Time Management Skills

It may take a while for someone to learn good time management. But, the investment made in learning and applying the steps to better time management is worth the effort. Good time management can reduce job stress and provide greater jab satisfaction and accomplishment.

People often procrastinate because a task seems difficult or overwhelming Procrastination can be dealt with by dividing a large or difficult task into smaller, more manageable parts and starting on one task right away. By planning the task and doing a small part of it, a supervisor is no longer procrastinating. Doing anything to get started, no matter how small, is the key to eliminating procrastination.
Starting a task is also helpful since an unfinished task is more of a motivator than an unstarted task. As each small part of the job is completed, one's involvement and commitment increase.

A supervisor should attempt to tackle the tough jobs first and match jobs with his or her body cycles. Difficult jobs should be performed when a person's energy level is high. Doing a difficult task is much easier when a person is fresh than when he or she is tired. During high energy periods, a person can often solve a problem in minutes instead of the hours he or she might labor over the same problem when energy level is down. Low priority items, which usually require less mental effort, are best saved for the supervisor's low-energy periods.

A good technique for controlling the amount of time that visitors stay is to hold stand-up meetings. If the supervisor remains standing, so will the visitor; and the meeting will be much shorter. For instance, a supervisor meets the person at the door and holds the discussion there so the visitor never gets into the office, or he or she might standup before the other person is seated.

This technique minimizes interruptions and economizes on the utilization of resources and effort. For example, instead of making telephone calls sporadically throughout the day, all outgoing calls can be made at onetime. Callers can also be asked to call during specific hours. In this way, the supervisor attempts to group incoming calls as well as reduce telephone interruptions.

A supervisor should always have a reserve of things to do during idle periods. The waiting time before the start of a delayed meeting, for example, can be used to catch up on correspondence or to review a report. Or travel time can be converted into productive planning time. Far instance, an the way to work a supervisor can plan his or her day or think about how to resolve a problem.