Table of Contents
Part I: Beginning the Revolution: Simple Steps to Start With
Chapter 1: The Essence of Good Time Management: Organizing Yourself
Activating your subconscious mind
Grabbing the Three Keys to Personal Organization
Chapter 2: Setting Yourself Up for Success
Assessing your strengths and weaknesses
Naming goals to give you direction
Assigning a monetary worth to your time
Identifying your rhythm to get in the zone
Scheduling your time and creating a routine
Overcoming Time-Management Obstacles
Getting procrastination under control
Garnering Support While Establishing Your Boundaries
Balancing work and time with family and friends
Streamlining interactions with co-workers and customers
Chapter 3: Linking Time Management to Life Goals
Understanding Why You Need to Put Your Goals on Paper
Labeling and Balancing Your Fabulous 50
Assigning a time frame to each goal
Targeting 12 Goals to Start With
Noting why your top-12 goals are important to you
Pinpointing Your Resource Needs
Accruing funds: A capital idea
Chapter 4: Putting a Value on Your Time
Getting a Good Grip on the Time-Equals-Money Concept
Calculating Your Hourly Income
Boosting Your Hourly Value through Your Work Efforts
Making Value-Based Time Decisions in Your Personal Life
Deciding whether to buy time: Chores and responsibilities
Making time-spending decisions: Leisure activities
Factoring in monetary and time costs
Staying open to experiences and using time wisely
Part II: Establishing a Good System
Chapter 5: Focusing Your Efforts, Prioritizing Tasks, and Blocking Your Time
Focusing Your Energy with the 80/20 Theory of Everything
Matching time investment to return
The vital 20 percent: Figuring out where to focus your energy at work
Personal essentials: Channeling efforts in your personal life
Getting Down to Specifics: Daily Prioritization
Blocking Off Your Time and Plugging in Your To-Do Items
Step 2: Scheduling your personal activities
Step 3: Factoring in your work activities
Step 4: Accounting for weekly self-evaluation and planning time
Assessing Your Progress and Adjusting Your Plan as Needed
Chapter 6: Efficiently Working from a Home Office
Knowing Yourself and Your Environment
Weighing the pros and cons of a home office
Desktops, laptops, scanners, and other tools
Managing the lighting and noise
Getting the Work Done from Home
Fighting the home interruptions
Feeling isolated from the business world
Chapter 7: Setting Up and Maintaining a Productive Workspace
Make way! Clearing off your desk
Assembling essential organizational tools
Setting up a timely filing system
Keeping Clutter from Coming Back
Handling documents and papers once
Taking notes that you can track
Limiting the Paper You Receive
Accounting for Ergonomics and Aesthetics
Setting up a proper workstation
Chapter 8: Fine-Tuning Organization Skills with Technology
Plugging into Electronic Scheduling
The calendar-sharing benefits of electronic scheduling tools
The utility of portable planners
De-cluttering Your Computer or Tablet (and Keeping It That Way)
Naming files and organizing them with an electronic tree
Offloading excess by archiving or deleting
Saving new files strategically
Managing Contact Info with a CRM Program
Looking at software and services
Unleashing the capabilities of a CRM program
Creating effective client profiles
Putting a CRM program on a server or in the cloud to maximize accessibility and backup
Part III: Using Technology to Leverage Your Time
Chapter 9: Leveraging Your Time with Technology
Timing Is Everything: Taking Charge of Your Time
Making choices about technology
Automate rather than replicate
Communicating Effectively through Technology
Social media options to consider
Using FaceTime, Skype, and other video communication systems
Engaging through online meeting platforms
Organizational Technology Tools
Building your system to find what you need fast
Protecting your technology from catastrophe
Clouding, Dropboxing, and storing your stuff
Creating a Digital Brain with Evernote
Getting your notes, ideas, and thoughts into Evernote
Remembering and finding things you need
Chapter 10: Controlling Email Overload
Separating Your Work and Private Life
Managing multiple email addresses
Responding to email using less time
Employing an email response system
Chapter 11: The Facebook Balancing Act
The Time Advantages of Facebook
The black hole of time in Facebook
Which to use personally and professionally
Using your personal page to create business
Leveraging your Facebook business pages
Keeping Contacts with Facebook
To friend or not to friend … that is the question
Posting from public to private
Getting people to share your posts
Using the list feature to manage interaction
Chapter 12: Twitter: Time Saver or Time Waster
Those from which you can learn
Those with which you can have fun
Those with whom you can profit
Chapter 13: Creating Effective LinkedIn Strategies
Picturing yourself on LinkedIn
Defining LinkedIn Goals, Objectives, and Connections
Establishing Your LinkedIn Schedule
Meeting weekly to check for success
Part IV: Confronting Challenges to Time Management
Chapter 14: Communicating Strategically to Get Results — Fast
Choosing the Right Medium for Your Message
Vocalizing your message over the phone
Putting messages in writing: The joys (and perils) of email, text, and instant messages
Basic Communication Skills: Being Direct and Succinct
Cutting out the clutter in your language
Fostering Camaraderie When Meeting in Person
Corresponding Clearly and Confidently via Telephone
Crafting a clear and targeted subject line
Asking Targeted Questions to Get Results
Determining what sorts of answers you need
Starting the flow with open-ended questions
Narrowing the focus with closed-ended questions
Pinning down maybes and other conditional responses
Chapter 15: Defending Your Day from Interruptions
The Fortress: Guarding Your Focus from Invasion
Protecting your domain from interior intrusions
Screening interruptions before letting them through
Secondary Defenses: Minimizing Damage When Calls Get Through
Shortening or condensing the conversation
Rebooking discussions for a better time
Handling Recurring Interruptions by Co-Workers
The colleague with nothing to do
The colleague who just doesn't want to work
The employee who's wrapped up in his world
The person who treats work as her sole social outlet
Dealing with Interruption-Oriented Bosses
Working with Intrusive Clients
A little attention goes a long way
Chapter 16: Overcoming Procrastination
Staring Down the Source: How Procrastination Takes Hold
Calling on short-sighted logic: “I have plenty of time”
Avoiding the unpleasant: “I don't want to think about it now”
Triggering your fears: “What if I screw up? And what if I don't?”
Paralyzed by perfection: “I'll wait till the time is right”
Sabotaging at mid-process: “I've earned a break”
Looking for thrills: “I work best under pressure”
Poor procrastination: Considering the costs
Wise procrastination: Knowing when to hold ‘em
Laying the Groundwork: Altering Your Mindset and Instituting Discipline
Motivating yourself with the carrot-or-stick approach
Recognizing excuses and shoving them aside
Give me a break: Putting off procrastination
Conquering Dreaded Tasks with Sandwich Tactics
The eat-the-crust-first approach: Starting with the tough job
The Swiss-cheese approach: Poking little holes in the task
The salami approach: Finishing it one slice at a time
The discard-the-garnish approach: Getting it off your plate
Maintaining Your Motivation as You Press Ahead
Chapter 17: Coping with a Time-Wasting Boss
Fulfilling Your Objectives to Help Your Boss Meet Hers
Maintaining Personal Boundaries
Preparing to Discuss Your Concerns with Your Boss
Identifying concerns and gathering supporting evidence
Reflecting on your boss's behavior style
Initiating and Fostering a Win-Win Discussion
Irreconcilable Differences: Knowing When to Move On
Chapter 18: Mastering Meetings with Co-Workers
Devising Objectives, Listing Attendees, and Crafting an Agenda
Clarifying the purpose of the meeting
Holding informal, preliminary mini-meetings
The Day Of: Running the Meeting Well
Summarizing and concluding the meeting
Following Up for Maximum Productivity
Part V: Maintaining Efficiency When Working with Others
Chapter 19: Time Management for Administrative Staff
Keeping Your Eyes on the Goal: Your Boss's Lead
Boosting your admin image: Ask and you shall receive
Getting face time with the boss
Adopting Strategies to Stay On Track
Starting with a few simple steps
Protecting peak productivity periods
Getting your priorities in order
Seeking clarification about your objectives
Creating and qualifying a comprehensive task list
Chapter 20: Time Management for Salespeople
Breaking Your Time-Investment Portfolio into Three Categories
The money-makers: Direct income-producing activities (DIPA)
The prep work: Indirect income-producing activities (IIPA)
Administrative stuff: Production-supporting activities (PSA)
Letting the numbers scare you straight
Tracking Your Time to See Where You Stand
Evaluating your time-tracking sheets
Reflecting on your week, month, quarter, and year
Picking time for DIPA and using that slot wisely
Giving priority to prospecting
Leaving time for following up on leads
Blocking out time for sales presentations
Planning for personal development
Continuing education: A lifelong journey
Role-playing: Getting ready for prime time
Evaluating your sales presentation performance
Incorporating IIPA into Your Day
Using IIPA time to review sales results
Chapter 21: Time Management for Business Owners and Executives
Stepping Back and Observing Your Time Investment
Increasing Time on Growth Activities
Responsive Tasks: Decreasing Your “In” Time
Solidifying your organizational chart
Crafting clear job descriptions
Creating room for growth with supplemental task lists
Planning Ahead: Balancing Your “On” Time
Setting aside daily and monthly “on” time
Performing a quarterly and yearly review of “on” time
Chapter 22: Coaching Others to Manage Time Effectively
Finding Out Who'd Benefit from Training
Using the four probabilities of success as a gauge
Tapping into an employee's motivation
Incorporating Tools and Strategies
Fostering Partnership and Encouraging Success
Setting up benchmarks and check-ins to instill accountability
Fulfilling your role as a mirror
Dealing with a Lack of Progress: Can This Employee Be Saved?
Chapter 23: Ten Time-Wasting Behaviors
Getting Caught in Junk Mail Undertow
Spending Time with Negative People
Chapter 24: Ten Time-Efficient Habits
Eating for optimal performance
Exercising for energy and stamina