A
guide to learning Time Management Skills
How
to learn time management skills?
Learning
time management skills is crucial not only for a successful career but
for every aspect of your personal development.
Time
management unlike a sense of
rhythm is a skill that anyone can learn at any point in their lives and
their careers. In fact
the ability to manage time is one of the most valued skills in the
world today
and unlike many skills you may possess this skill is always on display
for the
world to see. For example if you are frequenty late for meetings, and
always
in a hurry to get something done, you know that your poor time
management is exposed.
The
process of learning time management
skills can take place early in life, perhaps through parents
or family members, or formally from teachers or
workshops.
Regardless
when you started learning time
management skills, here are here are some
options to help you catch up:
- Read
a few
books on Time Management
- Attend
a
weekend seminar
- Ask
your
boss/co-workers for tips
- Hire
a
counsellor or coach to help you
- Sign
up for
an e-course
- Attend
a
workshop / seminar or conference sponsored by your company
- Learn
through observing your most time-savvy
friends and co-workers
What
should managers do to gain time management
skills without having to make extra "special time" to learn?
If
you are a
busy manager some of the ways to gain time management skills without
making
extra time to learn them is to:
- Read
a quick
article on time management and implement what it says immediately for
at least
3 weeks (that is how long it takes to form a habit)
- Organize
your work-space it saves time
- Identify
your top time wasters and minimize or eliminate them
- Start
using
some time management
tools like a to-do list or a time chart
- Make time
management a shared team goal and
assign each team member a presentation on
some aspect of time management, you can have one team member share
these
nuggets of knowledge for 5 minutes before a weekly team meeting
- Say
no – to
phone calls when you are working, interruptions and unscheduled tasks
- Keep
meetings
short and crisp with agendas and follow-up sheets
- Automate
or
make check lists for as many tasks as possible
- Delegate
what you can
- Outsource
or
eliminate unnecessary tasks
What
are the
best and most efficient techniques to learn time management skills?
A
classroom or training session is still one of the
most effective ways to learn time management as it is a focussed
intervention
that teaches various concepts and techniques, however implementing what
you
learnt is the biggest challenge
A book
is the least effective technique as it is
often to conceptual in nature and may end up boring or confusing you.
One to
one coaching with a professional is one of
the best ways to learn time management skills as they can teach you
skills that
are customized to your lifestyle, they also follow up on whether you
are
implementing these techniques and help you though any rough patches
Time
management articles or newsletter detailing
new techniques or ideas are also a great source, since they provide you
with
one idea at a time, which is easy to understand and implement.
Related
Articles:
Time
Management Activities
Time
Management Tips
Time
Management Tools
Effective
Delegation
Importance
of Time Management
Time
Management Skills
Definition
of Time
Management
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