Increase Productivitiy through Time Management
We work and live in a matrix. Not a sinister sci-fi movie, but a daily matrix of relationships. We are spouses, parents, children, siblings, bosses, peers, friends and team members everyday. Each of these relationships comes with activity, communication and commitments.
The scarcest and most precious variable in a matrix is time! Time management is about taking control of your time. When you control time you enhance relationships, improve quality and reliability of your deliverables, and reduce stress.
Here are six steps to control your matrix:
- Develop time boundaries that fit your plan. You do have a plan and plan your time?
- Sit down and block time for critical parts of your life. This should include work, fun, family, exercise, etc. As you do this, align work blocks to your high productivity daily cycle, and exercise and repetitive tasks to your low productivity periods. For example, if you are a morning person, high intensity and priority work and thought gets scheduled then. No meetings or interruptions during these times.
- Agree on time commitments. Develop an understanding and agree on expectations for time commitments with key personnel and work relationships. Seek feedback from partners on how well you are using your time together.
- Declare to all what time is their time and what time is not! Let the company understand they can’t have you Sunday, you are not checking email Saturday night! You are not taking assignments Friday at 4pm for Monday 8am, and conference calls are not happening Sunday morning. If it was that important they can plan it better! Use your judgment to deal with exceptions. Let your family know that 3 hours minimum every weekend are for work completion, planning and refinement. And set that time aside.
- Stick to your commitments That is, be engaged 100% in the moment. Do not multitask at dinner with your family. Give yourself the joy of commitment in the matrix. Let your company see that work time is work time and you are really on the job 100%.
- Know everyday what is the one thing that must get done above all others, and do it!
Visualize your matrix and review daily and weekly. How did you invest your time? Get feedback on how effectively you used other peoples time. Adjust and control.
- Identify time wasting activities, eliminate and learn to say no.
- Identify areas where you can combine commitments. For example, Fitness or skill building combined with more time with friends. How about a series of golf lessons at the driving range or a 30 minute run and then one beer with your buddy, instead of NFL on TV and three beers.
- Highlight priority conflicts at work and clarify immediately. You cannot serve all the masters in your work matrix all the time. Get feedback to ensure clarity and effectiveness of time invested.
Adjust. Control. Declare. Your matrix is your time. Become the master of your matrix, work at it everyday.
