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A Successful Time Management Program Begins With You

A time management program need not be expensive or time consuming. Some very basic elements can be implemented immediately. One important consideration in creating a successful time management program is that you must be willing to delegate; if you can’t (or won’t), your time can NOT be managed successfully. The main goal of a successful time management program is to have a very competent assistant working with or for you.

A time management program can’t work if you are trying to cram 48 or 72 hours worth of work into 24 hours. In addition, if you insist on spending three hours each day writing lists of things to do, you are going to find yourself falling behind in work and drowning in a sea of needless paperwork. Who is reading your lists? Are you holding up valuable time in your office until delivering your list of duties?

A Successful Time Management Program Needs Priorities

Categorize everything you do into :

1. Urgent, 
2. High, 
3. Low, 
4. As Time Allows 

Be sure to consult your assistant during this phase. In fact, your assistant should be the driving force behind your new time management program. One of the responsibilities should be to keep you focused and on task. For each level of prioritization, allow your assistant to implement a system, and if it works, don’t fix it.

Appointments and meetings within the next two weeks are urgent and should be dealt with immediately. This will include scheduling appointments, preparing spreadsheets, photos, and presentations. Everything else except for routine tasks should be put on hold.

Be sure your assistant has everything needed to complete the project. If it requires you spending a few hours together, make sure those hours are scheduled before you do anything else. Allow your assistant to do whatever is needed (within reason) to accomplish these tasks—you will be ready and on time for those appointments.

High priority items may include, but are not limited to, phone calls, e-mails, reading mail, paying bills, and otherwise doing routine tasks that happen cyclically, whether monthly, quarterly, yearly, etc. These should also be accomplished by your assistant and may require verification, either in person or through your bank, that payments have been made or received. Again, this is a duty for your assistant.

Low priority tasks in a time management program should include chores such as updating previously correct material. Lastly, when and if time allows, your assistant can attend to updating your contact lists, file papers, and otherwise maintain the office.