10 Time-Management Problem Areas

Posted by Ian McKenzie
Written on May 7, 2008

Posted in

  1. Lack of priorities/objectives. This is the biggest waster of time. You need to know what is important in moving your towards your goals. Those who accomplish the most know exactly where they are going. Too many of us think goal setting is a yearly function and not a daily consideration. This results in time spent on minor things and not on things which are important to our success. Learn to set effective goals.
  2. Shifting priorities and crisis management. Management guru Peter Drucker said, “crisis management is actually the form of management preferred by most managers” The irony is, taking action before the crisis might have prevented the problem in the first place. Eliminate “management by crisis.”
  3. The telephone. Have you ever had one of those days when you thought your true calling was to be a receptionist? The telephone can be the biggest enemy to effectiveness if you don’t control its hold over you.
  4. Attempting too much. Do you feel you have to accomplish everything yesterday and don’t give yourself enough time to do things properly? This leads to half-finished projects and no feeling of achievement.
  5. Drop in visitor. The five deadliest words in time management are “Have you got a minute?” Everyone is a culprit: colleagues, your boss, suppliers. Knowing how to deal with interruptions is one of the best skills you can learn.
  6. Ineffective delegation. Good delegation is a key skill in managers and leaders. The best managers know how to delegate work to staff and ensure it is done correctly. This is probably the best way of building a teams moral and reducing your workload at the same time. The general rule is, if one of your staff can do it 80% as well as you can, delegate it.
  7. The cluttered desk. When you have finished reading this post look at your desk. If you can see less than 75% of the surface, it’s time to clean your desk. The most effective people work from clean desks.
  8. Procrastination. The biggest thief of time is not decision making but decision avoidance. By reducing procrastination you substantially increase the amount of active time available to you.
  9. The inability to say no. If people can dump their work on to you, they will. Some of the most stressed people around lack the skill to ‘just say no’ for fear of upsetting people. If you want to get your time-management under control, you have to learn to say no!
  10. Meetings, bloody meetings. Another Peter Drucker quote, “Meetings are a symptom of bad organization. The fewer meetings the better.” Studies have shown, the average manager spends about 17 hours a week in meetings, about 6 hours in planning to have meetings and untold hours in the follow up to meetings. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible for an organization to function without having meetings. The trick is to make the most of meeting time.

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