Do you find yourself constantly saying “I wish there were more hours to the day’?  Do you feel overwhelmed by all your daily activities?  Do you feel like you are running in circles and going no way?  If so, below are my 15 fast-tips for gaining control of your time.

1. Disengage automatic email pop-ups.

2. Do not open emails first thing in the morning unless absolutely necessary to do so.  Check emails twice a day … late morning (11:00 a.m.) and late afternoon or early evening.

3. Do not read unnecessary emails (I.e. jokes, miscellaneous stories).  Delete them immediately. And do not forward them to others. 

4. The night before write out your prioritized task list with time segments for the following day.

Start and continue your day by working on tasks according to their priority (A’s before B’s and B’s before C’s) and the time segment you assigned them.

5. Audit your time – write out what you are doing when you are not working according to your list (see point #4) .  And ask yourself “why” are you spending your time on that unprioritized task?

6. Understand how long tasks actually take you through monitoring your time.  Then plan accordingly.

7. Understand what foods make you sluggish and avoid them, especially during your low-energy periods.

8. Do not take calls when you are busy. Instead let the callers leave messages.  If you answer the phone at a bad time, plan to say something like “now is not a good time.  I’m in the middle of a project, let me call you back”.

9. If you must talk to someone during a time that is inconvenient for you, set a time limit by saying something like “I got about 5 minutes I can give you right now”.

10. When making calls start the conversation by asking “Is this a good time for you?” If you do that constantly, you will find people eventually begin asking you the same question.  When they do ask, don’t say “yes” when you really want to or need to say “no”.  Instead tell them you will call them back later.

11. If you find that you procrastinate, plan to work on tasks you dislike (but are a priority) during your high-energy periods and the projects you like during your lower energy times.

12. Avoid wandering around the internet.  When on-line, stick to only those websites that you must visit because of projects you are working on.

13. Do not say “yes” to requests when you have not thought-through whether you want to or have the time to fulfill the request.  Tell the person you will think about it and get back to them.

14. When appropriate and possible, arrange for phone meetings instead of in-person meetings.

15. Lastly, treat your time like money.

For more tips, purchase “303 Solutions for Accomplishing More in Less Time”.  Click here for details and to order the book.

Donna Satchell, President of STARR Consulting & Training is a speaker, trainer and author.  She provides programs in customer service, team-building, time management, public speaking as well as motivational speeches which inspire individuals to live more successful lives.  Please visit www.JustGetSerious.com for information about products and services as well as to view videos of Donna’s speeches.  Contact her at 770-498-0400 or Donna@JustGetSerious.com.

Copyright 2006-2007 - Donna Satchell   All rights reserved. 

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