time management skills

Interruptions Cost You Time
Interruptions during the working day not only take up your time, they also have a secondary impact - in that they cost valuable minutes as you get back into what you were doing before the interruption. Some workplace interruptions may be unavoidable, but many are not and you shouldn't feel guilty about reducing your exposure to interruptions as the result will be an increase in your overall efficiency. Various strategies can help reduce the time lost to interruptions. If you have secretarial services, you could put a more effective screening system in place so that more messages are taken. This could also be used to inform callers of what time you are available, enabling you to protect yourself from distractions at times you set aside for concentrated work. When planning a regime like this aim to be as generous with your time as is realistic, or you may find a queue outside your door ahead of each of your 'available' slots.

Take Responsibility for Your Own Schedule
In order to maintain a good working relationship with your colleagues it is important that you do have time for them. However, having time doesn't necessarily mean at the moment they walk into your workspace. The key to handling interruptions is to develop the ability to weigh up precisely what the request represents as a demand on your time and, if necessary, to arrange a future appointment rather than tackling it on the spot. Remember, you are responsible for your own schedule. If you suffer from a lot of unscheduled visits from colleagues, you need to develop a clear but polite way of communicating when you are too busy to be interrupted.

Analyzing Interruptions If you have already completed a time log then you may be aware of the common interruptions that can bring your work to a temporary halt. You should be aware of: the type of interruption, who or what caused it and how much time it took up.

Once you have this information, try to see if there are any patterns emerging:
How much time did you spend dealing with interruptions that week?
What proportion of them were important?
What proportion of them were unavoidable?
What were the main causes?
Do they conform to a recognizable pattern?

Develop Counter-Interruption Tactics
Once you have a clear idea of what causes the interruptions you can begin to develop tactics to control them. If the telephone is a major source of interruptions then try using your voicemail to screen calls or ask colleagues to handle queries when you are busy, on the understanding that you will reciprocate. If the length of the calls is a problem you should try setting a limit to the amount of time you are prepared to spend on any phone call. Start by saying something like "Sorry, but I've only got five minutes . . ."

Reduce Inappropriate Socializing
People who are very sociable may distract others with inappropriate socializing. This can be disruptive and is complicated by the fact that sociable people tend to take criticism personally. If you are interrupted at your workspace then using body language can make it clear that you expect the interruption to be as brief as possible. For example, by turning your head but not your whole body towards a visitor, your arm and shoulder will form a natural barrier, which will discourage a lengthy conversation. You could also avoid asking unexpected visitors to sit down, get to your feet and remain standing until they have gone. Give an indication of how long you expect a meeting to last and make it clear that you must get on with other tasks at this time.

Minimizing Interruptions
There are some specific tactics that should help you to focus more effectively on concentrated periods of work:

Closed Door
Apart from those times when you want to encourage others to step into your office, try keeping your door closed. It won’t stop anybody who has an important request but it will reduce the number of non-important or purely social interruptions.

Signs
Try making three signs, the first saying 'Available' the second 'Busy' and the third 'Please Don't Disturb'.

Making Visits
If you have colleagues who tend to be very talkative, then arrange to visit their workspace, rather than have them coming to you. This makes it much easier for you to end the meeting without facing the difficult task of getting them to leave.

Schedule Meetings
If talkative colleagues are coming to you for a meeting, schedule this ahead of another commitment or a fixed break, so that there is a compelling reason for getting on with the business at hand.

Polite Terminators
Add some polite winding up statements to your repertoire, try to include references to work and time constraints. For example saying, “Sorry George, I've got to crack on, as this report has to be finished by lunch-time” is much better than saying “I've got work to do”.

Coming Out
Let your colleagues know that you are trying to manage your time more effectively, and inform them of some of your chosen tactics. This won’t stop all interruptions, but at least they are likely to understand why you are less responsive to them. Whatever approach you adopt to dealing with interruptions, it is important to be consistent. If you frequently change your response to interruptions it will give others the impression that you can be persuaded to change your mind and this will undermine your attempts to gain control of your time.

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