Month: November 2014

3 Ways to Treat Time Like Money

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time management is moneyThey say time is money, and if that’s true, we can learn a lot about time management from the way we manage our finances. We take such care to manage and track our money and it’s not even a finite resource. There is always a possibility of getting more! That’s not true for time. We only have a set amount, so we should treat it with the utmost care. Here are three ways to treat time as carefully as we treat our money…

 1. Track it diligently

To keep from overspending, many people keep a budget. Whether you save your receipts, keep a spreadsheet, or categorize your credit card expenses, tracking where your dollars go is a good way to keep more of them in your pocket. The same is true for tracking time. Track your time for a day or two to see where you’re over or under spending.

 2. Avoid impulse purchases

Ever walk into a grocery store for milk, and come out with milk… and a soda? Impulse purchases are those pesky little unplanned expenses that add up so gradually we don’t realize they’re derailing our budget. Time killers are the “impulse purchases” we make with our time. Not work, not planned relaxation, but rather mindless distractions we allow to steal our focus. Get rid of those distractions so your work finishes sooner!

 3. Save for a rainy day

It’s important to save for emergencies so you can pay for that flat time or busted water heater when you least expect it. It’s just as important to save for time emergencies. Have your support network in place so you know who to call when you’re faced with a sudden time constraint you didn’t prepare for. Have your materials organized so it’s easier to ask for help. Anticipate when your hectic times will be and ask for help in advance.

Be sure to treat your precious resource of time carefully!

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Photo credit: Freedigitalphotos.net

Who Is On Your Time Management Team?

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TIme Management team“If you want something done right, do it yourself.” Haven’t we all said that before? What a waste of time. If you want something done your way, do it yourself, but if you want it done NOW, for goodness sake, recruit some people to help. Here are three things to consider when recruiting for spots on your team:

1. Play to People’s Strengths

You wouldn’t ask the slowest person on your team to be your star running back, so don’t ask your disorganized coworker to help you clean up your files. Figure out people’s strengths and delegate accordingly.

2. Replace “Right” With “Accurate.”

We tend to think there is only one “right” way to do things (our way) but there can be many ways of doing a task accurately. Just because you do it differently doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Instead of trying to get someone to do it your way, explain what the end product needs to look like and let them find the way that’s best for them.

3. Plan Ahead

Asking for help can seem like more work in the beginning when it seems easier to just do it ourselves rather than explain to someone else how to do it. Don’t get caught in that trap. Think of it as a time investment. If you invest the time now to train someone else, you’ll save tons of time later when the task comes up again!

It takes practice for a good team to work together, so don’t give up if your first attempts at delegation are rocky.

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The Importance of the Last Five Percent

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time management emptyHow many almost-finished tasks do you have on your to-do list right now? For some reason, we tend to do all the difficult parts of a task and then leave the last details unfinished. Lucky for us, when WE do this, we don’t have millions of football fans watching us around the country. Watch what happened when Utah forgot one small detail at their game against Oregon this Saturday…

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=400548304

In the video, you can see Utah almost score a touchdown, but the player drops the ball in celebration before he actually crosses the goal line. Oregon picks up the ball and runs 100 yards the other way for a touchdown.

Whoops…

Our almost-completed tasks may not be that public (or embarrassing) but they can really slow down our time management.

Why do we save the last 5% of tasks until the last minute?

1. We want it to be perfect. Keeping a task “not quite done” gives us the option to come back and fix something later to make it better.

2. We’re lazy. A large task might be intimidating enough to schedule it into our day, but once it’s become a small task, it’s easy to infinitely put it off until later.

3. We lose momentum. If we’re forced to stop a task before we’re done, sometimes it’s hard to get back into the groove of it to finish up.

This week, take a look at your to-do list. Do you have any tasks that are 95% finished? Make it your goal to see them through to completion…before someone else picks up the ball and gets the credit!

Speaking of college, check out “The Time Diet: Time Management for College Survival” for the high school or college student in your life! The holidays will be here soon and it makes a great stocking stuffer.

Time Management Book for Students

Time Management Book for Students

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The Difference Between Rushing and Efficiency

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time management rushing“Be as efficient as possible!” they say. “Oh, but don’t rush.” “Don’t waste time trying to be perfect!” “But measure twice and cut once.” There is a difference between rushing and being efficient, but it can be difficult to figure out when you’re in the middle of a busy day. I was abruptly reminded of the difference this week…

My Breakfast Disaster

A few days ago, I was trying to get out the door as quickly as possible so I threw a breakfast sandwich in the microwave while I made my coffee (efficient.) Then, while grabbing all my stuff with one arm, I hastily shoved the sandwich in my mouth before I gave it time to cool (rushing.)

I immediately spit the sandwich out with a yelp of pain. A stray piece of overheated cheese had seared my bottom lip. As I held an ice pack on my poor blistered lip, I had a lot of time to ponder the difference between rushing and being efficient.

Product Quality

When we rush, the end product tends to suffer. We neglect key components and complete our work sloppily. This results in even more work later as we try to cover up for our hasty mistakes (or facial burns as the case may be!)

Accurate, not Perfect

While rushing makes us careless, being TOO careful can be just as damaging to our schedule. When we’re efficient, we make sure things are accurate without wasting time striving for the impossible level of perfection.

Being efficient is the perfect balance between doing something carefully, accurately, and as quickly as possible. It’s important to note that “as quickly as possible” might be relatively slowly, depending on the task, so we can’t measure all items on our to-do lists equally.

Don’t let a silly mistake derail your day because you tried to rush through something that simply required more time.

Connect with The Time Diet for more time management tips