Email should enhance, not replace, personal communication in business. Don’t use it to create a wall between you and your staff or to skirt around issues that should be tended to immediately. Keep the usual lines of communication open, including telephone calls and personal contact.

Time seems to be in such short supply that many people don’t even have an extra few hours to attend a seminar or read a book on time management.
For those people looking for some quick suggestions on making the most of their time, here are 12 effective time management rules:

Rush jobs are one of the major problems identified by participants in our time management seminars. The solutions to this problem will also help alleviate many other time issues. I’ve listed the suggestions in the form of an acronym that spells out the words RUSH JOBS.

Realize that you can’t do everything. No matter how many things people want, or when they want them, you can only do one thing at a time. You cannot control other people’s expectations, but you can control your own reaction to impossible demands. Don’t get upset or angry. Simply prioritize all the jobs to the best of your ability, provide realistic deadlines of your own and don’t put yourself on a guilt trip if those deadlines don’t match other people’s expectations.

Use outside resources. If your estimated completion dates are simply not acceptable, suggest outsourcing, sub-contracting or additional help. If you are in a position to delegate, do so. If technology will help reduce the process time, take advantage of it where possible.

Recognize that there are ways of getting the jobs done without actually doing them yourself.

Schedule time to work on the tasks. The most effective way of completing tasks is to schedule blocks of time in your planner to work on them. These are meetings with yourself. If you think it will take six hours to complete a task, schedule a total of about nine hours in your planner, allowing the extra time for interruptions, crises or unavoidable downtime. Taking into consideration the other jobs you are working on, this nine hours might take the form of six meetings of an hour-and-a-half each, over a two-week period. Scheduling the actual time will help you estimate realistic deadlines for other jobs that crop up.

Help others find alternative ways to get the jobs done. A few questions might reveal that the job is not as urgent as it first appeared. Understand the purpose behind the request. Offer suggestions and alternatives. Even referring a specific job to one of your competitors is better than losing the account all together by making promises you can’t keep. Whether the rush job emanates from an internal or external client, your job is to help solve the person’s problem. This does not mean you have to volunteer the impossible.

Join a support group. Networking provides emotional as well as practical help. Be actively involved in at least one other volunteer association relevant to your work. Cultivate relationships and ask for advice when you feel overwhelmed. Sometimes just talking it over will allow you to see the situation from a different perspective. Don’t live and work in isolation. Group contact can provide a release for stress as well as ideas for coping.

Organize your work area, your equipment and yourself. If you’re disorganized, any deadline can appear unrealistic. If you are prone to procrastination, perfectionism, clutter or other time wasters, such as self-interruptions, forgetfulness, misplaced material or inadequate planning, enroll in a time management program or invest in a good book or audio program on time management.

Be flexible. Don’t get yourself in a knot if your plans and scheduled tasks are disrupted. Priorities change and crises occur regardless of how well you plan and organize your work. If you schedule more time than you think a task will take, leave plenty of unscheduled time and view crises as your job calling, you will avoid excessive stress and maintain your effectiveness. If you feel yourself getting uptight, ask the question, “what will be the impact on my job and my life if this task doesn’t get done today?” You can likely live with the answer and learn not to sweat the small stuff.

Say no. If you are to maintain balance in your life, you sometimes must say no. Scheduling tasks in your planner will help you say no diplomatically. If some of the tasks in your planner originated from the person making yet another request, ask which task you should delay in order to make room for the new priority. You cannot be all things to all people nor do two things in the same time frame. Realize that when you say yes to anything, you are automatically saying no to something else. That something else may be time spent with your family, self-renewal or personal goals.

For more information, or to purchase time management products, visit: http://www.taylorintime.com/print

In 1947, a book called The Technique of Getting Things Done, by Donald Laird, appeared in the bookstores. The book gave example after example of how successful people were able to get more done by taking advantage of the early morning hours. A famous orator and judge would rise at 4:30 a.m. Some would get up even earlier. A quote on one of the pages stated, "I have always believed in long hours. It is the only way to get things done."

Over 50 years later, time management books are still advocating an early start. Some even remind us of the number of months or years we could save over a lifetime by extending our days by one hour. Successful people are still heeding their advice. An article in the February 3, 1999 issue of the Financial Post quoted David Lunsford of Dell Computer Corp. as saying, "I often hear people proudly claim they work 100-hour weeks."

In fairness to time management experts, most of them are not really advocating longer hours, simply a utilization of the most productive early-morning hours. They are assuming that people are getting enough sleep. The problem is that they are not. According to an article in the St. Petersburg Times [April 11, 1999,] "During the past three decades, Americans have put in longer hours at the office and packed even more into their pre-bedtime hours: working at home on laptop computers, surfing the internet and e-mailing friends, flipping among ever-expanding choices on television." The article claims that as a result, nearly two-thirds of adults get less than eight hours of sleep a night. Nearly one third gets by on 6 1⁄2 hours or less. And, according to the National Sleep Foundation, Washington, DC, this is a dramatic decrease from thirty years ago.

Has this decrease in sleep increased our personal productivity? Not according to an article in the May 7, 1999 issue of The Toronto Star [Feeling Sleep Starved? Welcome to the Club, by Leslie Papp.]

"Lack of sleep makes people moody, impatient, unable to concentrate, less attentive. Over time it can take a toll on their physical and mental health and significantly affect performance."

Working longer hours and cramming more activities into the day can certainly cause stress. And US Today, May 11, 1999, indicated that work stress, family stress and unspecified stress were the greatest reasons for sleeplessness. USA Snapshots also reported that three in four adults say they had problems sleeping at night.

There appears to be a struggle between the need to get more done and the desire to lead a balanced life. Unfortunately the extra time spent on work, family and personal pursuits is extracted from sleep time. This in turn reduces the quality of the time being spent as well as endangers our health.

We must realize that adequate sleep is not only a priority, but a necessity. If you need eight hours of sleep, make sure you get it, even if it means having a late afternoon siesta. Don't cruise the internet or watch an action movie on television and then expect to fall asleep immediately. Read a boring book [I have authored several,] relax, talk, and stay away from coffee for the hour or more before you go to bed. Try to maintain a similar routine each night, including the time you turn in. Don't work too hard trying to fall asleep. Simply relax and let your mind go blank.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, one third of adults don't keep regular sleep schedules, 21 percent have a caffeinated drink at night, and 90 percent report watching TV or listening to the radio in the hour before bedtime. Sleeplessness could be the result of medical problems; but chances are, it's self-imposed.

Companies are beginning to recognize the value of sufficient sleep. An article in The Toronto Star [December 13, 1997] told about a computer consulting firm based in Berkley, California, that views regular siestas as a fundamental part of doing business. Naps enhance morale, performance, production and safety."

You could argue that people should get their sleep on their own time. I would agree. But by the same token, don't try to get more done at the expense of adequate sleep. Sleeping one hour less each night might lengthen your day; but it could also shorten your life.•

Harold Taylor Time Consultants Inc.
1-800-361-8463
harold@taylorintime.com

Habits we have formed over the years can be time wasting, unhealthy, obnoxious, boring or outright dangerous. They can limit our effectiveness, stunt our personal growth, and dissipate our energy. They can cut years from our lives. Antagonize friends. Alienate loved ones.

Or they can be constructive, positive, healthy, and desirable. They can save time. Relieve tension. Increase our effectiveness.

It all depends on the habit. And I define a habit as something we do automatically with little, if any, forethought. Something devoid of conscious choice. It could be smoking, drinking, excessive eating, chewing gum, twisting paperclips as we listen, saying “you know” every few words, drinking coffee every half hour.

Or it could be organizing your clothes before you go to bed, checking the doors to see if they’re locked, jogging before breakfast, eating apples for lunch, reviewing personal goals every morning, smiling at everyone you meet, reading in bed every night, showering before breakfast.

Whether it’s a good habit or a bad habit depends on its effects on your life. If it helps you to achieve your goals. Brings you happiness, health, and prosperity. Adds meaning to your life. Makes you more effective. Then it’s probably a good habit. But if all it does is impede your effectiveness, waste your time, alienate your family and friends or decrease your life expectancy, it’s very likely a bad habit.

Before you attempt to break any bad habits, you must be convinced that you want to. The benefits must be obvious. The motivators must be there. Otherwise you will likely fail in your efforts.

It’s always rewarding to feel that you are in control of your own life. That might be motivation enough. If so, start breaking some of those patterns of living that sap you of any feeling of excitement and spontaneity. Stop spending every Thanksgiving Day at Mother’s. Don’t go away with the same couple every Labor Day weekend. Don’t order pizza every Tuesday night. Don’t return to the same Florida resort every year. Stop eating in the same restaurants all the time. Make a conscious choice each time. Don’t be bound by the force of habit.

Some specific habits, such as smoking, drinking, overeating, may be more difficult to break. Greater motivation is required to initiate and maintain the greater effort that is necessary. Get a handle on the harmful effects of the habit. If you’re convinced that smoking will reduce your life expectancy by 16.4 years or that lack of exercise will double the risk of a heart attack, you may have the kind of incentive you need.

Once you feel motivated to proceed, be sure to set realistic goals. Losing 20 lbs. in one week, for instance, is not a realistic goal. It’s a long-term goal, say three to six months. Break it down into monthly and weekly goals. Even daily goals are advisable for some habits. Goals produce deadlines. Deadlines produce a certain amount of stress. But they also produce results. That’s why we’re so effective at work.

Now, practice self-discipline. Train yourself to accomplish those daily and weekly goals you set for yourself. Don’t let yourself slip once. The first slip spells disaster. For it becomes progressively easier to slip the second time, and the third -- until you’re back in your old ways again. If your daily objective is to jog for 20 minutes every morning, then jog for 20 minutes every morning. Regardless of whether it’s cold and rainy or whether you don’t feel that great. Always keep the long-term rewards in mind. Don’t succumb to the immediate rewards -- such as the comfort of a warm bed. In time you will have formed a habit - a good habit. And good habits are as hard to break as bad ones.

The same self-discipline is needed in breaking a habit. If you want to stop smoking or drinking, don’t take that first cigarette or first drink. If you do, it’s too easy to take the second and third.

As an aid to self-discipline, declare your intentions to family and friends. Once you commit yourself publicly, it will be more difficult -- and embarrassing -- to back out. Enlist a partner if possible. Two or more people trying to break or form the same habit provides reinforcement for each other. And there’ll be a greater chance of making it fun. It’s so much easier to form a new habit if it’s enjoyable. Be prepared to reward yourself if you achieve your goal. That delayed vacation. New wardrobe. Whatever is meaningful to you.

And remember, there’s no such thing as “can’t”. If you want to do something badly enough, you can do it. If you don’t believe me, how do you think you would react if someone put a gun to your head and threatened to blow your brains out unless you kicked the habit. You’d probably kick it.

And some habits are as deadly as a gun at your head.

Harold Taylor Time Consultants Inc.1-800-361-8463harold@taylorintime.com

Habits we have formed over the years can be time wasting, unhealthy, obnoxious, boring or outright dangerous. They can limit our effectiveness, stunt our personal growth, and dissipate our energy. They can cut years from our lives. Antagonize friends. Alienate loved ones.

Or they can be constructive, positive, healthy, and desirable. They can save time. Relieve tension. Increase our effectiveness.

Myth 1 We can manage time.
We cannot manage time. Nor can we save it. Time ticks away relentlessly in spite of our efforts to control it. We are provided with 24 hours of time each day to use, as we like. The key is in how we use that time. We can use it wisely, or we can waste it, but we can never save it. At the end of the day, it's gone.