Welcome to this month's edition of The Quest for Workplace Excellence (on-line edition.)

Last month, to help you get a running start into 2006, we gave you some time management tips to help you juggle your multiple personal and professional responsibilities. In January we gave you the first five tips and this month, we follow up with the final five tips.

We also offer you this reminder . . . you can’t “find” time, “save” time or “make” time. We’re each gifted with exactly the same number of minutes each day. Follow the tips below to take actions to control your time so that you can be the best leader possible!

Strive for excellence, not perfection,

Peter B. Stark and Jane S. Flaherty

Tips for De-stressing Your Life (Part II)

6. Delegate. How often have you heard the words, “You need to delegate more,” regarding your workload? You know you should, but there’s never time. It’s faster and easier to just do it yourself. Make 2006 the year that you commit to analyzing your job with the goal of looking for a time consuming task that you can delegate to a team member. To counter your argument, “There’s no time to delegate,” we suggest the following. Think about a task that you, if you had time, could train someone else to do. Determine how much time you spend on the task in a weekly/monthly/yearly basis. Then, determine the amount of time it would take for you to thoroughly train a team member to do the job. Subtract the time spent on training the employee from the time you spend on the task in a year. Do the math. In many cases, you’ll be amazed at the time saved by making the delegation. This “found” time can be used to tackle other higher level leadership responsibilities. Not only are you better utilizing your own time, but you’ve demonstrated trust in employees and are helping them continue their professional development.

7. Go with the flow. Each of us are blessed with a unique energy cycle. For some, we are at our personal best early in the morning . . . confident, focused, energized and ready to tackle the day’s challenges. Some of us get off to a slow start and peak much later in the day, or even after the workday concludes. Last month we advised that you complete your higher level, or more challenging priorities first. This month we’ll qualify that recommendation. Save those tasks that require your most focused attention for your peak energy flow. Just because you’ve given a task high priority doesn’t necessarily mean you should tackle it first. Don’t procrastinate, but go with the flow . . .tackle the toughest tasks when you feel your personal best.

8. Establish Placement Habits. Now where did I put that file? How much of each day do you spend time looking for something lost and then beating up on yourself when you can’t find what you were looking for? This is a simple tip. Discipline yourself to put things back in the right place, every time. No excuses. The time you spend putting things away will be time saved when you don’t have to waste time later looking for lost items. You’ve heard it before, but it bears repeating . . . “a place for everything and everything in its place.”

9. Make a Plan and work your Plan. There’s really nothing magical about good time management. You’ve got to know what you need to accomplish and then prioritize your tasks. That’s relatively straightforward. The challenge is all those unplanned interruptions and surprises. Don’t let the unknown throw you off schedule. Deal with the interruptions and then revisit your list. Throughout the day, reprioritize your task list, updating it and changing priorities. Make your plan . . . work your plan . . . and then rework your plan if needed.

10. Take the Test. Periodically, throughout your day, step back momentarily and ask yourself these three questions.

a. Right now, is what I’m doing absolutely necessary? If not, reprioritize.
b. Right now, am I working as efficiently as I can? If not, strategize a new approach.
c. Right now, am I doing something that a team member could be doing more efficiently? If not, delegate.

To read Tips for De-stressing Your Life (Part I), click here

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