21 Techniques to Improve Your Time Management Guide: Š MBA 2007
Mark Butcher
An MBA Fast Track Management Guide
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21 Techniques to Improve Your Time Management. The MBA Guide: © MBA 2007
Contents Introduction
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Why manage your time?
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1. Think about results, not ‘activities’
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2. Make your goals SMART
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3. Achieve your goals step by step
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4. Prioritise your workload
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5. Favour important activities over urgent tasks
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6. Delegate effectively
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7. Confirm your job role
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8. Go home early
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9. Use a ‘to do’ list
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10. Use the ‘Popcorn Technique’
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11. Plan continually
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12. Schedule important work into high energy periods
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13. Use the ‘hidden hour’
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14. Learn to say ‘no’
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15. Manage your meetings
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16. Cope with interruptions
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17. Tidy your desk
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18. Manage your e-mails
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19. Tackle procrastination – take action
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20. Deal with stress
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21. Persevere
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Further reading
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About the author
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21 Techniques to Improve Your Time Management Guide: © MBA 2007
Introduction About MBA MBA, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, is one of the U.K.'s leading providers of training, consultancy and information to voluntary, community and statutory sector organisations. In the past 14 years we have worked with hundreds of organisations across Europe, Africa and the U.S.A. including the National Trust in London, the European Cultural Foundation in Amsterdam and the Carmichael Centre in Dublin. Our mission is to enable not-for-profit organisations and the individuals within them to exceed expectations and operate at a higher level.
About MBA Fast Track Management Guides
Each Fast Track Guide is designed to give you a quick overview of a specific management issue, covering all of the points and issues.
Other titles in the series include:
Leading Your Team
The 10 Golden Rules of Not-for-Profit Marketing
An Introduction To Project Management
The Magic Circle – Strategic Planning for Nonprofits
Influencing and Negotiating Skills
High Impact Presentation Skills
Fundraising
Peak Performance
Did you know? By joining MBA’s online Gold Membership Scheme you would receive four Fast Track Management Guides for free, hundreds of other Knowledge Bank management resources and our bi-monthly fundraising bulletin. Visit our web-site for more information (www.mba-consulting.co.uk),.
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21 Techniques to Improve Your Time Management. The MBA Guide: Š MBA 2007
About this Management Guide There are two ways to benefit from this publication. You can read it from cover to cover (we have kept it nice and short to help you). This will give you access to all of the key ideas, themes and issues related to the subject.
If you have more time though, you can work through the exercises, apply the learning to your own organisation and share your thinking with colleagues. Although this will demand more time, we strongly believe it will give you better results and real solutions to your specific challenges.
Taking Your Learning further You can find full details of the publications, training, consultancy services and information resources available from MBA Consulting at www.mba-consulting.co.uk .
ŠMBA 2007. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without permission. The contents must not be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form, by way of trade or otherwise. Please feel free however to print hard copies for internal use within your organisation or team. www.mba-consulting.co.uk. Tel: 0191 226 7304/6
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21 Techniques to Improve Your Time Management Guide: Š MBA 2007
Why manage your time?
The times they are a – changing
Think about the implications:
We live in a pressurised world. People work long
If you fit this profile, then your job is being
hours, they are stressed; our culture promotes
attempted by someone who is only about three
overwork and over commitment.
quarters as intelligent, sharp, focused and capable
These things are true of society at large, and they
as you. And that someone is, of course, you!
are certainly increasingly true of the not-for- profit sector. More targets, more emphasis on outcomes, greater competition for funding, increasing requirements to monitor and evaluate. These factors, together with a powerful trend towards greater professionalism and tighter regulation of the not-for-profit sector have all increased the pressure on trustees, managers and front line staff to perform, to be effective, to achieve. In short, the not-for-profit sector is a much more challenging place to work in than it was just a few years ago.
We need strategies to cope with this increased pressure or the results for individual workers are
The results of this pressure can be damaging
likely to include more mistakes, increased stress
indeed. Some academic studies suggest that a
related illness, even, ultimately, burn-out. From
decline in performance of anything up to 25% will
the employers’ point of view, failure to equip
result for those very busy people who repeatedly
personnel with the tools they need to remain
work late, regularly spend long hours travelling
effective in an increasingly demanding world will
and who often take work home at the weekend.
mean a struggle to achieve goals and difficulties in delivering the mission. This book was written specifically to offer a programme and toolkit to help.
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