Simple Time Management - Increase your Effectiveness and Efficiency

Every one speaks of Time management, very few follow it. In the current "18-hour-work-day" obsessed organizations, its not hard to find half the work force complaining of a lack of Work Life Balance and the remaining half  struggling to keep up.

Employees today face a situation where they need to manage more with the same resources, which truly becomes a challenge when working without additional time. A higher number of young executives face burn out and complain of stress and stress related injuries, due to long work hours. However this is only going to get worse for the time being.

In such circumstances, making the maximum use of time at our disposal is critical to ensure that we dont spend that extra hour at work, which we probably wasted in a communication error or because of  misidentified priorities. Following is my "DTD" list technique, which I have been using for some time now and its definitely made my life easier.

Daily To Do List

1. Begin your day 15 min earlier to your Work Hour. In that way you begin your day without feeling of being rushed into everything
2. In these 15 min (or more if you like) write down in as much detail as possible all that you possible remember as your deliverable, or tasks assigned to you. Some considered this method as elementary, but once you actually get onto the habit of putting it to paper, it automatically gets into your sub conscious levels, and makes it easier to recall and execute work.
3. Once you have written down everything, mark out ones that would require more time and effort, and probably inputs from others. Separate the others, that would take less time, like a follow up call or a email.
4. Now finish off the smaller things, or less important things. Once you finish this, you will have more clarity as the clutter is reduced.
5. For the rest of the more important and detailed work, mark out the ones that are the nearest to deadline/on priority/or that would need your attention on the same day. Also make a mental note as to how much time it would take. 
6. Now action this list of work on the basis of your priority.
7. At the end of the day, take a re look at the list, strike off the ones you have completed, circle the ones that need more work on them, and underline the stuff thats pending. Doing so, gives you a clearer picture as to whats in store for the next day, as opposed to having a vague idea

These steps make look tedious, but they would hardly take 20 minutes. And spending these 20 min would clear the rest of the day, and end up saving a lot of time. If you manage a team, then you could also build in work to be designated to others. Knowing what you have to do and what you have done, gives you a lot of confidence going ahead in the day, and ensures your giving your best time and effort to the most important task.

If you feel that its a very detail oriented technique, or a disciplined one, then you're mistaken. The objective of the list is to ensure that you know what needs to be done, and do those things on priority. You can mix and fit what is best suited to you. For e.g You may want to set up a reminder list in the evening before you leave for home, instead of a DTD list in the morning. You could schedule the easier work before or after lunch, or any other way that suits you. As long as you use your time in the best possible way, you should be fine and seeing results in no time at all!!!

Keep Smiling
MKMK