Friday, June 03, 2005

Identify Time-Suckers

Cutting wasted time from your day is like cutting extra calories from your diet. First identify where the time is going. Commit to keeping an accurate record (down to 5-minute increments) of your schedule for one week.

Be specific. Instead of labeling 3 hours as "office work," list how long you were on the phone versus writing memos/newsletters/letters/submissions. At the end of the week, total the categories.

Just knowing how much time you’re spending on e-mail, phone calls, staff problems does help. Your goal is to spend less time at work and to work more efficiently. You can’t eliminate them completely; just minimize them. For example, check your e-mail hourly instead of every 5 minutes. Little changes make a big difference.

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