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It's Your Time

It’s important to understand that managing time isn’t about doing everything yourself, it’s about knowing what to do, when to do it and what tasks can be shared and what can be crossed off all together. 

1. Know how you spend your time.  Before you can organize and sort your time you need to be aware of how you spend your time.  In order to prioritize, you should be aware how long it takes to complete tasks efficiently – make sure you don’t get sidetracked. This way you will know if you are spending the right amount of time on your various tasks and activities and what, if anything can be crossed off the list.
2. Transport Time.  Most of us spend a fair amount of time in transport, whether we are driving children to school or catching a train or a bus to work.  It’s important to be realistic with this sort of time calculation as there is usually little we can do to change it. Make effective use of this time by having an uninterrupted chat with the children, reading a book on the train, calling clients to give an update (using a hands-free kit) or using the time to plan your day. 
3. Say No.  There really are only 24 hours in a day and a fair few of those hours have already been committed to other unavoidable activities such as sleeping, spending time with children, working - and the list goes on.  You don’t have to help out at the school canteen every day or be available every time someone needs a hand, it’s an unrealistic stretch of your time. You must learn to say no; otherwise you will end up exhausted and still not have completed anything you wanted to.
4. Delegate and ask for help.  It might be easier in the short term vacuuming or hanging out the washing yourself, but a happy family is one where everyone contributes both with the fun activities and the chores.  Asking for help, whether at home or work is a sign of an effective time manager, becoming buried in paperwork or wet towels, is not.
5. Double Handling – don’t do it. Why would you sort your filing into a neat pile but not actually file it? Why would you clear the table and put the dishes in the sink rather than the dishwasher?  Does it make sense to clean the rubbish out of the car and take it to the garage rather than put in the bin straight away?  You might save yourself 5-10 minutes that day but which day are you going to transfer the job to and how much time have you wasted by NOT actually completing the task?
6. Plan Ahead and use a Diary.  If you use a diary at work, use the same diary for personal engagements.  There is no better way to be reminded of a dental appointment than when it is recorded alongside work commitments and it will save in double booking.

To register for an HIA Time Management Skills Workshop click here.