Do you often complain that there aren’t enough hours in the day? Well, you can’t magically insert a 25th hour, but there are strategies to help you better use the time you’ve got. Try these:
- Stop demanding perfection. Perfectionists waste a lot of time. They proof reports five times when two would do. They practice speeches 40 times when they’d nailed them at 20. They peer over shoulders making sure others are doing their work perfectly, too. Stop worrying about being perfect and simply focus on doing your best.
- Stick to your schedule. You’ll get more done if you try to do the same things at about the same time each day. For instance, check your e-mail twice a day, morning and afternoon. You may balk at the idea of mapping your day, minute to minute. But if you, say, schedule all appointments in the morning, you’ll always have a block of uninterrupted time to complete assignments in the afternoon. Come up with a plan that suits your workstyle-and honor it.
- Learn to delegate. When you insist on doing everything yourself, you overload your schedule and signal employees that you don’t trust them-which is demotivating. Look at your project list and think about how you might distribute some of those tasks to help workers strengthen their skills and to give you a little extra time for those duties that require your personal touch.
- Accept your limitations. As a leader, you spend much of your workday tending to the needs of your employees. And you may repeat that pattern with your family. You can’t be all things to all people, and if you try, you’ll wind up shortchanging everyone. Give yourself permission to say no to things that don’t further your goals or enhance your life.
~Adapted from “10 ways to make more time for yourself-start today!” by Jenni Prokopy |
