Here are some considerations. It’s all about priorities. Priorities vary by day, time of year, personal values and personalities to name a few. Priorities are what you make them. Plus we all have the MUST do lists. Those include family responsibilities, meetings, outings and just life.
Over the years I have experienced and seen several ways to manage time. The bottom line is you MUST find the system and structure that work best for you. Here is one proposal:
 1. Start with a blank seven-day calendar or 30 day if necessary.
2. Next, block the times you have MUST do items. Include personal and business blocks. Make sure you include travel times if you have meetings, locations, events to go to.
3. When blocking these times make sure you block out routines first. Include your shared family chores, tasks. Include your down time (hopefully you have this).
4. Once you have completed your times review them before you set them in stone and color code them to your focus periods. Contemplate the colors your mind is in when you are undertaking that mission.
5. Finally and most importantly block out those times you have with apparently nothing to do and make sure you are dedicating those times to working ON you or your business. That’s when you need to strategize, stop, reflect, plan and focus ON your personal and business visions. That’s when you aren’t working in your business or in your home but ON IT; whatever “IT” is.
This is a just one example of handling your time. Starting with a calendar does allow you to see when and where you spend your time and how you can stop and reflect and make adjustments as necessary. Try it for a week and see what happens. It’s worth the possibilities to try. You will find yourself looking at and pin pointing your time wasters. Share your calendars with those closest to you so they will know your focus and can support your efforts as well.
Here’s another opportunity. If you are still struggling meeting deadlines and keeping your time commitments then take a week and write down everything you do for the day. Include all breaks, phone calls and so on to capture how you are spending your time. Then at the end of that week stop and red line those time wasters. Ask yourself what could have waited? What could have been delegated? Who can I train to do the task in the future? How did I spend my time, did I move my business forward by doing this task or project? Could I put my email on out reply to tell the sender when I will be responding so I don’t stay on email all day long? Can I do the same with my phone calls and voice mail? That way you are managing the task and time of day and you can focus on that one project.
When you multitask you are not giving full focus to being in the moment. Therefore you are probably shorting focus on a person in front of you or on the phone or having to start and restart a project, causing the project to take twice or three times as long as it should have taken to complete.
Again just some thoughts…give them a try and see what happens. All you have to lose is time or rather gain control of your time that YOU planned instead of it planning you.
Visit www.tabnorfolk-newportnews.com
Shelley Smith is the President of Pink Sky, Inc., and a TAB-Certified Facilitator in the Newport News, VA area. Prior to owning her own company, Shelley spent several decades in top executive positions within Marriott Corporation, LTD Management and HMP Properties. Most of those years were spent working directly in the Hampton Roads area. She has established a long line of networking partners of well-respected and established companies.
Shelley has substantial knowledge and experience in the operations of day-to-day businesses. Her expertise includes making assessments of a stand-alone unit or multiple units, reviewing key performance drivers and advising the owner, president or CEO on how to deploy their staff and use other resources to operate more efficiently through systems and processes.
Shelley’s education includes certifications from Cornell Business School in Ithaca, NY as well as a long list of professional certifications acquired while working for and within Marriott, Hilton, Starwood and Intercontinental Hotels.
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