Time Management: What It Is and How to Make It Work
We constantly hear the words "Time Management" fed to us as if it is some magic formula that will fix the world.
So many times I've been in the company of business people, usually Directors or Managers, who have bandied those two words around and made me feel that those people had come from a different planet to where I came from as I must say that time management seldom worked for me during my years as an employee.
Yes, I know that to perform well in one's working day one needs to have a well organised diary with each task slotted into a perfect time frame.
And of course there are the commercially printed 'To Do' Lists where ideally, planning is written up at the end of each day in preparation for the forthcoming day when supposedly all tasks will be met to schedule.
Oh, the perfect world! How impressive those 'To Do' lists look sitting on a beautifully organised desk at the beginning of each day.
Hmmm! My role for many years was Administration Officer at a boarding school and yes, I certainly attempted all the tried and tested time management methods I had heard of and was trained in, but alas human nature's demands must be met and no way would anyone leave me alone for more than ten minutes at a time.
Constant interruptions resulted in little of my work being achieved by the end of a day leaving many tasks to be carried through to the next day; staying back till 6.
30 - 7.
00 pm to catch up was a regular occurrence most evenings.
Oh how I envied the privileged few in 'top management' who could refuse to take phone calls or receive visitors to their office; a few even worked away from the establishment at times, in order to achieve their workload.
There had to be a solution to my difficulty.
I was missing out on family life by giving so much time to my job - what could be done to remedy the problem? The word 'delegate' was familiar but it didn't occur to me that I needed to take heed of its meaning.
Eventually, in desperation I gave some time to consider whether this 'delegate' thing would do anything to help my situation.
Amazingly enough I realised that if was going to survive in my job I had to try delegating.
At first I didn't find delegating an easy thing to do but I realised it was the only way to bring some law and order into my life, and also that there were others working in the office who obviously needed to be kept busier.
So why is delegating something that so many people resist?
Once I took that step I never looked back.
How did delegating improve my working life?
In view of this fact many business owners are in a similar position to what I was in as an employee, prior to starting my business.
Placing one's self under such unnecessary extreme pressure in the end results in detrimental aspects, be it health, relationships with family and friends, or other.
If you are experiencing administration overload I urge you to seek help by:
So many times I've been in the company of business people, usually Directors or Managers, who have bandied those two words around and made me feel that those people had come from a different planet to where I came from as I must say that time management seldom worked for me during my years as an employee.
Yes, I know that to perform well in one's working day one needs to have a well organised diary with each task slotted into a perfect time frame.
And of course there are the commercially printed 'To Do' Lists where ideally, planning is written up at the end of each day in preparation for the forthcoming day when supposedly all tasks will be met to schedule.
Oh, the perfect world! How impressive those 'To Do' lists look sitting on a beautifully organised desk at the beginning of each day.
Hmmm! My role for many years was Administration Officer at a boarding school and yes, I certainly attempted all the tried and tested time management methods I had heard of and was trained in, but alas human nature's demands must be met and no way would anyone leave me alone for more than ten minutes at a time.
Constant interruptions resulted in little of my work being achieved by the end of a day leaving many tasks to be carried through to the next day; staying back till 6.
30 - 7.
00 pm to catch up was a regular occurrence most evenings.
Oh how I envied the privileged few in 'top management' who could refuse to take phone calls or receive visitors to their office; a few even worked away from the establishment at times, in order to achieve their workload.
There had to be a solution to my difficulty.
I was missing out on family life by giving so much time to my job - what could be done to remedy the problem? The word 'delegate' was familiar but it didn't occur to me that I needed to take heed of its meaning.
Eventually, in desperation I gave some time to consider whether this 'delegate' thing would do anything to help my situation.
Amazingly enough I realised that if was going to survive in my job I had to try delegating.
At first I didn't find delegating an easy thing to do but I realised it was the only way to bring some law and order into my life, and also that there were others working in the office who obviously needed to be kept busier.
So why is delegating something that so many people resist?
- Maybe I had resisted delegating because I felt that my skills were superior to others.
- Maybe it was fear that others may do a better job than I could do.
- Although it could very well have been that I really enjoyed doing the work and therefore was prepared to work in my own time to get it done; a totally unrealistic work ethic.
Once I took that step I never looked back.
How did delegating improve my working life?
- It improved my working relationships with others in the office and throughout the entire establishment.
- I implemented weekly meetings with the office staff and these meetings gave the staff opportunities to contribute to decisions around matters such as daily office routines and how to make things better, not only in the office but our contribution to other areas within the school.
Taking this action gave the office staff a feeling of 'ownership' which they obviously enjoyed. - It also allowed me to bring my management skills to the fore and improve my working relationships with staff in all areas of the school and hostel.
In view of this fact many business owners are in a similar position to what I was in as an employee, prior to starting my business.
Placing one's self under such unnecessary extreme pressure in the end results in detrimental aspects, be it health, relationships with family and friends, or other.
If you are experiencing administration overload I urge you to seek help by:
- Preferably; delegating to others within your establishment.
- Alternatively; if delegating to staff is not an option then it makes sense to seriously consider outsourcing those necessary tasks that are not getting done in a timely manner.
- That not only will you take more pride in yourself and your business but the benefit of achieving targets by having delegated will greatly reduce the stress in your working day and give you a new perspective on life in general.
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