Great Time Management - Tips

Two Tips for Time Management
During Unmanageable Times

Time Management begins with a very large wastebasket!

1. Keep Your Office Clear of Debris
   The first time management tip is eliminate wasted motion by having your office organized so you can quickly and easily find whatever it is you are looking for.
   
   Eliminate the clutter. If you have piles of magazines, unread mail, project folders, and other documents in piles on your desk, table, credenza, and floor you are wasting an extreme amount of time each day digging through that stuff.
   
   
   • Create an Efficient Filing System: Create current and relevant files and eliminate all outdated and irrelevant files in your system. You may need to create a new system.
   
   
   • Trash All Unread Magazines and Junk Mail: If you haven’t looked at it the past two months what makes you think you will have time in the next two months?
   
   
   • Install a Daily Rotating File System: abel 31 hanging file folders from 1–31 and place them in a easy to reach location near your desk. Any piece of paper that can’t be dealt with within 2 minutes and cannot be files in your filing system should be filed for future attention. Place it in the appropriate day of the month and schedule time that day to handle everything in that days file.
   
   
   • File All Documents in Their Proper Classification: File all the paper on your desk, table, credenza and floor intone of three places: in your new filing system; in your daily rotating file system; in your very large wastebasket.
   
   
   • Clean Up At The End of The Day: Properly file everything out in your office at the end of the day before leaving. You are allowed one small pile on the corner of your desk provided it is dealt with within the first hour of work the next day.
   
   
2. Keep Your Email Clear of Debris
   The second time management tip is eliminating wasted motion going through email. Much of the email received today is irrelevant to the important issues of the day.
   
   • Block It: Block all email that wastes your time. It may be interesting but rarely is it important enough for you to spend time on. Most firewalls take care of much of this but anything that slips through should be blocked and trashed.
   
   
   • Divert It: Any email that does not name you as a direct recipient should not show up in your in box. When you are copied on an email divert it to a folder that can be checked on a regular basis. Normally you are on a copy list for information only and you are not expected to reply.
   
   
   • Schedule It: Read and reply to your email three times per day. Do it first thing in the morning while drinking that first cup of coffee, sometime around midday (right after lunch might be good) and during the last hour of the day.

You’ll be amazed at how these two simple time management tips will enhance your day.

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Article by John Golden