
Secrets to Time Management…(Shhh it’s not about time at all)

- Prioritize ruthlessly and often. Each month, every week, and every day. Every morning, before the start of your work day, before you open email or Slack or any other multitude of social media platforms, ask yourself what has to be done today? Answer that question and write down no more than 3 things. Those are your priorities for the day.
- Do the important actions first. These are often uncomfortable – so do them first, delegate if you are able to, or ask for help if you feel stuck.
- Keep track of all your tasks in one place. One place.
- Set a due date for every task. Every task should have a deadline.
- Find a system that enables you to prioritize. Remember this:
- If it’s important and urgent, do it NOW
- If it’s important but not urgent, schedule it and let go of your anxiety
- If it’s urgent but not important, delegate
- If it’s neither, get it off your list. Goodbye!
- Google “Eisenhower Matrix” to learn more
- Be very clear about what you need from the person you are reaching out to. All emails should have a clear task of what the recipient needs to do and by when.If it’s not clear what you need them to do, they won’t do it. They can’t read your mind and you won’t get your result.
- Utilize resources. I learned what a ‘boomerang’ is fairly recently (it allows you to schedule an email to disappear and return into your inbox unread so you’re reminded of it because it’s sitting at the top again). It’s available on all online email platforms and Gmail has a built-in version of it. Let technology work for you. It will remember your tasks, deadlines and reminders, so guess what? You don’t have to. Now your energy and focus can be spent on something way more important
- Do one thing at a time. Give yourself a timeline to do that one thing. Up to 25 minutes. Close all other tabs & mute notifications while doing it.
- Set an agenda and a desired outcome for meetings. Know what you need before you walk into it. If you don’t have goals or a desired outcome, guess what? You probably don’t need to have this meeting.
- Be aware of how you use your time. Most things don’t need to be meetings. Most meetings don’t need to be as long as they are. Take back your control, delete and shorten.