Goal Setting Time
Management
Using time
management to effectively achieve your goals
Effective goal setting
always begins and ends with time management. You
must be able to balance your time effectively in order
to achieve your goals. Most of us fail to achieve goals because we
think we
“lack the time”. That is why this section needed to be included in
this guide.
The concept of time management has been in existence for more than
a century. Unfortunately, the term "Time Management"
creates a false impression of what a person is able to do.
Time can't be managed, time is uncontrollable and we can only manage
ourselves and our use of time. Time
management is actually self management.
For effective time management we need the ability to plan, delegate,
organize, direct and control every aspect of our lives just to find
30 minutes a day that is devoted to something productive that is
just for us.
Identify common time wasters
In order for your time management process to work it is important to
know what aspects of your personal management need to be improved.
Below you will find some of the most frequent reasons for reducing
effectiveness in and around our lives. You might want to check the
ones which are the major obstacles to your own time
management. These are referred to as your time stealers.
Identifying your time stealers
-
Interruptions, for example
the telephone or TV (these are also distractions)
-
Interruptions, for example
guests
-
Meetings
-
Tasks you should have
delegated to someone else
-
Procrastination and
indecision
-
Acting without being fully
informed
-
Dealing with other people’s
issues or problems
-
Personal crisis,
for example, family member is sick or injured.
-
Unclear communication
-
Inadequate knowledge
-
Unclear objectives and
priorities
-
Lack of planning
-
Stress, anxiety and fatigue
-
Inability to say "No" to
anybody with a request
-
Personal disorganization
There are quite a few aren’t there? Fortunately, there are
strategies you can use to manage your time in a better way which
will also reduce stress. Analyze your time and see how
you may be both the cause and the solution to your time challenges.
Below, we cover some time management issues in more detail.
1. Shifting
priorities and crisis management.
Management guru Peter Drucker says that "crisis management is
actually the form of management preferred by most managers." What is
ironic is that actions taken before the crisis could have prevented
it in the first place.
2. The telephone.
Have you ever had one of those days when you just had to answer the
phone with “grand central station, how can I help you?” The
telephone can be our greatest communication tool can be our biggest
enemy to effectiveness if you don't know how to control its hold
over you.
3. Lack of
priorities/objectives.
This is probably the biggest
and most important time waster. It affects all we do both personally
and
professionally. Those who accomplish the most in a
day know exactly what they want to accomplish beforehand. Just ask
Donald Trump.
Unfortunately, too many of us think that goals and objectives are
yearly things and not daily considerations. This results in too
much time spent on the minor things and not on the things which are
important to our lives
4. Attempting too
much. Many people
today feel that they have to accomplish everything yesterday and
don't give themselves enough time to do things properly. This leads
only to half finished projects and no feeling of achievement as all
things are done in a rush.
5. Drop in visitors.
The five deadliest
words that rob your time are "Have you got a minute?” Everyone does
it; colleagues, the boss, your peers, and your family and friends.
Learning
to deal with interruptions is one of the best skills you
can learn.
6. Ineffective
delegation. Good
delegation is considered a key skill for managers, leaders and
employees in the workplace and at home..
The best managers have an ability to delegate work to staff and
family members to ensure it is done correctly. This is probably the
best way of building team morale whilst reducing your own workload.
A general rule is - if one of your people around you can do it
80% as well as you can, then delegate it.
7. Procrastination.
The biggest thief
of time is not decision making but decision avoidance. By reducing
the amount of procrastinating you do you can substantially increase
the amount of active time available to you.
8. The inability to
say "no!" The
general rule is; if people can dump their work or problems on to
your shoulders they will do it.
Some of the most stressed people lack the skill to 'just say
no' for fear of upsetting people. Get over it because these people
can do it for you.
9.
Meetings.
Studies have shown that the average professional person spends about
17 hours a week in meetings and about 6 hours in the planning time
and untold hours in the follow up.
There are many ways we can manage our time. The following
strategies will help you to manage your time in a more
efficient manner.
1. Always define
your goals as clearly as possible.
Do you find you are not doing what you want to do because your
goals have not been clearly defined?
One of the factors which makes successful and happy people stand out
is their ability to decide what they want to achieve, and have
written goals and review them regularly.
Your long term goals should impact on your daily activities and be
included on your "to do" list. Without a goal or objective people
tend to just drift both personally and professionally
2. Analyze your
use of time.
Are you spending enough time on the projects which, although they may not
be urgent right now, are things that you need to do to develop yourself
or your career?
If you are constantly asking yourself “What can I do to make things
easier for me right now?" it will help you to focus on 'important
tasks' and stop reacting to tasks which seem urgent (or pleasant to
do) but carry no importance in achieving your goals.
Try using a personal planning calendar, setting reminders on your
computer, cell phone or PDA.
3. Have a plan.
How can you achieve your goals without a plan?
Most people know what they want but have no plan to achieve it
except by sheer hard work. There is little point in working hard
when you don’t know how to apply it.
Your yearly plan should be reviewed daily and reset as your
milestones are met. Successful people make lists constantly.
It enables them to stay on top of priorities and to
remain flexible to changing priorities. This should be done for both
business and personal goals.
4. Action plan
analysis.
Obstacles will always present themselves when you set a plan. The value of a good
plan is to identify the obstacles early and seek immediate solutions
.
Effective time management enables you to measure the progress towards
your goals because "What you can measure, you can control".
Always try to be proactive in the achievement of successfully
managing your time.
Time management is not a difficult concept to master, but unless you
are committed to building better time management techniques into
your daily routine you'll only achieve partial success.
You must commit to managing your time more effectively and remember to
include time for yourself.
The lesson that you need to learn is that the more time we spend
planning our time and activities the more time we will have for
those activities.
By setting goals and eliminating time wasters and doing this
every day you will soon find that you will have extra time to spend
on those people and activities most important to you. And for
more assistance check out the article on
getting motivated.
MORE GOAL SETTING
TIPS AND ARTICLES
