Time is on Your Side - Manage it Wisely
How do you manage your time? Or is the more appropriate question
do you wish you had better time management skills? I have
clients and friends who rely on everything from legal pads to
brightly colored sticky notepads to manage their time and
appointments – practically everything in their life. I don’t
understand why some folks place so little importance on
something as important as time management!
As a professional Virtual Assistant, I have numerous clients and
tasks I must complete every day. I also have a hectic personal
life, full of family responsibilities and my hobbies. Organizing
my time is critical to my success and to maintaining my sanity.
Submitted for your reading pleasure, and to enhance your brain,
are some of my tips for effectively and efficiently managing one
of your most valuable resources: time.
Determine What Works Best for You
We’re all different in regards to time management — what works
for you may not suit me or my style. Are you constantly on the
go and need your calendar at your fingertips? Or, do you prefer
to keep a paper calendar? Do you loath computers and all they
stand for, or are you so wired Edison would be jealous? Whatever
tools you choose to include in your arsenal, ensure they’re
tools you’ll use consistently.
The Building Blocks of Better Time Management
My time management tools are Microsoft Outlook® and my trusty
PDA. Outlook serves all my appointment, e-mail and tasking needs
in one easy-to-use package.
Two of my favorite Outlook tools are the Categories and Labels
features. Categories allow me to classify my calendar items and
tasks in a variety of ways, such as Clients, Potential Clients,
Personal, and so forth. In addition, you can also Advanced Find
(search) Categories, so no more wasted time looking for a
calendar appointment or journal entry for a particular client.
Unlike the seemingly unlimited number of Categories you may
setup, you are limited to ten (10) Labels (at least in the 2002
version). Labels allow you to color code your Calendar so you’ll
know at a glance which items are personal in nature, and which
are client related.
Consistency is the Key
Whatever system you have in place or are considering to
implement, the key point to remember is consistency. Follow the
same procedures each and every time, without fail. Ensure you
put good habits into play and more important, follow those good
habits!
When I create new appointments or tasks, I use the first few
characters to define the “owner” (client or myself) of that
appointment or task. For example, when creating items for client
Tom Smith, I’ll preface all items with TSMITH. When searching
for items for Tom, I know if I search for “TSMITH” I’ll access
all items related to this client. I’ll also apply a Label to my
appointments, such as TeleCon, PCI (Potential Client Interview),
or Personal.
I pad all appointments with a 15-minute buffer on each side. I
also schedule breaks during my workday.
My clients appreciate that each Monday I release my “Lori’s
Schedule”e-mail, a brief note notifying my clients when I’ll be
out of the office for that week. For example, all my clients
know I’m a member of the Editorial Team for a well-known eZine
and they know that unless it’s an emergency, I am not available
during this meeting.
When I interview potential clients, interns and vendors, I keep
detailed conversation notes in the memo field for that Contact.
I date all telephone conversations and apply color coding (font
coloring) to each conversation. All interviews are kept to 30
minutes – no exceptions. My Desktop timer helps me keep track of
the time, and sounds a horn .WAV file when it’s time to end the
interview.
If I need to follow up with someone, I immediately create an
appointment, applying Categories and a Label, and attach any
necessary external documents (Word, Excel, etc.). For Calendar
appointments, I also keep track of the number of times I’ve
attempted to contact that person. Example: For vendor Lisa
Andrews, I’ll preface the appointment with LA(2), where the
parenthetical (2) means this is my second attempt to contact
Lisa. I allow a maximum of three follow up attempts – no
exceptions. Chasing people down is a waste of my time–time I’d
prefer to spend bringin’ home the bacon.
You Make the Call
Pet Peeve: Folks who call me and have no clue what they want to
say. I’ve been known to hang up on such occasions, so let’s
ensure you don’t make the same mistake!
A few basic rules of etiquette follow:
1. Peace & quiet rule the day, especially if you’re making a
business call. If the kids or your husband are home, close the
door to your office. If there’s a large amount of street
traffic, go to an inner room in your home, as far away from the
noise as possible. You don’t want to shout over the din;
instead, make the din disappear.
2. Know what you’re going to say! I’ve advised numerous clients
to have either an index card or a small sheet of paper with the
bullet points of what they want to say. I do something similar –
in the Calendar appointment for the telephone call, I include
bullet points in the memo field and make notes during the course
of the conversation.
3. Keep it brief. Make your point, get down to business and
let’s rock and roll.
4. Be on time. Have respect for the person you’re about to call.
They’ve set aside valuable time to talk to you.
You’ve Made Your List, Now Check It the 2nd Time
Spend a few minutes at the end of your day to review tomorrow’s
calendar. Doing so will get you prepared for tomorrow and will
jump start your memory if you forgot to do something. Do you
have any faxes still waiting to go out? Did you remember to call
the printer and OK the proof? Any prep work you need to do for
tomorrow? Take five minutes, review your calendar and to do list
and then complete any last minute work.
It’s All Relative – Well, Your Relatives Think So
I know many people who have home-based businesses and at least
75% of them do not have a “family policy” in place. Question:
How can you work effectively from home if your girlfriends are
calling you all the time, and if Uncle Joe stops by several
times a day? Answer: You can’t. What to do? Inform your family
and close friends that unless it’s a dire emergency, the family
chit-chat and visits need to be kept to a minimum. For your
part, you must ensure you call your dad at the end of the day to
check in, and tell your girlfriend Lisa that yes, you can have
lunch with her on Thursday. It’s all about balance: part work,
part play. Too much of the former will make you crazy!
“No” is Not a Four Letter Word (Subtitle: Even if it were, you
should still utter it now and then)
Say this out loud, “It’s okay for me to say no.” Doesn’t that
feel better? More important, do you believe it?
Do not allow the procrastination or the good intentions of
others to encroach upon your time. If you do not have the time
today to handle a task, be honest and say so. Offer alternative
dates and times when you are available, ensuring you mark these
times as “unavailable” on your calendar so you don’t book other
appointments during this time.
Remember, time is money. Learn how to organize and manage your
time–you’ll be glad you did!
Copyright 2005 Lori Davis. All rights reserved.