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Sunday, February 17, 2008

Planning Your Day Made Easy

Some people have a real knack for planning their time. Many do not. If you are among those who struggle, you may need to take a step toward learning the simple skill of identifying and prioritizing the most important things in your day. I would like to introduce you to one of our most effective time management tips, the three coaches.

The three coaches will guide you in arranging your daily activities and prioritizing your personal goals so you can get things done. They are: necessity, practicality and efficiency.

Necessity: These activities are locked in and are not changeable. Examples include: child-care, customer appointments, meetings, maternity leave, emergencies, etc.

Practicality: Practicality involves arranging activities to be accomplished at the best time of day for the type of activity. Examples include: medical appointments, school activities, volunteerism, convenience-on-the-job, time off, vacations, personal energy cycles, etc.

Efficiency: The most effective utilization of resources is efficiency. Efficiency involves: mentoring and delegating, continuous improvement and quality, teamwork, etc. The following questions will help you effectively assess necessity, practicality, and efficiency in arranging your activities for the day.

1. Which activities are related to my goals?
2. Which activities are locked into a time that cannot be changed?
3. Am I allowing for personal centering/recovery time?
4. How much buffer time should I allow between activities?
5. Have I allocated time to respond to the unexpected?
6. Does my schedule align my most difficult tasks with those times when my energy level is highest?
7. What is the best time of day to do this type of activity?
8. Have I set appointments with myself to ensure that the most vital activities are accomplished?
9. Have I arranged my activities based upon the availability of others, if required?
10. Is my plan efficient and practical?
11. Can any of my planned activities be delegated?
12. If my activities involve other people will they be available?
13. Of my planned activities, which are absolutely necessary.

Maintaining touch with reality by determining the necessity, practicality, and efficiency of your activities allows you to arrange and forecast sufficient time to accomplish your planned activities and increase your productivity. Of course these guidelines can be applied effectively only through a personal commitment to plan a daily strategy each and every day.

Written by Trapper Woods

1 comment:

vishnuprasath said...

There are a wide range of everyday and on-the-job activities from which you can learn about management and even enhance your management skills which offers you job openings.