6 time management hacks

02 October 2016 - 02:00 By Margaret Harris

Your boss wants the report you are working on by yesterday, and that is just one of the projects you are dealing with. If only you had an extra hour each day, but you don't, so you had better find a way of using your time more effectively. "Time is a scare resource for managers, and managing it correctly creates an equal balance between these elements [time, quality and cost]," says Neville de Lucia, new business development director at Dale Carnegie Training.He has the following advice on time management:• Commit everything you have to do to paper, or an electronic device. Then you can prioritise tasks and ensure nothing is forgotten;story_article_left1• Make sure the most important goals are at the top of your list - whether it's your daily, weekly or monthly list;• Develop and use your own ranking system. You might want to separate urgent tasks from important ones so you ensure you do not fall behind on critical tasks;• Use a calendar - again, hard or soft copy - to create a workable schedule. Once you know when something has to be done by, you can work backwards to mark the important dates along the life of that project;• Recognise that things change, so you may need to shelve some projects or approaches. Keep assessing your goals and make relevant adjustments; and• Some things just never get done - for various reasons - but you can raise your spirits by removing those items from your list that will never see the light of day...

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