So, had my appraisal at work today and it is very apparent to both me and my manager that my time management (or specifically my complete lack of it) is very detrimental to my work.

Does anyone have any good tips or can recommend any books on the matter (other than stay off STW of course!).

Learn to say no?

It’s tempting to always agree to more work but it’s more important to be able to complete the tasks you are assigned. You may need to inject a bit of realism into what is expected of you*

* unless of course you are just a lazy sod!

Its not that I do not have enough time to do my work, I just am really bad at using it effectively and efficiently and end up reacting day by day instead of being in control of my workload

You sound bored

In that case you need to set out some interim milestones. Make each of them into a proper “deadline”. If it helps, get your boss to agree to this plan and ask him, to ask you, for a progress report – perhaps by you showing him what you’ve done at each milestone.

I highly recommend “Getting things done” by David Allen. It is a really useful method for managing work. Changed my life.

Depends on what you do for a living too.

At a previous job we had a time management professional/trainer come in and tell us all how to manage our time. The advice given was total horse crap because she hadn’t bothered to understand the nuances of how our business works.

My rough rules for time management/efficient working (senior management in professional services firm, for context):

* Plan what you’re going to do and in what order
* Set reminders for date critical stuff (eg in Outlook or some of my team use a paper reminder system, which works really well for them)
* Don’t make a brew mid-task, before or after
* Don’t be afraid to say ‘go-away’ to people who interrupt complex head down type tasks (including your own management)
* Leave some time aside for the unexpected (I allow about an hour a day for surprises but that’s the nature of my particular job)
* Don’t respond to every e-mail the minute it lands. I sometimes close Outlook completely if I’m trying to get something finished so I cannot get distracted.
* Get in a few minutes early and get all your admin stuff out of the way before the place fills up with everyone arriving.

Of course if you work on a building site none of that applies!

Hmmm.

If someone came to you and said ‘Sort out your time management or find another job’, I suspect you’d sort out your time management.

MTFU, get on with it.

Maybe use an app like Asana to set a to do list. Or something.

Garage dweller has some good tips though. Especially the surprises bit. I need at least 1 maybe 2 hours a day for answering questions that the CEO springs on me.

Don’t know whether they’ve updated it recently, but I found ‘Getting Things Done’ a bit old school, the ideas were solid enough though.

Some alternatives are The Pomodoro Technique or The Agile Way, I tend to take a hybrid approach and borrow ideas from all of them – and the extent that I rely on them depends on how busy I am.

Never answer your phone.

If something is important they will leave a voice mail and you can then call them back. Don’t return missed calls, just voice mails.

If they haven’t left a message then chances are they went on to phone some other perfectly capable person who answered and now has more work to do.

I think only about a third of the people who call me go on to leave a voice mail.

Never answer your phone.

If something is important they will leave a voice mail and you can then call them back. Don’t return missed calls, just voice mails.

+1

This and learn to say no.

Also forward all emails where you’re just cc’ed to your junk folder, they’re just noise.

If you have a chair in your office that people sit on whilst disturbing you, cut 2″ of the front legs, less likely to stay long in it then.

That was one gem I took from. Time management course I did years ago!

If someone is lumping work upon you, ask then which of their tasks that you have been given would they like delivering late?

“I can do that but this will need to be delayed…is that ok, sign here then”

Surprised nobody has mentioned getting IT to block STW.

Focus on the jobs that if you don’t do would see your Manager get a hard time and/or sacked/demoted etc.

Once you’ve done those, focus on those that would see you been given a hard time / sacked for not doing.

So your not cost affective and basically running at a lost to the company ?
You need to approach your management and work out a program that
sorts out what you are not doing correctly with your time.

Prioritise and plan your day / week around tasks that are, but allow contingency time for the unexpected:
Important and urgent
Important and not urgent
Not important and urgent
Not important and not urgent

Break tasks down into manageable chunks so you can demonstrate progress to both yourself and your manager.

Write your plans for each project / tasks down – or use Outlook or project planning software, and review and revise on a regular basis.

Keep your boss up-to-date so that they are aware of any potential hold-ups or where you have delivered on time.

Perhaps give yourself little rewards for achieving a task on time.

I’ve got some fantastic tips for you. I’ll post them as soon as I find the time! 😉

Thanks all – Getting Things Done duly downloaded to the Kindle.

@crikey – Easy tiger! MTFU’ing is exactly what I am doing. I know I am bad at time management and cannot see I was at all implying my workload was too heavy or it was in anybodies control other than mine. I was simply asking for a bit of advice about how I might improve my time management.

The irony of you asking on here is delicious, you must agree.

Have you tried making a to-do list yet?

Getting Things Done is a great start.

Also forward all emails where you’re just cc’ed to your junk folder, they’re just noise.

If you’re using Outlook you can also set a rule to change the colour and reduce the font of stuff you are only cc’d on. It stops it being in your face and at least you can read the subject line.

* Don’t respond to every e-mail the minute it lands. I sometimes close Outlook completely if I’m trying to get something finished so I cannot get distracted.

Switch off automatic email pick up and only pick it up a couple of times a day (if you can)

I would have suggested not buying GTD, but guess I’m too late 🙂
Reasons are the basic principles can be learned in minutes, like most other ‘self help’ things it’s padded out to fit a book so it can be sold.
The irony being reading a book about defeating procrastination is just…procrastinating.

As has already been mentioned, mtf’upping, self discipline are key, everything else is just trying to avoid the pain.

I use trello for everything, with application of some gtd techniques, and if I’m really busy, use a task timer app in chrome.
Temptation is to run off making task lists, this is often self defeating as it’ll depress you and you’ll be back to procrastinating.
Keep the lists small! And list the things you have completed, this will give you that warm fuzzy at the end of the day.

Saying no is a great skill to learn, and one I’m still struggling with.
As is rolling back the insidious email culture. As has been said already, I dump CC’s, and directly addressed emails I deal with the next day (they don’t leap to the top of my to’do list ever). If it’s urgent, speak to me.

milestones in outlook

ask for a delivery date when someone gives you a new task and enter it straight away into outlook

if they say asap I tell them its gone straight to the bottom of my pile of work

answer emails straight away and to the fullest extent you can with the correct answer in as few words as possible – thatll save all the back up emails arriving

That’s about it for mew

My boss booked me on a time management course, I told him I haven’t got time to go 😆

milestones in outlook

ask for a delivery date when someone gives you a new task and enter it straight away into outlook

if they say asap I tell them its gone straight to the bottom of my pile of work

answer emails straight away and to the fullest extent you can with the correct answer in as few words as possible – thatll save all the back up emails arriving

That’s about it for mew

Responding twice to things is not efficient.

planning.

you have to be a bit reactive on a day to day basis but plan ahead monthly or more if possible.

My time management system:

Jot down the first 5 things that come to mind before breakfast. Those are your biggest worries and therefore priority. So get them sorted first, and then worry about the rest of the day.

Review your outstandings at the end of the day. Don’t note them down, that’s for tomorrow.

Worked for me in building up a reasonably substantial business.

If you’re an employee, remember your highest duty is to make sure your boss looks good to his boss, and make sure he knows you’re working to that end. You can’t go wrong. 🙂