A 60-second course in time management
Time is money. If you are being paid to do a job, the less time you waste the less the job costs. Another benefit is having more time, potentially, to devote to things which at present you have to neglect (like cost control?). A third advantage is fewer last-minute rushes. The cost of meeting a deadline increases exponentially the later things are left; overnight carriage costs can be doubled by letting the time of despatch drift back to the last minute.
For those who don't have the time to wade through all the available books, tapes, advice and courses on the subject of time management, here are the keys:
- Know the purpose of your work
- Immediately bin all correspondence which is not important to that purpose
- Deal with the urgent items by the quickest practicable method
- Delegate whatever you can (upwards or sideways if necessary)
- Don't rush headlong into your daily workload: prioritise your tasks and plan their execution
- Keep all telephone conversations short and to the point
- Monitor interruptions. Analyse them, and then develop defences accordingly
The manager who can adopt this approach will notice an immediate reduction in pressure of work and will find more time available to concentrate on other ways of cutting costs.