Q

Why is it, at the end of a working day, I forever have to ask myself.... where did that day go? Why is it I always think I haven’t accomplished a great deal? Is there some way I could squeeze more time out of my day to get more things accomplished?

A

The answer is you’ll need to plug the leaks! Valuable time so easily slips through our fingers. If you’d like to get more productivity into your working day, then consider for a moment how much time you might be losing by failing to plug the following time leaks which plague the majority of managers…

• Failing to plan for or organize others whose input is required.
• Starting a job before thinking it through.
• Doing unproductive things through pure habit.
• Keeping too many unnecessary records or, alternatively, not keeping vital records and having to re-invent the wheel all over again.
• Socializing at great length between tasks.
• Doing things that should be done by others.
• Making unnecessary visits or phone calls.
• Allowing the meeting you are chairing to drift on and on.
• Doing things that aren’t really part of your job.
• Paying too much attention to ‘low return on investment’ items.
• Postponing the inevitable.
• Allowing drop-in visitors to get the better of you.
• Spending too much time on the petty items in your in-basket.

 An old saying that you might do well to remember is this: Those who make the worst use of time are the first to complain of its shortness.

 So, as the time management pioneer R. Alec Mackenzie once wrote: ‘Discovering your own time wasters is the key to managing yourself in relationship to time!’

You might also like to consult our e-Topics –

How to get yourself organized – and save time

How to tackle your priorities

Or our e-Book

Time Management