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Your Guide To Better Time Management v2

Be the master of your time..

Jane H Sheeba
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1 Why Should You Read This Book?

Contents
Why Should You Read This Book? .................................. 2 Chapter 1: Why Manage Time? ........................................ 3 Chapter 2: Planning Does The Most................................ 5 Strategies of effective planning ..................................... 5 Chapter 3: The Effective To-Do List ................................ 8 Why write a to-do list? ................................................... 8 How To Write An Effective To-Do List? ....................... 9 Chapter 4: A Round Up On Time Wasters: Watch Out! 14 Chapter 5: Procrastination..............................................18 What Now? ..................................................................... 32

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2 Why Should You Read This Book?

Why Should You Read This Book?


Time is precious and nowadays we always wish if we could have had more of it. Time is not enough for us. It seems that we are busy the whole day, but at the end of the day when we look back we simply find that the tasks are incomplete and we tend to postpone them for the next day. With the advent of technological improvements, it should seem that we complete our works easier and earlier, but that is not the case today. All of us are aware that time is important and precious but we do not take effective measures to avoid wasting it. I am not talking about wasting hours and days, but about minutes and seconds that add up to years eventually. Well, this book will help you to manage master your time effectively.
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Cover image by John Morgan

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3 Chapter 1: Why Manage Time?

Chapter 1: Why Manage Time?


Time is gold, you've most probably heard about it. But why is that? There are two things that make time unique. The first thing is that it is given to all people free of cost. No matter if you are rich or poor, black or white, strong or weak, active or lazy; you are granted your portion of time. No one works hard to get it or no one pays a price (money) to acquire it. It is just granted to all of us, with no pain and no effort. The second thing is that no one can bring back a spent second. There is no method or technique, as of now, to bring back the
A most popular email which you might have already come across Author Unknown To realize the value of one year, ask a student who failed a grade. To realize the value of one month, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby. To realize the value of one week, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of one hour, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of one second, ask the person who just avoided a traffic accident.

used or unused time that has passed by. So time is so unique


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4 Chapter 1: Why Manage Time?

and so very precious. The sad fact is that, since no one puts forth any effort or money to acquire time, some (or most of the) people take it for granted. The result is that a lot of time is wasted. People waste time by either doing nothing (literally wasting time) or by doing lesser than what has to be done in a given time, in other words being lazy. Mastering the time given to one is an art and not everyone is blessed with the same. So what does it mean to master the time? And why should you worry about managing time? Mastering time is to take control of your time. That is, you should decide on how to use your time and allocate tasks accordingly. For example, if you can write an effective to-do list and follow it completely (or at least 90% of it) then you are heading in the right direction You are the master of your time. On the other hand, if you are locked up in front of the television or most of the time of your day is spent on chatting with your friends, which sadly you feel that you cannot do anything about, then other things (like TV, friends or a lazy yourself) are the masters of your time and you are obviously the slave.

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5 Chapter 2: Planning Does The Most

Chapter 2: Planning Does The Most


Why is it so? It is because of the inbuilt meaning of planning. By making a plan you know what you are going to do. What else can be an effective thing to master your time more than you knowing what to do in the time you have? Planning can be in any way that suits you. You can use all the tech gadgets available and yet be so unorganized, while at the same time you can just use your paper and pen and have a great planned day. It is all up to you to decide on how to plan. But the key is you have to first make your mind to do the planning part. So when we talk about planning we talk about deciding on a future task in the present. Hence do it is necessary that you do start your plan ahead of the day. It will be ridiculous to plan your working day while sitting at your office desk. Strategies of effective planning As I said, planning ahead is of prime importance. But what should you do ahead? 1. Analyse your day which is ahead of you. See what you have got to do. How many meetings do you have to attend?

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How many projects do you have to work on and how many projects have their deadline tomorrow? Do you have an alarming task that you cannot miss out without doing tomorrow? Do an analysis and find out how busy the day will be. 2. Once you have the results of your analysis write an effective to-do list (Why write a to-do list? Later..). 3. Your to-do list is now your key and you have to make it effective, as I stress again. Set aside leisure time in your list, and do not simply pile up your list with loads of tasks, after all you know who you are and how much you can accomplish. 4. Follow your plan; remember you have put some time forth in planning the day. So do respect and value your time and effort and stick to the plan. 5. Following point 4, you should also allow slots for expect the unexpected kind of obstacles that would bombard you. Yes, you cannot say if your plan will work as you expect it to. You may encounter so many things, good or bad, on the way that will make you run off the plan. So. 6. Have a plan B, I mean not a total plan B, but for those parts where you expect you will encounter obstacles. Well, this in short, means expect the unexpected. 7. Here goes the crucial part- analyse again at the end of the day. How well did you performed according to your plan?
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7 Chapter 2: Planning Does The Most

See how much you have achieved and see where you have fallen behind. See how many tasks are crossed out in the to-do list and how many are blinking at you for tomorrows carry over. This bit is crucial since it cultivates your improvisation for tomorrows plan.

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8 Chapter 3: The Effective To-Do List

Chapter 3: The Effective To-Do List


People who strive for an organized work schedule normally prefer to maintain a to-do list. Others who are not so serious or those who generally don't have the habit of doing things in an organized manner do not maintain to-do lists. Not to mention, some are just not comfortable working with to-do lists. However, it is always excellent to do things in an organized and matured manner and you can do it by following a to-do list. While the scope of this chapter is to tell you about writing an effective to-do list, I want to highlight a few points on why to maintain a to-do list, for those who don't feel compelled about having one.

Why write a to-do list? A to-do list tells you a list of things that you need to do for a day (preferably; but you can also have to-do lists for weeks and months).

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9 Chapter 3: The Effective To-Do List

Instead of consulting your wife/husband, your staff at the office, your driver and your accountant, you can just consult one thing, the to-do list, which is with you. You can save a lot of time and energy by organizing things in an efficient manner. For example, meeting a person at place X, getting a document signed at place Y, sending a fax at place X can be done by effectively by grouping all the tasks that need to be done at the same place, say X here. This surely will not come to your mind if you don't see all the tasks in one place! You will wander back and forth between places if you don't have a handy list. More importantly, a to-do list is more reliable in the sense that you don't have to depend upon your memory. It has lot more benefits and also acts as a feedback. You know what you have accomplished today. It shows to you if you are a procrastinator. It tells you your performance. And, it helps you to organize your next day. How To Write An Effective To-Do List? Now on to writing a to-do list, effectively - A to-do list without the effective part is when you jot down the list of things you have to do for a day. It is a collection of all the tasks that need your attention. Well, that's what a to-do list is, but what makes it effective? Here you go:

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10 Chapter 3: The Effective To-Do List

Priorities: An effective to-do list prioritizes every task in the list. Besides every task, there lies its priority. How can you do things effectively by just having a list and not knowing which item in the list needs your utmost attention? You cannot just start doing things in a list; this will be a highly ineffective way of doing things. While you write a to-do list as a simple list, you write those things which come to your mind. So they lie in that order. A most important task which has a deadline or upon which another task is dependent will only gain your attention in the order in which it appears in the list. So you may use any tool that is easy for you to prioritize your list. For example, you can write the list with coloured sketch pens - Red for the most urgent task and blue for the least urgent one. Incorporate history: An effective to-do list takes care of past happenings. You need to recall what happened last time when you completed that project half a day later than the deadline. Or think of what happened last time Know your limits and working style: An effective to-do list is always written by knowing one's limits. The list should not be something that is an overwhelming collection of tasks. You know how much you can accomplish in

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11 Chapter 3: The Effective To-Do List

an hour or in a day. So do not pile up the list with more than what you can do, this will result in a number of tasks left incomplete in the list, compels you to procrastinate, steals your confidence that you cannot accomplish so much, and finally results in distress eventually. Also do identify those times of the day when you are most productive and those times when you are least productive. After all, you are human and not a computer and you need to take breaks and appropriate rest. So set aside time for breaks (these are called productive breaks) and take rest too. If you are most productive in the morning before coffee (at your office) then allot a difficult or an important task for that time. If you feel kinda sleepy after lunch set aside small tasks, tasks which you like to work or tasks which are entertaining for those times. Follow a productive pattern: An effective to-do list should have a productive pattern. What is it? It involves the idea discussed in the previous point. And, in addition it should have a task-weight pattern. The list should not (preferably) have difficult tasks in a line or little tasks occurring in sequence. The list should
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12 Chapter 3: The Effective To-Do List

spread out the tasks according to their difficulty and the time taken to complete them. Putting together two difficult tasks or tasks that take longer to complete will simply make you boring and tired. You will not have enough fuels to complete all the tasks in the list. In short, you will lose your productivity. So, as appropriate, spread out the tasks in a productive pattern. Set aside time: Last, but not necessarily the least, an effective

Here is an exercise for you Write two to-lists at one sitting for two days, one of which is a business day and the other a holiday. For one (the holiday one), ignore the part that makes it effective and just jot down the tasks you need to do. For the other (the business one), make it effective by following these strategies. Note down your performance for both of these lists on the end of the respective days, in terms of the time allocated (was it less or more for a task), timing the task, your completion of all the tasks in the list, your procrastination rate and your overall productivity. On a weekend analyse these two notes and find the short falls of an ineffective to-do list.

to-do list is not written on the go or just when are watching TV or chatting with your friend. You should not write it when you are extremely tired and are writing the list while lying down, the last thing before going to bed. You should set aside some

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13 Chapter 3: The Effective To-Do List

time exclusively to write an effective to-do list. If you are starting up to maintain to-do lists then you might need to set aside some time between 15 to 30 minutes solely for the purpose of writing an effective to-do list. If you are already using to-do lists then you might need about 10 to 15 minutes to write one.

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14 Chapter 4: A Round Up On Time Wasters: Watch Out!

Chapter 4: A Round Up On Time Wasters: Watch Out!


While we talk and talk about managing mastering time, there is one thing that we shouldnt forget. Mastering time is not just about using time efficiently but it is also about not wasting your golden time. You cannot afford to waste time. As I pointed out in Chapter 1, you are given time easily, with no effort, no pain and free of cost every day. But is your unused time accumulated for the next day? No! Whatever you use, you use today and whatever you waste, you never get it back. So there is no stronger reason why we shouldnt waste time. Here are the things you need to watch out. Television: TV is one of the biggest time wasters that not only make you less productive but also lazy and unhealthy. For some people who are addicted to watching TV, it is one of the hardest things to kick off. But one should realize that they can do a lot more in the time they dedicate in watching TV. I am not saying that you should complete give up this, but you should have control over the time you spend on TV. You could create a habit of disciplined TV watching by only watching the show you really care for. Alternatively, you could also go with the option of

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15 Chapter 4: A Round Up On Time Wasters: Watch Out!

recording your favourite shows and watch them at your convenient time. Lack of Expertise: If you do not have enough experience and knowledge in the field you are working, then for every work or project assigned you need to spend a lot of time researching through the resources. While doing work-related research is always good and can improve your knowledge, there are lot more chances that you can be easily distracted while you are searching online or reading a book or discussing with an expert on the purpose. Furthermore, you could also easily get tired in the hunt. Do you have the latest or fastest technology? Availability of the right equipment with right and latest or at least fast working hardware and software is necessary for your productivity. You could be otherwise wasting a lot of time waiting between mouse clicks or dealing with a piece of paper at your jammed printer. Decision making: I am not talking about deciding on which contract to sign or to choose the right technician for your lab. I am talking about wasting your time at deciding on the colour of the printer to buy

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rather than spending time to decide on which brand to buy. Most of the people are concerned about little things that are not really crucial to get things done. This could be an addiction. And if these people seek for perfection at all those little things, then they could easily waste years deciding on the colour of their office chair.

Are you tired? Take a break: You do become tired and it is normal. Do not push yourself beyond the limits if your computer screen goes blurry. Instead take a short break, a nap, or take a walk. You may ask if this is not wasting time. But no, you are recharging yourself and when you get back at your desk you will be more productive. If you are tired and pushing yourself at your desk you are certainly doing nothing productive and simply wasting time. Learn to say NO: You may or may not be a professional, but you must learn to say NO when needed. If you cannot, then you will be wasting

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17 Chapter 4: A Round Up On Time Wasters: Watch Out!

adequate amount of time in the unnecessary tasks that come in. You miss your goal, your day will not be as planned or how it should be. So learn to say NO to things that you really cant take. Your time online: It is essential for some people to keep their email client open for work purpose. But do they use their work time ONLY to read/take action/reply to work-related emails? The answer is NO in most of the cases. Email is one of the major distractions at work and it is essential to identify work-related and nonwork-related emails. You should deal with only work-related emails at work time and save your personal emails to be dealt sometime after work or during lunch breaks. Crisis management: Be prepared for whatever is to come. When you are working on a project, always make a list of things that you think might go wrong. And, be prepared with a plan B. If you are running around cabins in your office when something goes wrong, then you are wasting a lot of time since you were not prepared to face things. Having a plan C is also not bad.

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18 Chapter 5: Procrastination

Chapter 5: Procrastination
Procrastination is everywhere and so are procrastinators. Postponing a task doesnt save you any time but you actually reschedule it for another day and time. So the tasks which were already assigned for that day and time have to be squeezed or postponed in order to execute this postponed task. This is not good. So why do you procrastinate in the first place? Here are 6 possible reasons: Are you the one who dreams about achieving heights but wonder why you havent yet reached there? Have you realized that this is due to your habit of procrastination? Well that is a good start! But you still wonder why you keep procrastination. Read on to know 6 reasons that make you procrastinate. No goal: When you are not sure about what you want to accomplish, you set that task aside and start thinking about it (or day dreaming) or choose another task. This undefined task will be on your list until you set clear goals about what to achieve and have an action plan for the same. This is the most common reason that people end up hesitating in starting a task, thus procrastinating the same.

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Overwhelming: When the task has to be done amidst a heap of other important tasks, you simply choose to procrastinate this one task, thinking for good, but it isnt actually. This usually happens when you are not good at prioritizing tasks, you could have avoided the overwhelming feeling otherwise. Tasks of no interest: When a task involves actions that are so boring, say if it will take half a day waiting at an office, or involves intense copypaste, then it is natural to postpone it. This is not so serious, since it is good to postpone such tasks, rather than being unproductive. You can rather choose another task that is of interest to you to refresh your mind and body and take up this task at a later time. Tasks that demand more than your expertise: When you have no background knowledge that is required to execute a task, you need to gain expertise first. Such tasks will appear alarming and you simply wont have the confidence to start it until you think that you have got enough expertise to deal with it. So you procrastinate the task until you gain the required expertise. This is not bad, unless you take a very long time in which case you may be demotivated.

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Fear of failure: In this case you dont start tasks fearing about what will happen after. You hesitate to start and this hesitation slowly builds up into something big leading to multiple procrastinations. You just need to overcome this fear by yourself and somehow make your mind to be prepared for any kind of a result. Just tell yourself that you wont care about the result but will simply put your hard work in place. Laziness: You probably dont need an explanation for this. You procrastinate things because you are just lazy and it is so hard for you to sit on your butt and get things done. You simply cannot kick start your first draft. You just have to make up your mind and overcome the laziness that makes you to postpone your tasks for no reason. So you know why you procrastinate. Having known that lets find out how to complete tasks in a given time, for good. This is possibly the biggest question in your life if you are reading this post. Everybody encounters this problem in everyday life managing day-to-day tasks amongst busy schedules and deadlines (possibly also the word hated by most people). We can always not complete the assigned tasks in time

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and provide reasons for the doing so. Of course, we will certainly have reasons for not doing something. The point is: Is it healthy to do so? Certainly not because not doing something means that the task is either postponed or rejected. Continuous postponing will result in accumulation of tasks and it is really hard to break the chain later. We need to put hell lot of time and effort to finally catch up with the schedule. Similarly one cannot simply survive by rejecting the tasks. This will spoil their career and it might be a full stop to their business. So how to complete tasks in a given time? There are 3 key tips to do this. Not Procrastinating: Procrastination is often considered as the best solution to put off work and the accompanying pressure. Most of us dont realize that by procrastinating, we are not reducing the pressure but building it up to erupt one day, not so later. The time taken to reject or postpone a task can simply be used to actually doing the task. The point is, in telling yourself to do this later and repeating the same several times a day, you will gain nothing but lose hell lot of time and effort. The time you think that you save today by procrastinating should be put to use in double to accomplish the same task tomorrow among tomorrows other tasks.
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Likewise, by procrastinating, you already preoccupy tomorrow and there is no room for the actual tasks of tomorrow. This is nothing but making things worse. Misjudging the time needed: Every task requires some fixed amount of time to be completed. So when you are about to take up a task, it is up to you to decide the time you need to accomplish it. The time to accomplish a particular task differs from person to person. Some will finish the work in an hour while the same work will take a couple of hours for others depending on their knowledge and expertise in the field. Peoples working style also differs. So you know yourself. Allotting the correct amount of time you think will be needed to finish a task is a good practice. Such people will not have the chance to complain that they were not given enough time. If you need to attend a meeting at 90 clock in the morning, you plan your travel, taking into account the waiting times at the cross road signals, possible traffic jams and so on. Similar is the case. You know the time you need to finish the task, you know the deadline, so the start the task accordingly. Being Organized: Being organized is one of the prime requirements in order to be

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productive. You could simply waste 2 minutes per project in looking for client addresses. Adding up, this may end up in an hour wasted if you deal with 30 projects a day. Alternatively you could spend ten minutes a day in maintaining a file for client addresses for each project. Disorganized persons simply waste time in doing the same things again and again and they are not able to work effectively. The time and effort they spend in doing 10 things a day can be used to actually accomplish twenty things in the same day.

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24 Chapter 6: The 3D Approach to Effective Time Management

Chapter 6: The 3D Approach to Effective Time Management


Well we are in the last Chapter now, and I hope that you have followed me till now. Just a small recap before this Chapters contentTime management is the most critical part that most of the people are bad at. Everyone seriously wants to manage their time effectively. But managing time effectively is a skill that is not learned overnight, but one has to practice it to become a master. Of course, it is not an impossible thing to do and it is not necessary that you should be surrounded by staff and gadgets around to help you in managing your time. Actually it takes nothing but yourself to manage your time. However, it is highly advisable to make use of anything and everything available to getting things done in the easier, faster and in the most effective way. I am going to discuss about three important Ds in the context of time management: Divide, Defer and Delegate. Some people are comfortable in using any or all of these three Ds while most others simply dont feel right about it. Let me discuss why these three Ds are important and how to use them in order to manage time effectively.

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Divide Divide means dividing your tasks in to chunks. This is so vital and by dividing you can execute your tasks in a more efficient manner. Dividing is very useful if your task is a big one and either (i) has lots of steps and the steps are all dependent or (ii) involves varied and diverse types of little things. In any case, instead of dealing with the whole big task, divide it into smaller chunks based on (i) the sequence in which the little steps need to be executed or (ii) the type of each little chunk. Essentially dividing according to (i) will demand sequential execution of the tasks since chunk 1 needs to be completed first and based on its results or using its results, chunk 2 has to be executed and so on. While a parallel execution is possible with option (ii) if the result of the tasks are not dependent on each other and/or a sequential execution is not necessary. It is obvious that for option (ii) the divide concept will work well because different types of tasks are executed simultaneously in different places that add to the bigger task. It may seem that for option (i) the divide concept wont work.
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However, dividing the task into sequential chunks and executing them one by one will give a clear picture of how far you have gone and it is also a good motivator; you get an amazing feeling when you cross out an item in the list. Defer Procrastination is not always bad. You can also use procrastination for good. When you are not in the mood to do something, it is better to postpone the task for a later time, rather than sitting unproductive. The same applies to tasks that dont occur at the right time. Do not pick up to write your thesis at 2 in the morning. Do it when you are fresh both physically and mentally. Delegate Delegation is sweet. It has both pros and cons but if you manage to do it in the right way, you could accomplish a lot in less time. Delegation essentially means outsourcing parts of your job to other people who are either experts in doing that or who are meant to do that. But it is very important that you take extra care to do the delegation process carefully; the care should be more than the care you would take to do the task by yourself. Since you are asking someone else to do your job, you should make emphasis on the accountability. There are two

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different cases here: (i) if the other person is meant to do the task you assign to them, then he/she is completely accountable for the consequences regarding that task. This applies if the person is appointed by you or your company in order to help you or in order to do that particular kind of the job. (ii) if you ask the other person to do part of your job as a help, then that person is certainly not accountable for whatever consequences. In any case, double check outsourced tasks for correctness. Be clear about the deadlines when you initially delegate the task and make sure you follow up with little reminders well before the deadline. Dont give the job to someone, forget about it totally and call them to your cabin on the day when it is due. Further, do provide all necessary background information that is necessary to complete the delegated task. These three Ds stand for your rescue when you feel so tight about managing your time. Why not use them? Why and How should you Delegate Effectively? One of the Ds in the 3D approach is delegation. Delegation literally means outsourcing. No one is an expert in everything. Your expertise is specific and it cannot be spread everywhere.
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Even though you can display interest in learning new things, life does not allow you to always learn. You need to produce to make everyone happy. So here comes delegation at your service. When you are designing a magazine cover, the idea or the layout can be yours. But starting from putting your idea in the paper (or a chart) in the draft form to making it a posh, glossy, colourful and beautiful magazine cover, there is a lot of different aspects involved and you cannot deal with all of them; if you choose to deal with all of them, this will be the last thing you are designing. So you either have a team allocated to you, or you find one for yourself. You delegate different tasks to different people. Someone draws the draft out; someone else prints it for you, someone else sends it for approval, someone else takes care of the to and fro of the printing process, someone else compiles everything together- see I can go on writing and there are essentially so many steps from the idea coming out of your mind to the idea getting its final shape. You can choose to learn all by yourself; but do you think that it is possible? You have to spend reasonable amount of time and you have your regular things to do (usually under pressure). So you now agree with me that delegation is vital. Let us see how to do it.

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Decide and let go First of all, it is the starting syndrome. You have to make a decision. You have to make your mind that it is not necessary to take care of everything. Sometimes the unnecessary guilt takes over. The fact that you are not doing it by yourself doesnt mean that you dont care for it. Get rid of all the ifs and buts and just decide to let go. Identify tasks to delegate: Once you have made up your mind, identify those tasks that dont fit into your expertise. It may be one or more tasks; the key is to identify those tasks correctly. Identify the right persons: The tasks that are to be outsourced are selected. Right, you now have to make the vital choice of the correct persons. Remember, you have decided to give this task to someone else because you are not an expert in handling that task. So you have to choose another person who is not just able to handle the task but who can do it efficiently for you. The purpose of delegating tasks should be served; and you should save time and energy in delegating the tasks. If you do delegate the task to a wrong person, you have to spend a substantially large amount of time in reviewing the completed tasks and correcting the associated

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shortcomings. So be wise and choose the right person. The deadline (dont be too strict or too loose about it): When you divide the task among different persons be sure to make it clear about the deadline. Mention the deadline clearly with emphasize, if needed. However do not be too strict about the deadline if you think that it may trade the quality of the work. Dont forget to review the delegated work When you receive the completed tasks from different persons, you must review all of them before moving on to the next step or finalizing things. After all, the major job or the task is yours and you have divided it among different persons. You should be accountable for the final task or the outcome. So make sure that everything is correct before further processing. Here are some additional points to take care of: Make it clear- the purpose of the work, what is to be done exactly, when is the deadline, which area needs to be attended more and which is not so important and so on. Provide necessary support- provide all the necessary background materials, tutorials, training etc. that are needed to carry out the delegated task.

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31 Chapter 6: The 3D Approach to Effective Time Management

The accountability- thats a caveat. People wont be serious since it is not their work but yours and they are doing it for you. So as applicable make the accountability clear. It is either you or the person doing the task is accountable for its consequences and outcomes. Do not overdo delegation- it will take extra time and effort to review the delegated tasks. Delegation is an art and if appropriately used, it can support you in your job/business.

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32 What Now?

What Now?
I wont say that you have learned about managing mastering time. Youve just got the clue! It is not a lesson that is learned overnight, it is rather an art which comes by practise. You need to implement effective techniques each and every day. You have keep it moving, be creative, try out new kinds of planners, calendars, organizers and so on. If you enjoyed this book, you can check out my other blogs: Tech Buzz Online (technology/social media news/strategies) Merry Relationships (relationship advice and tips) Jane Sheeba (my personal blog) And dont forget to grab your blueprint to successful blogging! Check it out here Problogging Action Plan Guest Blogging Champion Can you please spread the word? Thanks!

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