How do you manage your time? Or is the more appropriate question do you wish you had better time management skills? I have clients and friends who rely on everything from legal pads to brightly colored sticky notepads to manage their time and appointments practically everything in their life. I dont understand why some folks place so little importance on something as important as time management! As a professional Virtual Assistant, I have numerous clients and tasks I must complete every day. I also have a hectic personal life, full of family responsibilities and my hobbies. Organizing my time is critical to my success and to maintaining my sanity. Submitted for your reading pleasure, and to enhance your brain, are some of my tips for effectively and efficiently managing one of your most valuable resources: time. Determine What Works Best for You Were all different in regards to time management -- what works for you may not suit me or my style. Are you constantly on the go and need your calendar at your fingertips? Or, do you prefer to keep a paper calendar? Do you loath computers and all they stand for, or are you so wired Edison would be jealous? Whatever tools you choose to include in your arsenal, ensure theyre tools youll use consistently. The Building Blocks of Better Time Management My time management tools are Microsoft Outlook and my trusty PDA. Outlook serves all my appointment, e-mail and tasking needs in one easy-to-use package. Two of my favorite Outlook tools are the Categories and Labels features. Categories allow me to classify my calendar items and tasks in a variety of ways, such as Clients, Potential Clients, Personal, and so forth. In addition, you can also Advanced Find (search) Categories, so no more wasted time looking for a calendar appointment or journal entry for a particular client. Unlike the seemingly unlimited number of Categories you may setup, you are limited to ten (10) Labels (at least in the 2002 version). Labels allow you to color code your Calendar so youll know at a glance which items are personal in nature, and which are client related. Consistency is the Key Whatever system you have in place or are considering to implement, the key point to remember is consistency. Follow the same procedures each and every time, without fail. Ensure you put good habits into play and more important, follow those good habits! When I create new appointments or tasks, I use the first few characters to define the owner (client or myself) of that appointment or task. For example, when creating items for client Tom Smith, Ill preface all items with TSMITH. When searching for items for Tom, I know if I search for TSMITH Ill access all items related to this client. Ill also apply a Label to my appointments, such as TeleCon, PCI (Potential Client Interview), or Personal. I pad all appointments with a 15-minute buffer on each side. I also schedule breaks during my workday. My clients appreciate that each Monday I release my Loris Schedule e-mail, a brief note notifying my clients when Ill be out of the office for that week. For example, all my clients know Im a member of the Editorial Team for a well-known eZine and they know that unless its an emergency, I am not available during this meeting. When I interview potential clients, interns and vendors, I keep detailed conversation notes in the memo field for that Contact. I date all telephone conversations and apply color coding (font coloring) to each conversation. All interviews are kept to 30 minutes no exceptions. My Desktop timer helps me keep track of the time, and sounds a horn .WAV file when its time to end the interview. If I need to follow up with someone, I immediately create an appointment, applying Categories and a Label, and attach any necessary external documents (Word, Excel, etc.). For Calendar appointments, I also keep track of the number of times Ive attempted to contact that person. Example: For vendor Lisa Andrews, Ill preface the appointment with LA(2), where the parenthetical (2) means this is my second attempt to contact Lisa. I allow a maximum of three follow up attempts no exceptions. Chasing people down is a waste of my time -- time Id prefer to spend making money and running my business. You Make the Call Pet Peeve: Folks who call me and have no clue what they want to say. Ive been known to hang up on such occasions, so lets ensure you dont make the same mistake! A few basic rules of etiquette follow: 1. Peace & quiet rule the day, especially if youre making a business call. If the kids or your husband are home, close the door to your office. If theres a large amount of street traffic, go to an inner room in your home, as far away from the noise as possible. You dont want to shout over the din; instead, make the din disappear. 2. Know what youre going to say! Ive advised numerous clients to have either an index card or a sheet of paper with the bullet points of what they want to say. I do something similar in the Calendar appointment for the telephone call, I include bullet points in the memo field and make notes during the course of the conversation. 3. Keep it brief. Make your point, get down to business and lets rock and roll. 4. Be on time. Have respect for the person youre about to call. Theyve set aside valuable time to talk to you. Youve Made Your List, Now Check It the 2nd Time Spend a few minutes at the end of your day to review tomorrows calendar. Doing so will get you prepared for tomorrow and will jump start your memory if you forgot to do something. Do you have any faxes still waiting to go out? Did you remember to call the printer and OK the proof? Any prep work you need to do for tomorrow? Take five minutes, review your calendar and to do list and then complete any last minute work. Its All Relative Well, Your Relatives Think So I know many people who have home-based businesses and at least 75% of them do not have a family policy in place. How can you work effectively from home if your girlfriends are calling you all the time, and if Uncle Joe stops by several times a day? Answer: You cant. What to do? Inform your family and close friends that unless its a dire emergency, the family chit-chat and visits need to be kept to a minimum. For your part, you must ensure you call your dad at the end of the day to check in, and tell your girlfriend Lisa that yes, you can have lunch with her on Thursday. Its all about balance: part work, part play. Too much of the former will make you crazy! No is Not a Four Letter Word (Subtitle: Even if it were, you should still utter it now and then) Say this out loud, Its okay for me to say no. Doesnt that feel better? More important, do you believe it? Do not allow the procrastination or the good intentions of others to encroach upon your time. If you do not have the time today to handle a task, be honest and say so. Offer alternative dates and times when you are available, ensuring you mark these times as unavailable on your calendar so you dont book other appointments during this time. Remember, time is money. Learn how to organize and manage your time--youll be glad you did! Copyright 2005 Lori Davis. All rights reserved. |
