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Blog Topic:
Work-Life
Balance —Creating Boundaries
For You To Follow
Blog
Topic:
Work-Life
Balance —Creating Boundaries For Others
To Follow
Blog
Topic:
How
To Get A Handle On Time —Don’t Let
Time Ruin Your Work-Life Balance
How
many times have you started the day with the best of intentions
— one, two or three realistic goals — and then watched
your time pillaged by a dozen or more distractions? The
“time bandits” — anything that prevents or delays you
from effectively achieving your goals is a suspect.
Telephone
Calls
Just
because the telephone is ringing doesn’t mean you have
to answer it. Sure, it’s loud and distracting, but most
phones can be muted, intercepted by an answering device,
or ignored. You do have choices.
•
Use voice-mail protection. Set a limited amount
of time each day to return logged messages. Remember Parkinson’s
Law: “A task expands to fill the time allowed for it.”
If you schedule an hour to return five phone calls, it
will take an hour. If you have only thirty minutes, limit
the calls to six minutes each, and take control of the
conversations before you even dial the number. Be brief
and to the point, and let the person know that your time
is limited. If the discussion is likely to take longer
than six minutes, suggest another date when more time
is available.
•
Be assertive about your time. If you decide
to answer the phone in the middle of a project, politely
let the caller know that you are busy. Explain that you
will be able to devote quality time later. Then schedule
a mutually convenient telephone appointment. By the same
token, when placing calls make a habit of immediately
asking if you have phoned at a convenient time. Respect
the time of others and they might take the clue and return
the favor!
•
Set deadlines. If the phone rings when you
are walking out the door and have only five minutes, start
the conversation by setting a deadline. If you don’t inform
the caller of your time constraints, who will?
Mail
•
Avoid postal pileups. Set a time to attack,
purge and file snail-mail daily. If you can do without
a piece of mail, get rid of it. Then sort what is left
into categories; e.g.,
bills, reading materials and correspondence.
Do not leave mail in piles. File each sorted category
in its assigned place immediately.
•
Corral runaway email. Set a time to read, delete
and file each day. The convenience and immediacy of email
foster a seductive sense of urgency. Resist it. If an
email message requires a response that can be formulated
and sent in five minutes or less, answer it immediately.
If a message is required that cannot be formulated in
five minutes, set time aside and respond at your convenience.
Delete or file everything else.
•
Deal immediately with faxes. Purge, sort, and
file if necessary. Treat faxes in the same manner as postal
mail. Don’t pick up a fax and then put it back down on
the top of a pile. As soon as you have it in your hand
either do it, delegate
it, or discard it.
Drop-in
Visitors
An
open-door policy can foster a harmonious work environment.
If not managed, it can also foster frustration.
•
Modify the environment.
Consider removing extra chairs from your office or work
area. Don’t allow drop-ins to get too comfortable.
•
Meet on your feet.
When a drop-in enters your space, stand, walk toward the
visitor and cordially inquire as to the purpose of the
visit. This welcoming gesture serves a practical purpose
— discussions held while standing are generally shorter.
If you don’t have time to “cut the bandit off at the pass”
get out of your chair and perch on the edge of the desk.
•
Be the visitor not the host. When colleagues
ask to talk with you, offer to meet in their offices rather
than yours. You can then excuse yourself when necessary.
•
Be assertive about your time.
I mentioned this in connection with telephone calls.
The principle is the same here. Inform the visitor that
you are busy and would like to meet later. Then schedule
a mutually convenient appointment.
•
Put the shoe on the other foot.
Consider if you yourself are a habitual drop-in visitor. Cubicle-hopping is a popular
form of procrastination — stealing your own as well as
others’ time. Consolidate your questions and present them
together at a single visit. Start every visit by inquiring
whether or not your host is busy at the moment.
Inability
to Say No
You
can’t say “yes” to everything without getting in over
your head. Decide what you must
do – and want to do – and say no to all other requests. Perhaps because of
the value we place on relationships, many of us assume
that our only options are “yes” or “maybe.” Learn to protect
your time. “No” is a complete sentence — no explanations
required! If someone else can handle the request as well
or better than you, delegate.
Scheduled
Demands of Others
If
you have a family, you already know that soccer practice,
dental appointments, meetings and other obligations can
quickly and repeatedly strip you of precious hours. The
same is true if you work with or manage a team. However,
with cooperation and joint planning, you do have some
control.
Keep
track of scheduled appointments in one place. A kitchen
calendar works well at home; a chart or joint online calendar
can be tremendously helpful at the office. Be realistic
when reviewing your day/week. Ask yourself, “Can I fit
another appointment into my schedule?” Ask others, “Do
I need to be there?” “Can someone else fill in for me?”
According
to Stephanie Winston, author of The
Organized Executive (Warner Books, 1994), allowing
the insistent demands of office (or home) to run unchecked
is the surest way to negate all your planning and scheduling
efforts. The solution: Defend your plan by incorporating
into your daily repertoire a number of simple techniques
that will help you manage the time wasters that threaten
to throw you off course. You can establish greater control – without being rude or shutting yourself
off to the needs of others.
Remember,
be brief — be bright
— be gone. Reduce interruptions. Put the Time Bandit
behind bars.
Sally
Allen, Professional Organizer
A Place for Everything, LLC www.aplaceforeverythingllc.com
"Organizing for Stress Free Living" at 303-526-5357
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