Want to Manage Your Time? Get Real!

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Mikeal Whitemore talk about the best way to manage business to business project, business management, leadership in project, business school to improve management skills. also [Human resource management] [HR management] You know the drill - the ridiculous deadlines, the relentless barrage of email, voicemail, phone calls, all those "got a minute" interruptions, the constant worrying that o­ne of those many balls you're juggling is going to unexpectedly drop. When you're o­n total overload, all you want is relief - preferably the fast and easy kind. So you try the latest organizing software or gadget. Or maybe you read another book, take another course o­n time management or listen to a tape by the latest time management guru. Things might go pretty well for a couple of days. But before long you're right back where you were - snowed under with no realistic way to dig out. WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE SKY Lots of things work - in theory. Take the "handle each piece of paper o­nly o­nce" technique. The idea is basically a good o­ne. But practically speaking, how many people are really able to do it o­n any consistent basis? Suggestions to have your secretary screen your calls or to close your office door to discourage interruptions leave secretary-less cubicle dwellers everywhere scrambling to add "get secretary" and " get door" to their To-Do lists! Then there is the traditional three-step system to planning and managing your day: Step 1: Take out your calendar and make a list of want you want to accomplish. Step 2: Use the ABC designation to prioritize each activity. Step 3: Start with your most high priority tasks. Complete all of these before moving o­n to your lower priority tasks. Cross-off completed tasks as you go until you've accomplished everything o­n your list. Tidy up your desk and leave your office with that warm, satisfying feeling of knowing you have successfully managed your time. That's how it works for you, right? Get real! WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD Let's review the traditional "calendarizing" approach. Is it a good idea to plan your day? Yes. Should you write things down? Absolutely. Is prioritizing essential? Clearly. Ideally then, the three-step process should work. And, in simpler times, it no doubt did. In today's jam-packed world however, even with the clearest of values, this formulaic approach is in many ways more idealistic than realistic. A more realistic approach is o­ne that takes into account the reality that you have to juggle a lot more than a To-Do list. In fact, there are three things that must be first organized and then managed: 1. Commitments (to yourself, to others, and others to you), 2. Communication 3. Information. Mikeal Whitemore is a new profesor of HEC,Montreal, and owner of Business to Business Management project with terminal year alumni. You can learn about hundreds of article sites in business management.