Too much to do and not enough time!
Posted on Mon, Mar 08, 2010 @ 03:02 PM
By Ron Souza, Environmental Compliance Advisor
Do you find yourself overwhelmed with what you have to do? Do you miss deadlines? Are you stressed out and feeling like you have too much to do and not enough time?
Making good use of your time management at work can reduce your stress, build your confidence, and increase your value to your company.
Here are 5 Time Management strategies you can implement today.
1. Know your job role and how your performance is measured
a. Do you know what your job responsibilities are? Do you have a job scope? If you are contracting and have specialist expertise, do you know the expectations the company has of you?
b. Having a clear idea of what needs to be done can help you avoid wasting time and do those activities that are most important to your job.
2. Manage Interruptions
Between your mobile phone(s) ringing, dozens of messages on your email and a work colleague asking you a question - how are you ever going to complete that important project? Interruptions cost you time and productivity.
a. Plan for interruptions - understand that you will be interrupted when you plan your day.
b. Block time off each day to read emails and return phone calls.
3. Keep focused on important and urgent activities
a. Keep a "To do list" which helps you prioritize those important tasks.
b. Spend the majority of the day doing those tasks.
4. Be specific about actions in your "To do list"
a. Do not lump multiple action into a "group action"
b. Instead of "train employees on Radiation Safety" the "To do list" should list a specific next action item - such as "book meeting room for radiation safety training" or "prepare draft of presentation for radiation safety training."
5. Do it now and beat procrastination
a. Divide and conquer. Breaking the task into smaller bite-sized pieces is an effective way to manage an overwhelming project.
b. Jump in. By simply jumping into the game, you will get a better idea of what you need to do. Take a break when your concentration starts to wander.
c. Get organized. By having a place for everything, and everything in its place, you can be more organized.