TGIF People!!! Another week done and gone! But how many of us are actually leaving at 5pm and enjoying the weekend? Here are 3 Time Management tips to help you make a hasty exit and enjoy some much needed R&R.
#1. Realize you can leave before everything’s finished – Even if the Inbox is full. Here’s the truth, in today’s rapid-fire email, voice mail and skyped-in-meetings, it’s very unrealistic that you’ll ever cross that last item off of the to do list, do the happy dance, and leave, scot free. Just know that it’s OKAY to live your life and leave your work behind for a day or two. Unless you’re a surgeon, everyone will probably survive until Monday morning.
#2. To Support the 5pm Exit, Perform a 4pm Triage. Yes, I’m still on the surgeon kick. If you’re reading this and looking at your goals for today, knowing you can’t make it all happen by 5, set an alarm to remind you it’s 4 (or 3) and then pick the one or two things that must get done, that you CAN get done. If the job is too big to finish by 5, then don’t go near it. Send an honest note to the other team members, clients or colleagues involved and just tell them you’ll have to pick it up Monday. Be disciplined and STICK to that line. Everyone else WILL learn that boundary – IF you can.
#3. When You Leave, LEAVE. Yep, this is the hard one. When you walk out the door, part of time management means being where your feet are planted. Multi-tasking can be nothing but a distraction at times. Allow yourself to leave it all behind and have confidence that you can pick it up, full on, Monday morning. The things you need to do on the weekend, and the people you impact, are just as important. Maybe moreso.
How do you use OfficeTime? Let us know – or share your own best time management tips – and get featured in our blog! And if you’re not a user yet, get your trial download of our amazing little time tracker at http://OfficeTime.net.
Time. The real commodity.
Yours Truly, Stephen Dodd
Creator of OfficeTime.net