|
|
| www.1001TopWords.com |
|
|
Have You Got a Minute?
Such an innocuous little phrase, yet when you are hard at work, really focused and engrossed in what you are doing this seemingly harmless request can be a nightmare distraction. "The average American has 50 interruptions a day, of which 70% have nothing to do with work" W. Edwards Deming Interruptions are on of the main time stealers that get in the way of productivity. Whether it is phone, email or person generated, have you got a minute? can really break your concentration, affect your mood and make you feel irritated and frustrated. Have you got a minute can so easily turn into 5, 15 or even 30 minutes and suddenly your day is behind schedule but, remember you let it happen. However, the good news is that it is within your control to do something about it. You can stop or at least manage these situationsHere are my top 5 tips for managing interruptions 1. If you work in your own office ? close the door and put a notice on the outside saying please do not disturb until 2.30pm (or whatever time you will be finished doing what you are doing) 2. If you work in an open plan office, put a note on your desk or on top of your PC saying I need to concentrate, please do not disturb , then take it down when you are finished. 3. If you need to have uninterrupted time each day, switch off your phone, close down your email and let your colleagues, boss and team know that for example, you do not want to be interrupted, plan meetings, chat etc every day between 8.30 and 9am. 4. In response to the Have you got a minute? You can say a. No b. Not at the moment but if you come back in 30 minute I will have c. I have a maximum of 5 minutes. What specifically do you want to speak to me about and is 5 minutes enough? If so go ahead. If not, suggest a more convenient time d. Tell me what you specifically want to talk to me about and then I'll tell you whether now is a good time to discuss it 5. Educate your colleagues, team, boss to do all of the above and respect their wishes too. This helps create good habits all round Now go and Take Control of Your Time your minutes are precious! ©2005 Beverley Hamilton About The Author NOTE: You're welcome to reprint this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered including the "about the author" information at the end.
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Top Ten Motivators Setting goals is the easy part -- but sticking with them over the long run can be a major challenge! Some people think that motivation requires will-power and dedication. Actually, staying motivated is all about setting up an environment that is conducive to you accomplishing your goals. Here are ten "tricks" for giving your goals staying power past January 31st: Biggest Time Management Mistake The biggest time management mistake you can ever make isforgetting your closest partner in life. The one who stayswith you all the way from cradle to grave. Theone who drives you through your daily and nightly routines,who runs all your habits. You want it or not, this partnerof yours is the real manager of most of your time. His nameis Your Subconscious Mind. Beyond Time Management ? Seven Ways to Leverage Your Time for Greater Results Most of us have a to-do list ? some of us have a very long one! While a to-do list is a valuable tool to help us stay on track for the urgent tasks of the day (and while there are many ways to improve your production and use of this list), that isn't the focus of this article. Taking Time Out to Play - Summertime and the Living is Easy As the song goes, this is the time to relax, rest, rejuvenate and reward yourself for all the hard work you've been doing. As they say, all work and no play makes Jack & Jill a very dull boy & girl. We all need time to relax and just "play." Time Management: 11 Tips Work more efficiently and be more productive using these time-management tips: Boost Your Productivity with Sixty Minutes A Day How you spend the first sixty minutes of your day will affect your productivity and achievements ? everyday. Are You Running Out of Time? Here's some time management tips to try: How A Simple Four-Letter List Can Make or Break Your Business One of the biggest problems most people have when it comes to moving their business ahead is simply staying focused and taking the actions that will truly make a difference. If Only Your Brain Was the Size Of That Of an Ant You Could Easily Implement Habits A year and a half ago I was introduced to something called Swarming or Swarm intelligence. Time Managements There are the golden rules that apply to time. If followed, your life will be successful. If you ignore these, however, you will always be scratching to catch up. Do not be one of the people you always here say "I don't know where the time went, it just flew by!". 24 Time Management Tips Where does your time go? We all know we are busy, yet we feel behind and don't get to do the things we really want to do. Time Management Tips - How to Have a Filing System That Works Recently I was working with a new client who had invested hundreds of dollars for a records management organisation to set up a filing system for his business. Time Management? NO! Many people want to be coached to manage their time better. I say NO! to that. You cannot manage time anyway; it just keeps ticking away no matter what you do. Time Management: How To Get More Done If you can regularly ask yourself "Am I regularly and consistently working on those items that will move me towards my clearly defined goals?" and honestly answer "Yes" then you are probably doing ok. Sharpen The Saw Sometime ago, my lovely wife woke me up in the middle of the night and said, 'Dayo, you know what? I feel neglected.' I was speechless. She then went on to say that for sometime now I have been spending more time on my work to the detriment of the family. She further explained that I put all my energies into a high drive for achievement and career success. To be honest she was right. Make Time Work For You Any habit of mind or body that interferes with taking decisive action contributes to your tendency to procrastinate. Think about your good habits and the environment that leads you to be most productive. Consider your preferred working hours, your optimum concentration periods, and the ways you have been successful in the past. You can begin to build on your good points first by recognizing them and giving yourself credit for them. Then, enhance the skills and techniques you already have with those presented here and beat the specter of procrastination once and for all. Scheduling Productive Days - Dont Interrupt, Im Pouring Concrete Almost everyone in business knows the balancing act between the weekly work schedule and business development time is almost as challenging as walking on a tight rope. I suggest breaking your work week into focus days to work in your business and buffer days to work on your business. For many people, there is a strong desire to skip preparation and just tackle everything on the to "do list" at once. As an alternative to this method, I told the following story at the workshop to create a model for scheduling your time to be more productive in your workweek. Realistic Time Budgeting Tips I'm sure we've all had the experience of having a certain block of time available, and our to-do list tasks or goals that we want to accomplish in that time frame, only to turn around at the end of that period of time to have the frustrating experience of not getting nearly enough done that we thought we could. What happened? Where did all the time go? This can be in our personal / family lives, our jobs or our businesses. Pacing Yourself Through Change OK...let's assume that you're truly motivated to change. Great. But how do you stay that way? That's a very important question, because most people fail to change not because they don't want to, but because they can't sustain their motivating drive throughout the process. Here are a few things to think about, to do, and to watch out for. Procrastination - Understanding & Overcoming it Whenever I've worked on 'de-cluttering' my living or working space, I've always found that it's the unfinished project ? whatever I'm procrastinating about - that takes up the most room.
|
| © Athifea Distribution LLC - 2013 |
