Are you running out of time?
The clock ticks on and the years roll by! It seems we never have enough time to get through all the work or spend enough time with family and friends. Here are a few tips to making the most of whatever you have left!
Reduce your time commuting
Reduce your travel time by working at home as frequently as possible or working at a satellite office. If this isn’t on the cards, at least recapture some of your valuable weekly hours by using the time productively. There might be certain aspects to your role that can be easily dealt with on the train, such as research, reading, responding to emails, setting up your daily tasks or meeting preparation. In the car, on the bus and walking, try catching up on telephone calls (if you’re hands free), audio research and development training. Make a concrete decision to complete certain tasks whilst on the daily commute.
Automate as much as possible
You may be aware that there is an ‘app’ for everything nowadays. From organising your tasks, to booking holidays, staff management, health monitoring, project analysis, vehicle admin – you name it – it’s available. It’s worth the time in research and setting up to reap the benefits. Just tap in your task to Google and see what’s available!
Keep a To Do List
· List everything you need to do (from calling your boss to submitting the annual accounts) on an app such as Trello – use a different card for each task
· Now move each task around so that you can see what needs doing now, today, this week, this month, this fiscal and this year, next year and beyond!
· At the start of every day review your to do list and prioritise by time of day according to commitments such as meetings and calls
· At the start of every week prioritise the week
· At the start of every month prioritise the month …
· Then do the fiscal and year/ long term objectives so you can easily identify your path to achievement
· If possible, delegate everything that you are able to someone else and remember to monitor and manage delegated work via a recorded task
· Ensure your to do list with is with you all the time (on your phone) so if you have a spare minute you can be easily reminded what to do next
· Review the task list daily and continually, checking off tasks completed or no longer relevant
Take time out
Take time out of your working day to eat healthily, stay hydrated and exercise but be mindful that extended breaks can lead to inefficiencies; an extra half hour lunch every day equates to 2.5 hours which is most of a morning if you work 9am to 5pm. Saying that, having a break will refresh your mind and replenish energy resulting in higher quality of output when you set back to it!
Ask to be excluded from meetings
Meetings can be very time consuming and may not always be relevant. If you don’t feel you can contribute and you just want to know what the outcomes of the meeting are, just ask to be excluded but to be copied in on the minutes. You can always ask the meeting organiser to ‘Action’ you on pre-agreed tasks. As long as they don’t take advantage!
If you are the meeting organiser, keep meetings short by reducing the time on the schedule calendar (e.g. from one hour to half hour) and make sure you only invite people who need to attend. Try starting the meeting at a time such as 2.20pm or 11.10am showing invitees that the timing is exact and expected to be concise. Always send out an agenda so that you can work through items quickly and everyone can be prepared. Organise someone to take minutes before the meeting starts and announce who is responsible for taking the minutes to save others from wasting their time.
Define boundaries
If necessary block your time off as ‘unavailable’ on apps like Teams and on your phone. Make sure you have an undisturbed block of a few hours on your agenda where you can progress without interruption to your work flow. It’s very easy to get distracted with line managers, execs and colleagues etc. asking for a quick chat or requesting your time and advice. Make it clear when you are and when you are not available. Perhaps coincide with other people’s block times so that you can all get on in peace and engage as necessary at certain times of day. Without distractions you will achieve much more and save valuable time which can be used later for team communication. Define boundaries and stick to them.
Stay organised
Be mindful in keeping your work organised so that you can easily refer to items and find files when they are needed.
Make up folders and subfolders by subjects, customers, projects, suppliers, timelines or whatever is relevant to your role. Try to save documents to the correct filing system as you go and spend a few minutes at the end of the week tidying up, clearing your downloads, saving to files and trashing old versions or anything no longer required.
Use meaningful file names with dates when you save and edit versions. Set up folders and categories in your email system so you can find information by subject easily.
Find a Virtual PA to help you…
Above are just a few steps to make your life more efficient and to save valuable time. However, if you need someone to help you to keep on top of your To Do List and to free up some head space, why not consider hiring a Virtual PA? You can hire my services for a few set hours a month at an agreed fee to help you out with some of the monthly or weekly chores that are stopping you from achieving your ambitions.
Take a look at my website www.LocalVPA.com, see my references on LinkedIn and call for a non-obligatory chat. Telephone Rachael - 07787 154040.
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