Identifying Time Problems
If you have begun to analyze your time usage by using the job function analysis worksheet or the time log, you will find that there is waste in your workday. First things first...no guilt. You just happen to be human, and human beings aren't perfect.
Since I don't know you, I cannot tell you specifically what, where, or how you are wasting your time. That's up to you. I also cannot tell you that you should do this, that, or the other thing to eliminate those 'time wasters' from your day. The one thing I can and will tell you is that if you attempt to eliminate all of the time wasters, you'll fail. Let me illustrate this point: Several years ago, I had a heart attack. As part of the rehabilitation, I spoke with a nutritionist. She was adamant about diet changes. If I didn't follow what she was saying, I could look forward [look forward?] to being dead within two years. She gave me no 'wriggle room' whatsoever. I happened to mention this one day to the nurse practitioner who was in overall charge of the cardiac rehab program. She told me that once a month I should go completely wild with my diet; throw everything the nutritionist said out the window...once a month. "If you try to do exactly what she says, for the rest of your life, you won't," she told me, "and when you finally say 'to hell with it,' you'll never go back to the diet." This is the same principle. You cannot solve all of your TM problems overnight. If you do try this, several things will happen. First, friends and colleagues will begin to avoid you because you'll find that you develop a short fuse with them. Second, you will become somewhat myopic in your thinking and the way you attack problems; remember, being effective, ie, doing the right things, is more important than being efficient or doing things right.
For the sake of argument, let's identify four major problem areas:
Activities that take large blocks of time without corresponding value. These might include poorly conducted meetings, drop-in visitors or colleagues, long-winded telephone callers or just constant telephone interruptions; major projects that overwhelm you and don't get started, and administrative tasks that may or may not be in the job description.
Procrastination - the inability to get going with projects or plans necessary for the performance of your job.
Misunderstanding your body - attempting difficult projects at a time when your body is not at its productive best. We've already touched on this, and I don't believe it's necessary to rehash high and low energy times. Merely understand that we all have high and low energy periods.
Misunderstanding your job - What is the relationship between what appears on your job function analysis worksheet, what is written in your job description, and what shows up on a completed time log?
Here are some time wasters or time stealers that may show up when you analyze your time tools: Interruptions - unless you have the luxury of a 'gatekeeper' who can screen calls and people and who knows who and what is important, you will be interrupted during the workday. How many of those interruptions are work-related? How many are longer than they need to be? How often are you the interruptor? What if your boss is the main problem? Well, there are at least two solutions: First, live with it; second, keep an interruption record; that's right, a record of how often, for how long, what was the purpose of the interruption, where did it rank in terms of importance - careful here, it may have been extremely important to your boss, if not to you - and finally, write down a way in which you might prevent it in the future.
Is this blue sky dreaming? If your boss is interrupting you all of the time, to the point where you can't accomplish your primary tasks, you must address it. Sooner or later, he or she will interrupt you by asking, "Why isn't the job done?" At that point, it's too late to say, "Because I'm getting interrupted all the time." There's the door; don't let it hit you in the butt on your way out! If you don't have a gatekeeper and your boss isn't the problem, this is all the more reason to keep an interruption record. Here, again, you have a couple of options. The first of these is to develop one-liners that will let the interruptor know that you aren't willing or are unable to talk at this particular time. "Got a minute?" can generally be stopped by, "Can I get back to you; I'm trying to finish....," or "Not right now, but I can call you at...." These are comebacks that require pre-conditioning if someone takes you by surprise. There's no reason to be rude. However, you must pre-condition yourself to be ready to deliver the one-liner. I use the term, 'one-liner,' because anything beyond that becomes a time-wasting explanation and the person might have been able to take care of business while you're trying to explain why you can't talk. Quick, easy, polite, and catch you later. Another trick: stand up when the person comes in; don't allow them the opportunity to sit. If you have a chair or two in your cubicle or office, and you don't wish to be interrupted, put some papers on them. People are generally hesitant to move papers without asking. If you stand and there's no place for them to sit, your interruption will generally be short. Let's assume you have an office with a door...close the damn thing! Stick a post-it - king sized, of course - on the door that indicates you're working under deadline and please do not disturb. Want to be really kind? Leave a "message sheet" attached to the door, so that people can let you know they dropped by.
"Those would never work for me." "You don't understand my situation." "I couldn't do that to my colleagues." "I like to be interrupted." I could write excuses until hell freezes over, but that's not my purpose here. If you want to change; if you want to become a better time manager, be prepared to face some problems. If you've been doing something the same way over and over and over again, and if people have become accustomed to your behavior, change will not be easy. Ease is not a word we're using; change is the word of the day. You either want to change or you don't. If you do, read on; if not, see ya.
The telephone is another major interruptor. If you have caller identification, great, you can screen your calls automatically. If you have someone answering your phone, dynamite; the two of you can work out a daily arrangement of who gets through and who doesn't. If neither of the first two apply, or if you're in a business where the telephone is critical to your job, you still have "protective options." I don't know of too many phones today that don't go into voice mail. This is option one. Other options include...
Telling people who call you regularly when you prefer to be called and don't schedule any 'heavy-duty' projects during that time.
Ask others if they have a time when they'd prefer not to be called. At first, they'll think you're nuts; however, they're more apt to understand if you explain your reasoning.
Tell long-winded callers that you have to be somewhere in five minutes, that you have an appointment walking in the door, or that you have someone with you. Often, the excuse that you're working under deadline or on a major project doesn't work with telephone callers; they ignore it. However, the other answers generally will release you.
Only as a last resort and only if you know the person well, try hanging up...while you are talking. If you don't wish the caller to get right back on the phone, leave it off the hook for a while.
Do these sound drastic? They are. It all comes back to choices; those you make and those you let others make for you.
When it comes to talking about the computer as a time-waster, volumes could be written. The only thing I will say here is that you must make a decision regarding your computer. Will you be using it as a tool to help you do your job more effectively, or will you let it control you. The greatest problem I've found with the computer is when I'm doing a subject search. It's very easy to broaden your search parameters rather than to narrow them. When they are broadened, you stand a better chance of being distracted. It comes back to one simple statement: Is this the best use of my time right now?
Indecision and procrastination. I'd like to say a great deal about this or maybe not. Perhaps I'll get to it later. Don't laugh...it is funny. "I don't have sufficient information yet to make a decision." Well, guess what? There are any number of decisions you'll have to make in your life without having all of the facts and figures you'd like to have. Remember the old adage, "Lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way?" This is true of both indecision and procrastination. Here are a couple of suggestions for overcoming procrastination.
Try a reward system. I won't have my first cup of coffee at work until I have completed 'x.' What's that you say? You cannot function without that 'desk cup?' Baloney! That coffee is your damned security blanket. Do the project first!
If a project seems overwhelming, it probably is. Study it and see how many smaller projects you can make of it. Can any of the smaller projects be delegated? This is what Lakein calls the "Swiss cheese" approach to problem solving. You make small holes in the project and pretty soon, it's done. If we see it only as one thing, one major project, we may never get to it or do a poor job of completing it. And what are the complications of that?
Try a concentration technique. Whether that's yoga or some other meditation or form of mind control, practice. Here's one: Try walking from one point to another with only one thought in your head. You'll be amazed at how difficult this is the first few times, but if your practice; if you really concentrate, you'll find that you can go for longer and longer periods carrying a single thought.
To fail to decide is to demonstrate that you are not willing to take a chance. It can hurt your career...greatly. Procrastination is something that will show up when you prepare a weekly plan or a daily to do list, and while it may sound like I'm procrastinating, nothing could be further from the truth.
Earlier, I mentioned poorly conducted meetings as a time management problem. I'm going to hold off on talking about that for a while. You have a great deal to take in as you're going along, and when it comes to poorly run meetings, I want you to be able to concentrate on that thoroughly.
Project records, weekly plans, and daily to do lists can all point out areas of procrastination, but they sufficiently important that they will be covered in a separate lesson.
End of Identifying Time Management Problems section