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Can You Manage Time? Time for a change today, I think – let’s give customer service a break and move on to another topic. A subject which has been coming up lately and which I have been asked to supply training on is time management. So many of us seem to feel there aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish everything we want or need to do, despite the increasing sophistication of labour-saving devices. And so we start thinking that we need to manage our time better. But when you think about it, you can’t really manage time at all – all you can do is manage yourself better and prioritise the demands on your time. The next few newsletters will be looking at simple ways to do this. As always, knowing yourself, your preferences, your strengths and weaknesses, is the best start. Start looking a little more objectively at the way you work – what do you do promptly? What do you keep putting off? Which parts of the job do you enjoy and which are a drag? What is your best time of day – do you breeze into the office before everyone else, keen to crack on, or is it a struggle to do anything before coffee time? You might like to keep a diary of your days, divided into quarter hour chunks, and record how you are actually spending your time. It is easy to overlook all those chats with colleagues, the coffee-making when stuck for an idea, the surfing on the internet. You may be surprised by where your time is going! Once you are aware of your habits, you can start to think about changing them for more productive ways of using your time. As usual, I welcome feedback, but enough for now – I’m off to make a coffee!
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