Month: August 2014

Texting While Talking: Why Do We Do It?

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Time management textingYou’re having a conversation with a loved one, colleague, or friends. Suddenly, you notice their gaze turn down to their lap or table. They continue to nod at what you’re saying, but you’re aware that they are distracted. Pretty soon, you see your competition: a smartphone, it’s screen glistening in the sun, almost as though it’s mocking the fact that it has now replaced you as the focus of this person’s attention. I call it Communication Distraction, and it’s not OK.

When we try to do two things at once, our attention is split and we aren’t focused on either of the tasks at hand. People are starting to realize that multitasking isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, but for some reason we don’t really think of texting as multitasking…or trying to do ANY two forms of communication at the same time for that matter.

Typing an email while on the phone, texting while in a meeting, both of these scenarios are examples of multitasking, and they are both rude! Not to mention the fact that distracted communication is not effective and therefore, not good time management.

How do we prevent Communication Distraction? Be more aware of your communications. Focus on the conversation you’re having and who you are talking to. When you find yourself a victim of Communication Distraction, you don’t need to return the rudeness, but perhaps you say something like, “Did I catch you at a bad time? I’m sorry, I can try again later if you’re busy right now.”

We can work together to help prevent distraction and make communication more personal again.

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3 Ways to Make Meetings Shorter

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time management meetingOh meetings- a necessary evil! Whether it’s because of one person who won’t stop talking, or a multi-page agenda sent out 5 minutes before, meetings have a tendency to drag on forever. Try these three tips to make your meetings more efficient:

1. Add times to your agenda

Agendas help keep meetings on topic and focused, but not necessarily on time! Adding times to your agenda convey how long you expect each topic to take. It’s much harder for someone to keep pressing an issue when it’s clearly only been allotted 5 minutes on the schedule. If it becomes apparent that an issue will need far more than the allotted time, then readjust, but not at the expense of letting the meeting run long.

2. Cut down the invite list

If you’ve ever counted ceiling tiles to stay awake in a meeting that didn’t pertain to you, you’ll agree that not everyone needs to be invited to every meeting. Only invite the people who will directly benefit from or contribute to the discussion in some way.

3. Postpone questions

If someone asks a question that doesn’t pertain to the whole group, answer it later offline. Making yourself available to answer questions is important, but not at the expense of everyone else in the group.

Face to face communication and brainstorming can be excellent tools when used properly. Don’t let “meeting” become a four letter word!

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How to Write Lightning Fast Emails

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time management fast emailWhat’s the number one time management problem I hear when doing time management trainings? Email management. “My email consumes my day!” “I spend all day answering emails!” “How can I be faster at email?” One way to help cut down on your email time is to spend less time writing them. Answer these three questions before starting an email:

1. What is the action item?
I’ve seen emails that are 4 paragraphs long in which the sender doesn’t mention the action she/he would like to see the recipient take until the very last sentence. No need to be unnecessarily curt in your messages, but don’t make it difficult for the recipient to find out the intent of your email. In an email that’s to-the-point, they’ll spend less time reading and you’ll spend less time writing.

2. What is the subject?
Too often I see emails with blank subject lines. A descriptive subject helps your recipient know exactly what to expect in your message. Think of it as a one-line summary, which helps make the body of the message shorter and easier to act upon.

3. Is it necessary?
Because email is so easy, it’s tempting to get into the habit of sending more email than you really should. If your message is not truly necessary, don’t send it. It takes up your time and clogs up your recipient’s inbox. Besides, people are far more likely to overlook an important message from you, if they are used to seeing a flurry of unimportant ones.

Finally, don’t forget that email in general isn’t always the most effective means of communication. Sometimes a phone call, in person meeting, or hand written letter is more appropriate. When you use email efficiently, you’ll minimize the time you waste staring at your inbox.

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The One Thing That Makes You Jump Out of Bed Early

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Time management snooze buttonIn my time management coaching, one of the most frequent complaints I hear is, “I just can’t seem to get up in the morning!” Hitting the snooze button 15 times can make us late to work, skip breakfast, and stress us out before our day even starts. It would be easy to get up earlier…if sleep weren’t so darn enjoyable. That’s why I had to find something else to motivate me to jump out of bed at the first alarm. Here is what I did…

I’ve had my eye on a Keurig coffee maker for the better part of two years, but I just couldn’t justify the expense of the daily coffee pods when I can already make good coffee for pennies a day. However, my husband got one for me last month and I have to tell you, my mornings have never been the same.

Excuses

When my alarm went off, I used to sit in bed thinking of which excuse I could use to rationalize hitting the snooze button a few more times. Now when my alarm goes off, I sit in bed thinking which flavor of delicious coffee I’m going to go downstairs and make. It’s an extra motivator to get out of bed and start my day.

What makes you happy in the morning? Is it a run? A special breakfast? A few minutes of quiet time reading the news? It’s no wonder we don’t want to get out of bed when the only thing awaiting us is some sort of work. Scheduling something enjoyable into your morning gives you motivation to get out of bed and starts your day off on a happy note.

I’m not going to pretend that the thought of a delicious cup of coffee makes waking up early instantly enjoyable, but if you can give yourself a little extra motivation to start your day earlier, why not take advantage of it?

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