexer: Claudia Bourbeau

Brand Reviewer: Zoë Wykes

Contents

Title

Introduction

About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organised

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I : What Is Time Management?

Chapter 1: Replacing Bad Time Habits with Good Ones

Understanding the Importance of Time Management

Identifying How You Prefer to Work

Setting Goals to Focus On

Creating New Time Habits

Chapter 2: Getting On with the Task in Hand

Unmasking Your Bad Habits

Counting the Costs of Procrastination

Identifying Procrastinating Behaviour

What’s Stopping You? Tackling the Roots of Resistance

Getting Going Again

Getting Off the Fence and Making Decisions

Part II : Getting Your Time in Order

Chapter 3: Putting Everything in Its Place

Using Tools to Manage Your Time

Tackling Forgetfulness with Systematic Reminders

Managing Your Contact Information

Now, I Know that I Put It Somewhere . . .

Chapter 4: Organising Your Time and Your Tasks

Structuring Your Time

Organising Your Tasks

Chapter 5: Setting Your Boundaries

Defining Your Boundaries

Setting Expectations

Moving from Reactive to Proactive

Just Saying ‘No’

Part III : Organising the Work You Do

Chapter 6: Making the Most of Meetings

Do We Really Need Another Meeting?

Choosing the Right Type of Meeting

Planning the Meeting

Running the Meeting

Getting to Your Meetings on Time

Networking Meetings

Chapter 7: Saving Time by Organising Your Paperwork

Getting Started

Climbing on Top of Paperwork

Reducing the Incoming Flood

Clearing a Backlog

Storing Important Documents and Data

Keeping Your Accounts

Tackling the End of Year Clearout

Chapter 8: Dealing with Your Emails

Dedicating Time to Your Emails

Managing Your Inbox

Dealing with an Email Backlog

Chapter 9: Handling Phone Calls

Getting Organised

Making Calls

Receiving Calls

Chapter 10: Dealing with Distractions and Interruptions

Identifying the Culprits

Getting Hung Up on Phone Calls

Fielding the Demands of Other People

Utter Clutter: Keeping Your Environment Distraction-Free

Internet Interruptions

Keeping to a Time Limit

Motivating Yourself with Rewards

Chapter 11: Perfecting the Art of Delegation

Letting Go

Asking for Help

Getting Systems in Place

Knowing What to Delegate

Understanding How to Delegate

Part IV : Working from Home

Chapter 12: Finding a Time-Efficient Work Style at Home

Identifying Your Needs

Creating a Structure for Your Time

Drawing a Line Between Work and Play

Avoiding Cabin Fever

Forming Your Support Team

Chapter 13: Setting Up Your Home Office

Thinking About Your Work Space

Choosing Office Furniture

Taking on Technology

Part V : Looking at the Bigger Picture

Chapter 14: Your Money or Your Life

Getting Down to Business

Sorting Out Money Matters

Chapter 15: Looking After Yourself

Being a Picture of Health

Taking Time for Healthy Eating

Feeling Cool, Calm, and Collected

Climbing the Beanstalk of Personal Growth

Chapter 16: Taking Time for Fun and Friends

What Rocks Your Boat?

Taking Time Out

Having a Break

Nurturing Family and Friendships

Making Friends with Technology to Keep in Touch

Making Time for Your Partner

Part VI : The Part of Tens

Chapter 17: Ten Ways to Be More Productive in Your Slack Time

Being Prepared

Catching Up on Reading

Sorting Your Emails

Managing Your Mobile

Making Some Calls

Taking Notes

Resolving Two Issues with a Single Action

Making Time for Fitness

Stretching Away Tension

Taking It Easy

Chapter 18: Ten Time-Saving Gadgets

Audio Player

Digital Voice Recorder

Mobile Phone

Notebook

Personal Organiser or PDA

Sat Nav

Scanner

Telephone Headset

Timer

USB Flash Drive

: Further Reading

Introduction

Time management is a bit of a misnomer. You can’t actually manage time. Time just is. All you can hope to do is manage yourself and what you do with your time – that’s my definition of time management.

This book provides you with tools, tips, and ideas to enable you to get control of your time, and find ways of managing yourself and others around you so that you can do more with the time that you have. Even if you don’t think that you can ever be organised, you can always change something that makes a difference. It’s surprising how something small – a new habit you adopt or a tip you take on board – can make a big difference.

In our modern 24-hour society there never seem to be enough hours in a day, as you face more and more demands at work and at home. Poor time management results in a loss of productivity and worse – increased stress and poor health. The good news is this book doesn’t just show you how to be more organised, but also how to find more time for yourself: to relax, to spend time with family and friends, and to do something that busy, overworked people often fail to fit in – have fun!

About This Book

Time Management For Dummies is ideal for those of you who need to brush up your time management skills. Nearly everyone can do something to use their time more productively and avoid wasting time. This book can help.

The book is divided into easy-to-read sections that cover specific challenges with practical exercises along the way. I cover all manner of subjects – from tackling time-wasting to giving you the best time-saving strategies.

Although some of my advice may not be new, reading it again never hurts. A little bit more sinks in each time and repetition reinforces knowledge and skills.

Conventions Used in This Book

To help you navigate through this book easily I use a few conventions:

Italics are used for emphasis and to highlight new terms.

Bold-faced text indicates keywords in numbered or bulleted lists.

Monofont is used for web addresses, which direct you to further sources of information.

Sidebars are the grey boxes that contain interesting information, anecdotes, or something fun relating to the chapter or section’s topic.

Foolish Assumptions

While writing this book I’ve made some assumptions about you and your knowledge of time management:

You’re perfectly capable of managing your time, like most of the people I work with; you just have some blocks around doing so.

You recognise that you waste a lot of your time and you want to do something about it.

You want some simple, straightforward advice, tips, and ideas on how you can be more organised.

You fit into one of the following categories:

• You’ve read quite a bit about time management already but want reminders of the key skills.

• You’re starting from scratch and want to know how best to organise your time.

• Someone has mentioned or dropped a hint that you could benefit from improving your time management.

You realise that you can’t actually manage time, only yourself. It’s just easier to phrase it that way.

How This Book Is Organised

Time Management For Dummies is divided into six major parts, each of which is divided into chapters that focus on key topics relating to time management.

The great thing about For Dummies books is that you don’t have to read them all the way through. Each chapter is self-contained, providing ideas, tips, and information on a different issue. If you want to, you can simply turn to the area you need to focus on – a chapter, a section, or even just a paragraph. The table of contents and the index help pinpoint where to find the info you need.

The following is a brief summary of what’s in each section.

Part I: What Is Time Management?

This part begins with why it’s important to manage your time in an effective way and then helps you identify exactly where all your time goes. If you’ve never done this before it may be an interesting, eye-opening exercise, especially when you realise just how much your time is worth. I then move on to look at the things that get in the way of you getting on, and give you plenty of strategies to help you get motivated. Finally, I explore something that often leads to dithering and time wasting – making decisions.

Part II: Getting Your Time in Order

This part sets some of the ground rules and key strategies you need to start using if you want to be more effective. Optimise how you use your diary or calendar, and see how just a few minutes’ planning immediately increases the amount you get done each day. Find ways to create an action list that actually works, rather than a to-do list that comprises a never-ending list of things you need to do – if only you had the time. And discover how setting boundaries and saying no to people gives you more time for yourself.

Part III: Organising the Work You Do

This part is about the nitty-gritty of managing your time, giving hands-on, practical tips that address the main areas that challenge people in their day-to-day life. Creating systems and processes to deal with each of these particular areas is important if you want to avoid being disorganised, overwhelmed, and totally stressed out. Avoid wasting time being distracted and interrupted, and find out how to make even better use of your time by doing less and getting someone else to do things for you.

Part IV: Working from Home

Many people now work from home. Outside of the traditional office environment, home-working requires a different discipline and comes with unique challenges. This part shows you how to organise yourself, both in finding a work style that suits you and in getting to grips with the practical side of having a home office, so that you can work more comfortably and efficiently.

Part V: Looking at the Bigger Picture

Although it’s important to get as much as you can out of every day, including increased productivity, a income to live on, and efficiency at work, you mustn’t forget why you’re doing it. This part is all about finding time for the important things in your life – you, your family, and your friends. If you had more time, you’d probably spend it on being healthier. Don’t let your health take a back seat just because you’re too busy to exercise regularly, eat properly, or take time to relax. Read this part and you’ll be able to reset your work–life balance.

Part VI: The Part of Tens

This part includes lists of ten things that help you to save even more time. I give you ideas of things to do when you’ve got a few spare minutes, and tell you about ten gadgets that can save you time and effort.

Icons Used in This Book

This book won’t throw lots of questions at you, but it should certainly set you thinking. These icons highlight some of the points you may find most thought-provoking and useful:

This icon highlights something that’s just a little bit different from a conventional tip.

This icon draws your attention to an important point to bear in mind.

I give really great time-busting tips with this icon. Think of it as a sort of turbo-boosting time tip – this icon shows you where you can really start to make the best use of your time.

This icon highlights tips and tricks that can help you manage your time more effectively.

If there’s something you need to watch out for, then I use this icon. Ignoring this point can cost you time.

Where to Go from Here

Time Management For Dummies is a reference book, designed to give you the most helpful information in an easy-to-read, user-friendly way.

You may decide to read through the book one chapter at a time, or if there’s a particular issue you’d like to get started on right away then you can skip to the relevant chapter. You can dip in and out of the book as necessary, but I recommend reading through the first two chapters at some point because they’re important for setting the scene and identifying your existing time habits.

However you read the book, and wherever you go from here, the most important thing is to do something with the information, tips, and advice in this book. Remember, little changes add up to big differences.

Part I

What Is Time Management?

In this part . . .

I take a look at what your poor time management is really costing you, and the benefits of managing your time more effectively. One of the biggest challenges people have is putting things off, so in this part you find out what you can do about tackling procrastination.

Chapter 1

Replacing Bad Time Habits with Good Ones

In This Chapter

Recognising the value of time management

Reviewing how you currently manage your time

Knowing your future goals

Looking at how you can make better use of time

Everyone has the same 24 hours in the day – you, me, the Queen, Sir Alan Sugar, and the person in your local shop. However, what you get out of those 24 hours depends entirely on how you spend them. Highly successful people use their time highly successfully. Now, you may not be aiming for ‘highly successful’ but, given that you’re reading this book, you probably want to be more efficient and productive with your time.

‘There simply isn’t enough time in the day to get everything done,’ I hear you cry. Contrary to popular belief, there is enough time. Most people’s problem is that they try to do too much in the time available, or they don’t organise and plan effectively, so they constantly waste time.

If your desk looks like a tip and you can never find anything, if you only ever get a piece of work done when a deadline is looming, and if you guzzle caffeine so that you can burn the midnight oil, then perhaps you need to look at how your current habits affect the way in which you manage your time – and then change some of those habits.

Understanding the Importance of Time Management

Because you have only 24 hours in each and every day, making the best use of these hours makes good sense. Once those hours have gone you can’t get them back, and you can’t make more of them if you lose or waste them. They’re a finite resource, which means that spending a little time brushing up your time management skills can transform your life in various ways.

Increasing productivity

It’s all too easy to get to the end of the day and wonder what you’ve actually achieved, even though you feel as though you haven’t stopped all day. Many a time I’ve known people who say ‘I’ve been really busy all day but what did I do?’ I’ve done it myself. You’re busy but not necessarily productive.

Managing your time means you’re more effective. You get more done in less time, you focus on the important things and so your overall productivity increases.

For example, by managing your time better, you may be able to carve out an extra half-hour a day. Spend that half-hour on your most important project every day for a week and you’ll be astonished at how you chip away at the work. Good time management now has a great long-term effect.

Reducing stress

If I were to wave a magic wand and give you an extra hour in every day, what would you do? Usually when I ask this question, the most common responses are – sleep and exercise, or just time to relax. These responses go to show what kind of activities tend to get pushed to one side when time is short or when people try to cram too much into what’s available and what’s physically possible.

Poor time management leads to overload, frustration, lack of motivation, and poor self-esteem. The longer your poor time management continues, the more stressed, tired, and ill you become.

You get caught in a vicious circle. You never get time to catch up or get on top of things. You just keep doing things the same way because you don’t know how to do them any differently, or you feel that you just don’t have the time. Eventually, something has to give and too often it’s your physical and emotional health that suffers.

Developing better time management skills can reduce your stress levels. You’re then able to manage your workload better and take control of your life rather than feel your life is controlling you all the time.

Achieving a happy work–life balance

The point of better time management is that you’re able to do the things that are important to you and create balance in all areas of your life, not just at work. Many people who are overworked, with too much work to do in those 24 hours, spend too much time doing just that – working.

Life isn’t just about work. Work is a means to an end. Work provides you with the income to enable you to live the lifestyle you choose. Head to Chapter 14 for more information about how you can be more time-savvy when it comes to work and money.

As working hours increase and people work longer and longer, getting some balance between your work life and your personal life becomes very important. If you didn’t have work, you’d still have your family, friends, and your health. Developing better time management skills means you stop neglecting yourself and your loved ones because you’re ‘too busy at work’. Chapters 15 and 16 have heaps of tips about taking time out for yourself and for your friends and family.

Managing your time effectively means you focus on what’s important in the time you have available, so you make time for the essential things in life.

The chapters in Part V give you advice on how to keep things in perspective and maintain a better balance.

Identifying How You Prefer to Work

Only you know how you work best, and whether your time habits are a hindrance or a help. One person’s chaos is another person’s order.

There’s no right or wrong way of working:

Some people like a lot of detail and create charts and lists to monitor their progress; others prefer to work with big ideas and leave the detail to others.

Some people like writing lists; others hate them.

Some people like working with pen and paper; others think the more technical gadgets they can have the better.

Some people are naturally neat and tidy and love having a clear desk; others aren’t and like to have everything out where they can see it.

Are you a left- or right-brained person? Well, obviously you’re both but people have preferences for using one side of their brain than the other. The left side of the brain is more logical and analytical; the right side is more creative. A style of working that suits a more left-brained person won’t always suit a more right-brained person. Both can be trained but it makes sense to work with your natural preferences. In this book I provide a variety of methods that you can pick and choose from to suit the way your brain works.

Although you can read all the time management books you like, you need to find and adapt what works best for you. Many people get put off because they read something that says they should work in a certain way or lay their desk out according to a particular plan or number all their files in a certain way. They throw their hands up in horror because that method just isn’t them.

Whatever your natural style and preference, use your strength and natural abilities to organise and manage your time in a way that works best for you, otherwise you end up constantly paddling upstream or just getting frustrated.

Becoming an expert in an hour a day

Just think what you could do if you set aside an hour in each and every day. Scientists discovered that to become a world-class expert takes 10,000 hours – so in only 10,000 days you could be an expert in something. Okay, it’ll take you 27 years, but you’re only spending an hour a day.

Even the most talented musician or artist began knowing nothing but they got to the peak of their field with practice. Set aside 5–10 hours a week and you can become at least pretty competent in your chosen field. Why not start to play an instrument, take up painting, or get stuck into a sport? Do something for yourself in those hours, and then enjoy the long-term rewards.

Setting Goals to Focus On

Before you begin to look at ways to manage your time better, you need to know where you’re going and why. You’re more likely to be successful if you’ve created some specific goals to work towards.

If you don’t know where you’re going, how are you going to know when you get there? You wouldn’t set out on a journey without looking at a map. If you’re managing your time but you find that your time and effort isn’t getting you closer to your goals, then what are you doing?

Ask yourself:

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

What is your big goal or dream?

What do you want more of?

What do you want less of?

Where would you like to be in a year, two years, five years, ten years?

Make sure that your goals are your own and not someone else’s goals or expectations (such as those of your parents).

You need to make your goals SMART, a useful acronym that means making them really clear and specific.

Specific: Don’t set a goal to ‘do more exercise’. If you want to find time to get fit, set a goal to walk or run a specific distance, or exercise for thirty minutes, three times a week – complete a sponsored walk, or run a 10 kilometres race.

Measurable: Make sure that you can measure your progress and know when you’ve achieved your goal. To exercise three times a week for thirty minutes is a measurable amount and you can track your progress each week.

Achievable: Don’t decide to run a marathon if it’s way beyond your current skills and ability – you’re just setting yourself up for failure. Think about the time, resources and skills available.

Relevant/Realistic: Make sure that your goals fit with your bigger vision for your life or business. Stretch yourself but be realistic, otherwise you won’t commit to it and you’ll be easily de-motivated.

Time-bound: Set an end-date for achieving your goal. This stops it drifting off into something indefinite and gives you a target to aim for.

Create a solid, underlying reason for achieving your goals. What benefits and impact is achieving them going to have on your life? Get really clear about what these goals mean to you and you’re more likely to achieve them. Anything is possible.

Write down a few specific goals or your one BIG goal. Pin them up where you’ll see them every day.

If you don’t tell someone about your goal, you’re answerable to no one but yourself and it’s too easy to let yourself off the hook. Telling someone else about your goal helps to keep you motivated. Share goals so that you can keep each other on track. Find a partner, friend, colleague, mentor, or a coach to work with.

Creating New Time Habits

The previous sections of this chapter help you understand how you use your time and set goals for what you want to achieve. Moving forward, though, involves letting go of some bad habits that are making you less efficient and productive.

Breaking a habit takes time. You’ve taken years to adopt the habits you have, but be aware that you can un-adopt them, especially if they’re habits that don’t serve you. Be prepared to give yourself time to develop new habits and don’t expect to get the process right first time. Research shows you can change a habit in around thirty days (or about thirty occurrences), so stick with it.

Improving your planning

How do you know what you’re going to do today, this week, this month? Planning is a fundamental part of time management. Remember the saying, ‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.’

Planning is critical if you’re busy and even when you’re not. Plan your year, your month, your week, and your day in advance. Don’t just plan time for work – book time for yourself as well. Use the time management tools I explore in Chapter 3, and the action lists I explain in Chapter 4. Your plan isn’t written in stone – it’s adaptable and flexible; review your plans regularly to keep them relevant and up to date.

Always keep your goals in mind when planning (see the earlier section ‘Setting Goals to Focus On’ for more). Youstill have many tasks you need to complete each day but now youneed to focus on the important ones. You can ignore any actions that are likely to lead you off in the wrong direction or distract you. These actions won’t get you where you want to be any quicker or more easily. You’ll just waste your time and energy on them.

Spending just a few minutes planning each day really saves you time in the big picture. You won’t waste time wondering what to do next, letting important tasks fall by the wayside, or feeling pressured by deadlines and a workload that threatens to swamp you. Plan your time and see what a difference it makes.

Managing your workload

Sometimes, your workload can feel like a huge, unscalable mountain looming over you. But with a little organisation, you can break that mountain down to just a few gentle hills you need to get over or gradual steps to take you to the top.

Chapter 2 helps you get over the hurdles that prevent you from getting on with your work, and shows you how to split tasks into simple steps. Then Chapter 4 shows you how to prioritise your tasks so that you can tick them off steadily. And Part III offers a range of tips and ideas on how to handle specific elements of your work – from meetings and paperwork, to emails and phone calls.

Organising your time

So you’ve planned out what you need to do, you’ve sorted the tasks or arranged them in some form of order, and now you need to actually organise your time to get them done. You need to take control of your own time and space and find a way of working with time and within time, in a way that works for you.

This book contains a wealth of ideas to help you better organise your time. For example, in Chapter 4, I discuss structuring your time effectively – from breaking it into manageable blocks, to introducing variety into your day. And, to help you stay focused, in Chapter 10 I look at handling and minimising distractions and interruptions.

A little organisation goes a long way. You need to get everything in place so that you can be a smooth time manager, a super efficient, highly organised person, a king or queen of productivity . . . (okay, maybe not, but it doesn’t hurt to aim high!)

Sometimes doing nothing is the right thing to do. Part of the problem with time management is that you’re expected to make use of every waking minute of every hour of every day and . . . well, you don’t! It’s perfectly okay to stop and just relax sometimes. Chapter 15 gives you more tips about freeing up your day for some me-time.

Find out which area of your life needs attention and focus on that area first and see how great your life can be.

One way to assess how you’re doing and how balanced your life really is right now, is to try this exercise.

Draw a large circle on a piece of paper and divide it into eight sections. Label each section with the following titles or use your own to define all the different areas of your life (you may have more than eight).

Money

Career/Business

Health

Personal Growth

Fun/Social Life

Friends/Family

Partner/Relationship

Physical Environment

Now score each of the eight areas on a scale of one to ten. Ten means your life in this area is complete and can’t possibly be improved. Zero means things can’t be any worse.

If zero is the centre of the circle and ten is the outer edge, draw a line on each section to represent your score, as shown in Figure 1-1.

Figure 1-1: A filled-out wheel of life.

Most people find that their areas score between 4 and 8 with one or two areas scoring high (8 or more) and one or two scoring low (5 or less).

If any of these sections is seriously out of balance – 3 or less, you’re probably tired, stressed, and unhappy with your life. Imagine this is the wheel on a bicycle. How bumpy would your ride be with an unbalanced wheel with bits missing?

The chapters in Part V show you ways to find time to improve these sections of your life to create a better balance.

Chapter 2

Getting On with the Task in Hand

In This Chapter

Looking at the consequences of procrastination

Tackling what’s holding you back

Using different strategies to get moving

Working on your decision-making

Part of changing any pattern of behaviour is to take a look at how you’re currently behaving and what needs to change. The same thing applies to how you use your time. If you can identify where your inefficiencies creep in and when and where you’re least productive, then you can start doing something about those particular areas and using your time more effectively.

The following sections contain exercises that help you get a clear picture of how you currently manage your time.

Unmasking Your Bad Habits

The fact that you bought this book implies you may have an inkling that your time management skills aren’t quite what they should be. But before you can get to grips with tackling the behaviour that’s limiting your time, you need to work out just which bad habits you’ve fallen into.

Take a look at the following list and consider which habits apply to you:

You’re always late for meetings.

You often work late just to keep on top of things.

You often miss deadlines.

Your filing tray is overflowing.

You have a backlog of emails that you need to deal with.

You never pay your bills on time.

You’re always taking on more work.

You’re always rushing round with never a moment to spare.

Your family and friends hardly see you.

You never have time for exercise and eating properly.

You take more time off work than you used to.

You waste time on low priority activities.

Recognise any of those habits? I’m sure that I’ve missed a few – can you add on any other time habits you have that you’d like to change?

Giving yourself a grilling

The previous section helps you identify which bad habits may be affecting your time management. Now I ask you to take a step further, and really think about how you use your time.