Hundred Tips for a Better Management (Aga Khan Foundation, 1993, 70 p.) Managing your time (introduction...) 1. Don't work harder, work smarter3 2. Spend less time on the phone and more time on your work4 3. Protect yourself from unnecessary interruptions5 4. Use more ways to control the telephone 5. If you ''don't have time'' to get everything done, try this : Set aside a ''magic hour'' each week6 6. Thinking and doing þ strike a balance7 7. Find out where your time goes; keep a log8 8. Avoid leading time wasters9

Hundred Tips for a Better Management (Aga Khan Foundation, 1993, 70 p.)

Managing your time

Our true adversary is time. Not competition, not legislation, not the economy but time.
Richard S. Sloma, Management Consultant

1. Don't work harder, work smarter3

"From time to time everyone is overworked... But overwork is often the result of failing to delegate, being unable to say no, failing to establish proper priorities, spending too much time on detail and trivia, or having sloppy work habits. The job seldom overworks the person, but people often overwork themselves."

To manage your time better, try the following:

Clarify your objectives; put them in writing, then set your priorities. Set at least one major objective each day and achieve it. Minimise "time wasters" such as drop-in visitors, unnecessary phone calls, desk clutter, etc. Schedule your time every day to leave room for the unexpected and for interruptions. Block some time to do your most important tasks at the time of day you work best. Take the time to do it right the first time. You won't have to waste time doing it over. Develop the habit of finishing what you start. Don't jump from one thing to another, leaving a string of unfinished tasks behind you. Have a plan for how you spend your time and follow it. If it doesn't work, change it.

2. Spend less time on the phone and more time on your work4

A great deal of time is often spent making phone calls to set up meetings, to discuss issues, to get information, to touch base with important people, etc. A lot of the time devoted to talking on the phone could probably be better spent doing other things.

The following are some ways to lessen the amount of time spent on the phone:

Before calling:

Outline the topic(s) for conversation.
To discuss something in more detail, send out relevant reports and documents.
Delegate phone calls to other people when necessary.

While speaking:

Tell chatty callers that your time is limited.
Quickly get through the small talk and get to the business at hand.
Try standing up while talking. You may be surprised at how well this works.
Keep the conversation on track.
End calls as soon as your business is finished.

3. Protect yourself from unnecessary interruptions5

It can be difficult enough to get your work done on time, more so when you are subjected to constant and irritating interruptions. To minimise these interruptions, when time is needed to get other things done, you can:

• Put up a sign to ward off visitors.
• Establish a time limit for conversations.
• Sit in front of a sun-drenched window. Visitors can't stay long.
• Cover your office chairs with paper. It makes you look busy and leaves no place for visitors to sit down.
• Remove extra chairs from your office.
• Don't contribute to a conversation that is not going anywhere.
• Move your desk so it doesn't face the door and doesn't invite visitors to chat.
• When all else fails, hide out!

4. Use more ways to control the telephone

• Do important creative work in an office without a telephone, or use someone else's office.
• Don't listen to someone answering your call þ you'll end up answering it.
• Set aside a time of day when you want to do your telephoning.
• Have your secretary or someone else answer your calls outside that time and take messages. Let people know when you are available to answer calls.
• Buy a phone with a "repeat" dial feature. Better yet, get one that can store 20 or more numbers for quick dialling.
• Buy an answering machine that lets you listen to the caller dictate his or her message. Then if it is someone you want to speak with, pick up the phone and say, "I just came in."
• Buy a fax machine so you can send and receive "calls" that don' t require discussion. It can save lots of time.
• Never, never take calls when you have a visitor. Remember your priorities.
• Let the phone ring. It will stop eventually.

5. If you ''don't have time'' to get everything done, try this : Set aside a ''magic hour'' each week6

If you "don't have time" to get everything done, try this.

Imagine that you have one extra hour each week (your 169^th hour).

You can do anything you want with this hour, and it can occur anytime during the week. Next, write down five things you would like to do in that hour that would make you happy. Then write five things that would make someone else happy. Finally, write five things that you have been putting off that you could at least start in that hour.

Now think where you could have fit this hour in last week.

Make a commitment to fit it in this week at the same time. Make the magic hour a weekly habit.

6. Thinking and doing þ strike a balance7

Most people tend to spend too much time thinking about work and too little doing it, or the other way around, too much time doing it and not enough planning it.

R. Black, one of the most respected authorities on management, has identified a common denominator for all successful people. They strike a balance between the two. They don't spend too much time on planning or on doing.

If you spend too much time thinking/planning, then keep adding the word THEREFORE to your plans. This will force you to take action: the contract hasn't been signed, THEREFORE, I will find out why first thing tomorrow morning.

If you spend too much time doing, keep asking yourself WHY you are expending all this effort, what is the benefit, is it worth it? Why have I scheduled three meetings tomorrow? What will we accomplish? Are they all necessary?

If you "don't have time" to get everything done, try this.

7. Find out where your time goes; keep a log8

Studies have shown that from 20-60% of our time is "down time," where nothing is really being done. Find out how you spend your time by keeping a daily log for a few days. Decide on a time unit, say 15 or 30 minutes. During the whole day, jot down what you are doing during each interval. Be honest. If you are daydreaming or drinking coffee, put it down. No one will know but you. At the end of the day summarise your activities in appropriate categories such as administrative, technical, down time, etc.)

Use the log to identify threats to getting things done.

Identify those that you control and can change and those that are beyond your control. Take a careful look at the results and decide whether you should take action to use your time more productively.

If you "don't have time" to get everything done, try this.

8. Avoid leading time wasters9

Want to save time? This list of the fifteen leading time wasters may help you identify where to begin:

1. Telephone interruptions
2. Visitors dropping in without appointments
3. Meetings, scheduled and unscheduled
4. Crisis situations for which no plans were possible
5. Lack of objectives, priorities, deadlines
6. Cluttered desk and personal disorganisation
7. Involvement in routine and detail that should be delegated to others
8. Attempting to do too much at once and underestimating the time it takes to do it
9. Failure to set up clear lines of responsibility and authority
10. Inadequate, inaccurate, or delayed information from others
11. Indecision and procrastination
12. Lack of or unclear communication and instruction
13. Inability to say "no"
14. Lack of standards and progress reports that enable a company manager track of developments
15. Fatigue