Create some ‘prime time’ for yourself

  It is easy if you are not careful to end up fragmenting your timetable with meetings and low priority tasks that squeeze out any time for achieving your longer-term goals. To avoid this happening ring-fence some blocks of time, for example a couple of hours a few times a week, which you can dedicate to working on your longer-term objectives. Resist the temptation to cancel your prime time unless you are absolutely forced to. Make sure that you use the time you have allocated to best effect by having a clear plan of what you want to do and minimizing distractions.

Prepare for meetings

  A successful meeting is time and money well spent but a poor meeting is a waste of time and money. A lot of time can be wasted at meetings by people being inadequately prepared for them and not having a clear idea about exactly what it is they want to get from the meeting. It is estimated that as much as three-quarters of a manager’s time can be spent in meetings but it is uncertain how much of this is wasted time. Even if a meeting is relevant, much time can still be lost through people arriving for it late, allowing meetings to run over, getting sidetracked, poorly chaired meetings and not prioritizing the agenda properly. Make sure that you are not one of these people by ensuring that you do adequately prepare for meetings, are clear about the purpose of the meeting, who is going to be attending and what you want to get from it in advance. Read over the minutes of the previous meeting and the agenda for the next one and make notes about the key points you wish to address. Plan what you are going to say and how you are going to say it in the most succinct way. Give yourself sufficient time to get to the meeting on time and from the meeting to your next appointment. Excuse yourself from meetings or parts of meetings where your attendance is not required. Make use of teleconference facilities if your organization has them. They can save you a lot of travel time and are often more businesslike than face-to-face meetings. Do not be a slave to attending meetings which you perceive to be of questionable value to you simply because they have been handed down to you. Ask yourself whether it is a good use of your time.

Choose the best time to tackle difficult tasks

  It is a well-known fact that people differ in terms of the time of day at which they function most effectively. Some people describe themselves as a morning person, whereas others describe themselves as an afternoon or an evening person. These variations are the result of what are known in the scientific world as circadian rhythms. There are certain times of the day when each of us is at our best physically and psychologically and this can differ from individual to individual. If we are aware of them, we can plan ahead and fit our schedule around them by taking on more difficult tasks when we are at our best and save other tasks for the times when we are not.