186 / IMPROVING YOUR SKILLS
Managing your time
While you can raise additional capital for your business, employ
more people, and buy more machinery, there will only ever be
24 hours in a day. Time is one of the few commodities you
cannot buy, but there are many
techniques to help you use your
time more effectively.
Tracking your time
Before you can start actively managing
your time, you need to find out how you
spend it. Rather than just guessing,
measure and record your expenditure
of time over a period of at least a week
in a time log. When you have completed
the analysis, consider if the way you
spend time reflects your key objectives.
For example, you may find that you
spend five percent of your time visiting
customers. Is this activity one that
delivers key results (because it
generates sales)? If it is, you need
to consider whether you would be
more effective by spending more
time on this activity.
How to set up a time log
As you work, record in the
right-hand column the letter of
the activity you have completed
in the last 15 minutes.
At the end of the week, analyze
how you have spent your time and
draw a pie chart to show where
your time goes.
Planning encourages you to think
not just about the day ahead, but
also the more distant future
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Making time
Planning encourages you to think not
just about the day ahead, but also the
more distant future. It’s all too easy
to put off big but necessary strategic
projects, such as arranging training
for your staff or creating a database
of contacts, because you are immersed
in day-to-day activities. Think about the
longer-term projects you would like
to implement in the next quarter. Break
these tasks into manageable chunks,
and estimate how much time it will take
you to complete each chunk.
Keep a sheet of paper on your
desk, divided into two columns.
Assign a code or letter to each of
these categories (e.g. emails = E,
thinking = T).
Categorize your tasks, e.g.
answering emails, writing
reports, planning, thinking,
visiting clients, traveling.
Split your day into 15-minute
segments; enter these
periods in the first column.
of workers do not make
or use a “to do” list
30%
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188 / IMPROVING YOUR SKILLS
Planning your day
Write an action plan setting out your
activities for the day ahead. The best
time to do this is at the beginning of
the day, when you feel fresh. Build time
into your plan for day-to-day duties
and the work you need to do toward
your longer-term projects. Failing to
stick to an over-optimistic plan can
be demotivating, so be realistic in your
timings, allowing for interruptions
and some breaks.
Calculating priority
When writing your plan, prioritize
your tasks objectively—it often helps
to categorize tasks according to
importance and urgency. Give priority
to those that are both urgent and
important (for example, producing
up-to-date figures for the next day’s
sales meeting). Tasks that are important
but not urgent (such as completing
segments of your large projects)
take second priority. Tasks that are
not important but urgent (such as
dealing with someone else’s request for
information) take third priority, and those
that are neither important nor urgent
should be delegated or not done at all.
BE DISCIPLINED
Try to deal with paperwork
only once. Mark a red dot on a
document each time you pick
it up; attempt to minimize the
number of red dots on your
paperwork—the discipline
will slowly work its way into
all your processes.
Tip
How to prioritize
your tasks
Categorize tasks according
to importance and
urgency. Give priority to
those that are both urgent
and important. Tasks that
are important but not urgent
take second priority
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MANAGING YOUR TIME / 189
Structuring your day
To make the most of every work day,
get to know the times of day when
you are most effective and creative.
If you are a “morning“ person, plan
to tackle your creative tasks—such as
writing proposals or reports—and your
challenging tasks, such as talking to a
difficult client, in the morning. Take on
routine tasks in the afternoon. If you are
an “afternoon” person, do your routine
tasks first, but make sure that you don’t
get hooked into doing them all day.
HIGH URGENCY, HIGH IMPORTANCE
LOW URGENCY, HIGH IMPORTANCE
HIGH URGENCY,
LOW IMPORTANCE
LOW URGENCY,
LOW IMPORTANCE
of productivity is estimated
to be lost due to workers
visiting non-work related
websites during office hours
40%
01
02
03
04
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190 / IMPROVING YOUR SKILLS
Working effectively
To help you work quickly and effectively,
always keep your desk clean and ensure
that frequently used items are readily
available to hand. The same goes for
information you use regularly. Set up
favorites for websites; keep a list of
who knows what, and of key phone
numbers; and use an old-fashioned
card index for storing nuggets of
information you refer to often.
Build thinking time into your
schedule: travel is often considered
to be a time-waster, but it can also
provide just the change of pace and
scenery you need to do some valuable
creative thinking.
TELEPHONE CALLS
Prepare everything you
want to say before you call.
Talking on the telephone
helps build relationships,
but sometimes emailing
instead avoids distraction.
If someone calls you and you’re
short on time, tell them you will
call them back at a specific
time. Be sure always to follow
up on your promise.
of office workers
have a smartphone,
and 33% of them
use it to check their
emails more than
20 times every day
during working hours
and at home
90%
Set aside 15 minutes
every so often to collect
messages and return
calls. Let people know you
will be unavailable between
certain times
Focusing your actions
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