HOW TO MANAGE TIME, PRIORITIES AND PRODUCTIVITY BETTER

 

As a Consultant, Coach and Mentor I often get asked about priorities and managing time, as well as deciding, setting and progressing goals. We all have different aims and ambitions. We are all different people, some are morning people, some are night owls. Our work, family, habits and routines are all different and personal. So the ideas below are a pick-n-mix for you to select and try what might work for you in your circumstance.  

Personal Story:  I used to be a performance athlete [Commonwealth Games Triathlon and World Champs Rowing] and I know how hard it can be to juggle family and work-life with sports training and distance learning. I also managed to get my MBA at the same time! The tips below are useful for anyone, you don't have to be doing sports, study, family and work to benefit from some of these ideas

USE YOUR OUT OF OFFICE
 
Perhaps put your out-of-office on and say I am working with clients / on project XYZ today. I will return emails between 12pm and 1pm. If its urgent you can phone me. 0979-962-059. This should allow you to focus 100% on what you are doing and manage expectations. If people know that you will respond by the promised time they will usually wait, and if it is not really important they will usually not bother you. You can train children, pets and colleagues to get used to new habits.

THREE BEFORE ME
 
Perhaps help people to learn from each-other, develop self reliance and trust in colleagues. Ask them Have your consulted three before me, what did you learn, and why do you feel the need to ask?. This works if you have a coaching, trusting and collaborative style. It also means that the decision will always be better for the thinking that has gone into it before it gets to you, if indeed it needs to get to you!

ONE MEETING RATHER THAN MANY EMAILS
 
Perhaps rather than have lots of people and lots of emails over a long period of time set-up one short, sharp, clear meeting with everyone in attendance. It will help communication, collaboration and coordination and save lots of time. Send an email In order to save time, get everyones input and coordinate lets have a  Teams|Zoom|Skype call dd/mm/yyyy at hh:mm. Bring all the issues, facts and figures with you (or better still circulate 24 hours in advance) and we can make the right decision together.

UNINTERRUPTED TOTAL FOCUS CHOICE
 
If someone comes to see you it is flattering to drop everything to be able to talk to them.However the truth is that you will lose momentum on what you were doing and are probably ill prepared and too distracted for this conversation. Perhaps instead say  If it is 1 minute and urgent I can talk now, but I can give you uninterrupted total focus if you want to come back at hh:mm.. If it is really urgent drop everything, but most people will prefer uninterrupted total focus and will be glad of the opportunity to come back later. If you have a regular time for DROP-IN meetings that is even better.

URGENT / IMPORTANT
 
There are lots of models for Important activities have an outcome that leads to us achieving our goals, whether these are professional or personal. Urgent activities demand immediate attention, and are usually associated with achieving someone else's goals. They are often the ones we concentrate on and they demand attention because the consequences of not dealing with them are immediate. Rank them: 1. Important and Urgent; 2. Important but Not Urgent; 3. Not Important but Urgent; 4. Not Important and Not Urgent, and then put them in your diary, calendar, planner accordingly. Remember to keep some time in your diary as FREE / FLEXIBLE or maybe even DROP-IN CLINIC to accomodate the unexpected.  

DO DITCH DELEGATE DELAY
 
Similar to the URGENT / IMPORTANT, think about tasks in terms of what you can DO, DITCH, DELEGATE or DELAY and then plan time accordingly


OUTSOURCE OR AUTOMATE TASKS
 
There are some tasks you can delegate to colleagues and some you can outsource to consultants. There are others where technology or automation might lend a hand. If you are tech-savvy tools like IFTTT [https://ifttt.com/] are great for automating emails, tweets, posts etc. Perhaps instead of emails with documents would a video message be better, or perhaps a simple photo of your drawing, plan or post-it notes be sufficient to communicate your ideas?

AUDIO DICTATE OR DELEGATE - SIRI OR ALEXA
 
Perhaps instead of writing documents use Siri, Alexa or Otter so that you can dictate documents. This may or may not save time depending on how good you are at typing or how clear you are at speaking, but it may allow you to multi-task and perhaps think and dictate during a walk or travelling between locations.

SEPERATE HABITS FROM GOALS
 
It is useful to be clear on habits and routines (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually) and goals which are once only and not repeated. For both we can predict, prepare and schedule, but by virtue of being a habit or routine people will quickly accept and accomodate these patterns. You can train pets, children and colleagues to to get used to habits or routines which make life more predictable and feel familiar and safe. Once you have plan for "the usual" then you can make plans for "the unusual". I recommend two great books,  Habit Stacking: 97 Small Life Changes That Take Five Minutes Or Less Book by S. J. Scott and The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg  

HABIT STACKING - THINGS AT THE SAME TIME
 
Get used to doing things at the same time, for example walk and talk. Steve Jobs famously did most of his thinking, meetings and decisions whilst going for a walk. With audio books and podcasts you can walk and learn.  Do this intelligently, do not over-burden yourself, but for example if you need to go to work and you need to exercise, maybe go to work by bike? Or if you need to travel into town make a list of all the things that need doing and do them in that one trip. You can do this with regular meetings, instead of lots of emails, maybe save everything for the Monday-morning 30minute catch-up?

POST IT OR FRIDGE MAGNETS TO OUTSOURCE YOUR THOUGHTS
 
Instead of going everywhere with 1000 ideas in your head, outsource them to external storage and clear your mind to think on one thing at a time. You can outsource them to external storage like a diary, post-it notes, index cards, or a white-board. You can then have these notes or reminders in a place where you can add, amend or delete ready for when you actually need them. Adding to-do lists or revision notes to the fridge door, front-door, car steering wheel or even shower-door are all great as reminders, affirmations and planners. 

#Financial Career:
Why, What, How, Who, Where
Daily, Weekly, Monthly
Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct
#Physical Health:
Why, What, How, Who, Where
Daily, Weekly, Monthly
Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct
#Mental Health:
Why, What, How, Who, Where
Daily, Weekly, Monthly
Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct
#Family:
Why, What, How, Who, Where
Daily, Weekly, Monthly
Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct
#Friends:
Why, What, How, Who, Where
Daily, Weekly, Monthly
Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct
#Community:
Why, What, How, Who, Where
Daily, Weekly, Monthly
Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct
#Social:
Why, What, How, Who, Where
Daily, Weekly, Monthly
Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct
#Educational:
Why, What, How, Who, Where
Daily, Weekly, Monthly
Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct
#Fun:
Why, What, How, Who, Where
Daily, Weekly, Monthly
Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct
#Spiritual Faith:
Why, What, How, Who, Where
Daily, Weekly, Monthly
Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct
 
 
 
 
BLOCK TIME IN YOUR CALENDAR
 
Use a calendar, table to allocate your time to routines, habits, and goals. By scheduling the time you are more likely to be able to do them. What people put into their schedule will be different for everyone. Here are some possible themes/topics



#Financial/Career
#PhysicalHealth
#MentalHealth
#Family
#Friends
#Community
#Social
#Educational
#Fun
#Spiritual/Faith
PLANNER
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Early Morning

Sport

Sport

Sport
Sport
Morning
Work
Work
Work
Work
Work
Sport
Sport
Late Morning
Work
Work
Work
Work
Work
Family
Family
Early Afternoon
Work
Work
Work
Work
Work
Family
Family
Afternoon
Work
Work
Work
Work
Work
Family
Family
Late Afternoon
Family
Family
Family
Family
Family
Family
Family
Early Evening







Evening
Study

Study

Study


Late Evening
Reading
Meditation
Reading
Meditation
Reading
Meditation
Reading


PLOT AND PRIORITISE WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU
 
For each segment ask yourself, On a scale from 1-10 (with 10 being the ideal), how satisfied am I with this area of my life? Dont over-think it, just go with your gut. Now think about where you are now, where you want to be, and what you need to change. You can then decide how you want to make that change.

 
AnyChart Trial Version
  
#Financial Career
Priority: Low/Med/High  Difficulty: Low/Med/High 
Why is this important:
What is a good measure of success:
What will I do daily/weekly/monthly to progress:
When and how will I check and measure progress 
What will help (people, resources, rewards) - and what will I do about these 
What will hinder (obstacles, circumstances, time) - and what will I do about these 
#Physical Health
Priority: Low/Med/High  Difficulty: Low/Med/High 
Why is this important:
What is a good measure of success:
What will I do daily/weekly/monthly to progress:
When and how will I check and measure progress 
What will help (people, resources, rewards) - and what will I do about these 
What will hinder (obstacles, circumstances, time) - and what will I do about these 
#Mental Health
Priority: Low/Med/High  Difficulty: Low/Med/High 
Why is this important:
What is a good measure of success:
What will I do daily/weekly/monthly to progress:
When and how will I check and measure progress 
What will help (people, resources, rewards) - and what will I do about these 
What will hinder (obstacles, circumstances, time) - and what will I do about these 
#Family
Priority: Low/Med/High  Difficulty: Low/Med/High 
Why is this important:
What is a good measure of success:
What will I do daily/weekly/monthly to progress:
When and how will I check and measure progress 
What will help (people, resources, rewards) - and what will I do about these 
What will hinder (obstacles, circumstances, time) - and what will I do about these 
#Friends
Priority: Low/Med/High  Difficulty: Low/Med/High 
Why is this important:
What is a good measure of success:
What will I do daily/weekly/monthly to progress:
When and how will I check and measure progress 
What will help (people, resources, rewards) - and what will I do about these 
What will hinder (obstacles, circumstances, time) - and what will I do about these 
#Community
Priority: Low/Med/High  Difficulty: Low/Med/High 
Why is this important:
What is a good measure of success:
What will I do daily/weekly/monthly to progress:
When and how will I check and measure progress 
What will help (people, resources, rewards) - and what will I do about these 
What will hinder (obstacles, circumstances, time) - and what will I do about these 
#Social
Priority: Low/Med/High  Difficulty: Low/Med/High 
Why is this important:
What is a good measure of success:
What will I do daily/weekly/monthly to progress:
When and how will I check and measure progress 
What will help (people, resources, rewards) - and what will I do about these 
What will hinder (obstacles, circumstances, time) - and what will I do about these 
#Educational
Priority: Low/Med/High  Difficulty: Low/Med/High 
Why is this important:
What is a good measure of success:
What will I do daily/weekly/monthly to progress:
When and how will I check and measure progress 
What will help (people, resources, rewards) - and what will I do about these 
What will hinder (obstacles, circumstances, time) - and what will I do about these 
#Fun
Priority: Low/Med/High  Difficulty: Low/Med/High 
Why is this important:
What is a good measure of success:
What will I do daily/weekly/monthly to progress:
When and how will I check and measure progress 
What will help (people, resources, rewards) - and what will I do about these 
What will hinder (obstacles, circumstances, time) - and what will I do about these 
#Spiritual Faith
Priority: Low/Med/High  Difficulty: Low/Med/High 
Why is this important:
What is a good measure of success:
What will I do daily/weekly/monthly to progress:
When and how will I check and measure progress 
What will help (people, resources, rewards) - and what will I do about these 
What will hinder (obstacles, circumstances, time) - and what will I do about these