Do you find yourself overloaded with work? Feel so stretched to the limit you can’t set priorities? Exhaust yourself daily without accomplishing your goals?
In this time management training course Malaysia, you will practice techniques that will drive you to eliminate your time wasters & time thieves so that you can direct your energy towards the activities that will further your corporate goals.
TIME MANAGEMENT TIPS IN PLANNING, SCHEDULING AND PRIORITIZATION
Planning makes sure that you’re ready for good results to happen
Robert Henry: “You can’t no more do what you ain’t prepared for than you can come back from where you ain’t been.”
To improve your planning, ask seven questions. (1) What results do I intend to achieve? (2) What must I do to get those results? (3) What are the priorities? (4) How much time will each activity require? (5) When will I do each activity? (6) Have I allowed time for the unexpected things I can’t control? (7) Who should I coordinate these activities with?
Flexibility is the key to successful planning and schedul¬ing. Allow time for the unexpected things you can’t con¬trol, like interruptions, problems, or crises.Planning does not prevent daily emergencies. They will occur with or without a plan. When they do occur, emer-gencies do not disrupt the plan; they only disrupt the schedule.
Be slow to alter your plans, even when the unexpected strikes. A thoughtful response is usually better than just reacting to events. Before you automatically agree to do anything, ask your¬self if you should do it, why you should do it and when you will be able to do it, and what you will have to give up to do it.
Write out a plan for every week. An excellent time to do this is on Friday afternoon before you leave for the week¬end. Ask other people to do the same thing. Meet with key people to review their plans for next week and coordinate priorities and activities.
Try using large wall calendars for joint planning. Use a different color for each person. Develop a systematic follow-up system. Use tickler files. Transfer to-do items to your daily planner.
Learn to control your unplanned action impulses. Do not chase every unscheduled action that comes your way.
Move unfinished actions to another day. Do not turn the page for tomorrow without moving unfinished items to another date. Otherwise, you will forget all about them once you turn the page.
Review your daily to-do list many times during the day. It will make it much easier for you to sort out all the things that come your way. Plan tomorrow’s agenda and to-do list before you leave work today. Pull out material you will need first thing in the morning. Put items in your briefcase for early morn¬ing meetings.
Give yourself more time than you think you’ll need. Most of us are hopelessly optimistic about how much we can get done in a given time span. Do things the right way the first time and you won’t have to find time to do them over later.
Beware of Murphy’s Laws: (1) Nothing is as simple as it seems; (2) Everything takes longer than you think it will; (3) If anything can go wrong, it will. Good planning minimizes the Murphy risk.
Write out a daily to-do list or daily plan and consider your priorities carefully.
Using an appointment book will help you to avoid over-scheduling.
Compare what you planned to do during the day with what you actually did during the day. You’ll soon become a more realistic planner.
Take care of the activities and results come out okay. You don’t do a result, you do activities. Results are the end product. Focus on the right activities and the results are nearly automatic.
Estimating required time is also handy when delegating tasks to other people.
Use the Principle of One More: Try squeezing in just one more to-do item in your day. For example, how can you make one more call today?
Set time limits and force yourself to finish jobs within those limits.
Every job you have involves a series of assignments. Define the assignment clearly. Read every word if the assignment is written. Be flexible in planning your assignment.
Daily Priority Planner – Estimating required time is also handy when delegating tasks to other people.
C. Northcote Parkinson said, “Too many people find their workloads heavy because they’re unable to schedule, evaluate, and coordinate their daily tasks. They keep them-selves loaded with, or diverted by, that which in actuality is trivial.”
Use the Principle of One More: Try squeezing in just one more to-do item in your day. For example, how can you make one more call today?
Set time limits and force yourself to finish jobs within those limits.
Every job you have involves a series of assignments. Define the assignment clearly. Keep dated notes. Avoid unreasonable deadlines. Read every word if the assign¬ment is written. Be flexible in planning your assignment.
Scheduling – Things that are scheduled are more likely to happen.
Schedule the most important activities for each day. Things that are scheduled are much more likely to happen. Keep a record of what you scheduled and what you actu¬ally did at those times. Comparing the two will help you discover ways to schedule more realistically.
Learn to control your unscheduled action impulses. Don’t chase after unimportant actions just because they pop up during the day. Use large time blocks for important work. Schedule quiet time so you can work without interruption.
Meet with your superior or colleague (or people you work closely with) for a few minutes every morning to review objectives, priorities, and planned actions for the day. A brief afternoon meeting may also help keep things in focus and make necessary adjustments in your schedule.
Prepare tomorrow’s schedule before you leave work today. You’ll sleep better, and you won’t risk starting your day by reacting before you consider what is really important.
Identify your prime time, the time of day when you are at your best, when you do your best work. Try set this time aside for important projects, making important decisions, or doing creative work.
When making out your schedule, be sure to allow enough time for each activity. Most people are overly optimistic. They don’t allow enough time and they often start late. As a result, their jobs are more frantic and pressured than need be. Group related items and actions whenever possible. Remember Parkinson’s Law: Work expands to fill the time available. If you allow more time than you actually need, you’ll use everything you’ve allowed anyway.
The opposite of allowing too much time is not allowing enough. That’s Murphy’s Second Law: Everything takes longer than you think it will.
Your challenge is to schedule enough time for your activities but not too much. Set time limits for everything you do. Try to finish within the time allowed.
Whenever possible, set appointments to see people. Call ahead and confirm that they will be there. Schedule appointments with yourself to happen as quickly as an appointment for someone else. Actually write your¬self in on the calendar.
Do important work as early in the day as possible. Take care of routine and firefighting tasks the rest of the day. Do not schedule appointments for early in the morning. Keep this time for working without interruption on your most important tasks. If someone asks for an early hour, tell her or him you have a conflict and suggest another time.
When you are planning back-to-back appointments, do not forget to consider how long it may take you to get from one place to another. If you are driving, for instance, the time of day could be critical.
It’s always a good idea to allow yourself a safety valve. Assume that meetings will take at least 50 percent longer than you expect. Always allow yourself a 15-minute cushion between meetings or appointments. Schedule specific times for little jobs, after you’ve completed more important work.
People often forget about Monday morning meetings. Call Friday to remind them.
If you’re running late for meetings or appointments, call to say so. When making appointments for early morning, Monday morning, or out of town, get the person’s home number.
Arrive at appointments 5 to 10 minutes early. If you must do activities involving other people, try to schedule them early in the day.
Use color to highlight activities in your schedule, note¬book, etc. For instance, regular appointments with key staff could be highlighted in red.Tackle big jobs first thing in the morning. Don’t waste that time on newspapers, coffee, conversations, or other trivial matters.
Don’t become a slave to the clock, squelching individual uniqueness and creativity in favor of speed or schedules.
Schedule play and time off as seriously as you schedule work. Too much work and too little play is not good for anyone.