Managing Your Time Effectively

By Michael Bucci

Children never really worry about time. In fact, the whole concept of time is somewhat alien to them. Kids only think about time when it's "bedtime" and they can't watch their favorite television show.

As time passes, we eventually all become adults and it is often with some difficulty that we come to realize that time is something that needs to be managed properly; it is truly a scarce resource.

the concept of time management

The reality of time management is quite simple: you only have 24 hours available to you on any given day. In order to be most productive, you must organize your time in such a way to get the most things done.

Sounds simple enough yet so many people are continuously searching for "more time," when they could have had that time… if only they took a few minutes every week to plan their schedule beforehand.

a prerequisite for success

Have you ever wondered what kind of work schedule a guy like Bill Gates keeps? How about Michael Jordan, Ted Turner or Larry Ellison? All very successful men in their respective fields.

In fact, these are some of the most accomplished men of all time, and a big part of their success comes from finding the time to get things done. Put differently, these men are masters at managing time. Sure, they have secretaries that help them do it, but this just goes to show that they take "time" seriously.

Perhaps you are still in school or starting out in the business world; either way, you should know up front that to reach the top you will have to learn how to make the most of every minute of every day, without driving yourself crazy in the process.

Be forewarned: time management is not something that you'll learn in business school or at your new job. You are now swimming with the sharks and you can either become one of them or be their lunch. The choice is yours.

Of course, no one wants to be someone else's lunch, so here are some quick tips that will help you better manage your time and maximize your work efforts.

The first thing to keep in mind when managing your time is that it is more common sense than rocket science. What follows is a very basic way to manage your time properly:

building an efficient schedule

• Learn to view time as interchangeable blocks. Anything you do will require a block of time. Sometimes it will be a small block of time (such as picking up your clothes at the dry cleaner) and sometimes it will be a large block of time (such as a 4 hour sales pitch to some potential clients). The point here is that every task you must accomplish consists of a block of time.
• Once you've understood the concept of "blocking" your time, you can start building a schedule. At their most basic, schedules are simply large blocks of time that are subdivided into smaller, more manageable blocks. Depending on how busy you are, you can start by using a monthly or weekly block. From there, you block off your time on a daily and hourly basis.

For example, at the beginning of the month you might have 7 days of scheduled meetings. Thus, you know from the onset that those 7 days have blocks of time already allotted, leaving less time in each day to accomplish your daily work. If you need to schedule additional meetings, try to schedule them on days where you have no previous engagements. That is, on days where you have more free blocks available. This helps minimize congestion and overlapping.

weekly & daily management

Once you have a bird's eye view of your month, you can calculate how many hours are left in each week and each day. The next step is to plan each day for maximum efficiency. To do this, you have to accurately estimate how long the tasks at hand should take, then block the proper amount of time in your schedule.

An example would be:
Block 1: 9:00am-11:00am (meeting)
Block 2: 11:15am-12:00pm (take messages & return calls)
Block 3: 12:00pm-1:00pm (lunch)
Block 4: 1:15pm-4:00pm (corporate training)
Block 5: etc.

The important thing to note is that each task has a defined block of time to allow for completion.

using time buffers

Another crucial aspect of time management is the use of buffers. Never schedule tasks too tightly together; this can cause overlap or tardiness. If you have one meeting scheduled to finish at 1pm, make sure to allot yourself a 15-minute block of time for a breather, before scheduling any other tasks.

In this manner, if the meeting goes into overtime, you won't be late for your next meeting or task. More importantly, you'll significantly reduce your stress level by not being in a constant rush.

Buffers are a way to build some slack into your schedule, but you must use them wisely. If you allocate too much buffer time you will likely lose out on quality work time. The trick is to learn how to use just enough buffer time to avoid conflicts between the end of one task and the start of another.

One last tidbit: don't be afraid to use a calendar, agenda or electronic organizer such as a Palm Pilot (which helps tremendously) to plan your time. A small investment in any of these items will pay off in spades if you use them properly.

Ultimately, it all comes down to how motivated you are to use your time as efficiently as possible. Where there's a will, there's a way!