“The key is not in spending time, but investing it.”
– Stephen R. Covey
Improve Your Time Management Skills
Now that you’ve identified the types of ineffective time management practices, you should evaluate when and why they occur and take active steps to better manage your time. You can start by reviewing these common time management problems and their solutions.
Feeling Overwhelmed
Feeling overwhelmed happens when there is lack of priorities and planning.
- List your objectives and prioritize them into two lists: long-term importance and short-term urgency.
- Dedicate a portion of your time each day to important objectives and to urgent tasks; assess progress separately for each.
“Everything is a Crisis” Mindset
The “everything is a crisis” mindset happens when there is failure to anticipate problems and develop contingency plans.
- Categorize potential problems by seriousness and probability; develop steps to prevent or limit consequences of the most likely and serious problems.
- Establish objectives, determine where efforts should be concentrated, focus on the top priorities, and develop a contingency plan.
Ineffective Delegation
Ineffective delegation happens for many reasons including failure to prepare subordinates.
- Work with subordinates so they understand better what is expected of them and the level of performance required.
- Approach delegation as a partnership where goals, information sharing, and progress reports routinely flow in both directions.
Use this job aid to review additional problems, causes, and actions you can take to improve your time management skills.
