Managing Your Time Effectively - Time to Stop

Time is of the essence. And in business, time is money. We all agree to these cliches, but what do we seem to have the least of? And what can we do about it....

If you only had half the hours in your week, what work would you feel took priority? How would you be able to do just those things and still have time left to get on with other, important, 'bigger picture' things?

This week the challenge is to let go of some to the 'stuff' that gets in your way. And better, to stop doing much of what you do - especially if it is someone else's agenda.

Time to pass the buck that has been so handily passed to you, back to the giver - with thanks!

Work is all about behaviours. Over time, our own behaviours take on a life of their own. They are not who we truly want to be (nor where we perform our best) and we get all uncomfortable with how those behaviours dictate our time. It truly is like forcing a square peg into a round hole - can you feel that pressure?

To get round this, you need to take a look at all the things that are getting in the way of doing an effective and efficient job.

Sometimes, this means stopping the nice-to-do-but-a-bit-of-a-waste-of-time things - your 'comfort-blanket' things that keep you busy, if unproductive. Time to get real about where you best add value at the level you are at.

Couple of examples? Sure!

• What about that member of your team who needs following up on all the time - how much is that wasting your time?
• What about that boss you have, who is always dropping extra work on you that you haven't planned time for?
• And then there is the time you spend chasing after new recruits, because you are losing people way too often.

To dump some of this waste, it's time to get deep down and honest with yourself and decide what is not serving you best and dump it - tough though it might be.

Time to assess where those wasted hours go and lose them, one by one, to the benefit of you, your job and the rest of the people in your team.

So, take a look at the job you do and get together that wish list that would free up half of your time in the next week.

What are the jobs that waste your time? Look hard - and if you can't find much, have the balls to look more closely at you, yourself because that's the place to start - and finish!