Time Management

6.1 Think about how you communicate (#litres_trial_promo)

6.2 Cope with email (#litres_trial_promo)

6.3 Speak on the phone (#litres_trial_promo)

6.4 Make better use of your computer (#litres_trial_promo)

6.5 Make the most of the Internet (#litres_trial_promo)

6.6 Listen carefully (#litres_trial_promo)

6.7 Make good notes (#litres_trial_promo)

6.8 Read more quickly (#litres_trial_promo)

6.9 Think about what you’re writing (#litres_trial_promo)

6.10 Write more clearly (#litres_trial_promo)

Take control of your time (#litres_trial_promo)

7.1 Create blocks of time (#litres_trial_promo)

7.2 Stay focused (#litres_trial_promo)

7.3 Keep your paperwork under control (#litres_trial_promo)

7.4 Use slack time well (#litres_trial_promo)

7.5 Deal with interruptions (#litres_trial_promo)

7.6 Combat tiredness (#litres_trial_promo)

7.7 Put it all into practice (#litres_trial_promo)

Jargon buster (#litres_trial_promo)

Further reading (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Author’s note (#ulink_483224fe-4afe-56db-8ab7-ab74c016c4a4)

Thank you to Hannah and Brian Murphy for their contributions.

Learn how to use your time effectively (#ulink_e2ca0fc5-68f4-5f4a-b76b-bf66aef7a95c)

There was a saying in our home as I grew up: “Even a world leader only has 24 hours in a day!” We all want to make sure we live well, that we make the best use of our time, but it is limited for each one of us. How can we make the best of our time?

We all have different personalities and have various demands made on our time. Some of us are very organized, others less so.

Over my working life, I’ve learnt a number of techniques to help make good use of time. There are two basic ideas: one is to work efficiently – to see that I have systems in place so that things go smoothly, making the best use of the resources available to me. But I have learnt to do more than that; I also want to live and work effectively – to make something of my life, to make it count, to achieve something definite, good and right.

Over the 30 years of my working life, I have had to ask myself some hard questions: what do I want out of life? What do I want to achieve? What kind of person am I? How can I develop as a person? How do I want to spend my time? How should I value my time?

So this book is more than being simply about how we spend our time. It’s about how we spend our life. Here are 50 secrets I’ve learnt, divided into seven chapters:

Know yourself. If you know what kind of person you are and what you want to get out of life, you can begin to set priorities.

Know your work. Our business life is a major part of our lives. Knowing the underlying purposes of your job will help focus your attention on seeing how well you use your time.

Get organized. Here are tips on working effectively, e.g. by keeping a diary, setting up systems and drawing up schedules.

Work better. It is important to use your time proactively, setting priorities and working well at tasks, however small they are.

Work better as a team. We don’t work individually, in isolation from one another, so it’s vital to develop good working relationships within a team with successful delegation and well-run meetings.

Communicate more effectively. How do we stop all our time being taken up by email, computers and the Internet? Face-to-face and phone communication are also vital in good time management, as are good listening, reading and writing skills.

Take control of your time. Effective use of time takes place as you learn to manage time well by remaining focused on tasks, minimizing interruptions and using slack time that may come unexpectedly.

If you follow these seven secrets you will know how to spend your time well, how to live effectively, how to make the most of the adventure of life. I wish you all the best!

You can learn to take control of how you spend your time.

Know yourself (#ulink_4eaf6c97-f9d8-5dbf-bc98-e2a15b570daf)

This opening chapter will help you understand the broader issues concerning how you spend your time. Defining what you want out of life, what goals you have and when and how you work best will help you understand your overall priorities. This will then translate into the way in which you go about managing your time.

1.1 Start with some dreams (#ulink_8fe499e6-5733-5b45-928c-3af564150d6a)

Before you start looking at how you spend your time at work, it is very useful to think about your life more widely. Do you have a clear vision for your life? What are you most passionate about? Answering these questions will help you decide on what really matters in life and so how you choose to spend your time.

Here are five ‘Ds’ to think about:

1 Drive. Think about what really fires you up. What motivates you? What is it that gives you energy and a great sense of personal fulfilment? What values in life do you hold? What do you care deeply about?

2 Dream. What have you always wanted to do? Where do you see yourself in a year’s time? What about in five years’ time? Dream some dreams!

“Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. And it will leave you unfulfilled” Barack Obama, US President

3 Develop. What natural skills, abilities or talents do you have that you could develop further?

4 Discuss. Chat through the answers to some of these questions with friends. Are you being honest or completely unrealistic about yourself. Are there seeds of some possibilities that could become real?