by Exactly

Created on: October 01, 2008   Last Updated: October 08, 2008

Managing Your Time in Your Business

The fundamentals of being able to get your work done, comes down to building an organized foundation, prioritizing, and communicating. Start with what you already know and just add these basic fundamentals.
You will be pleasantly surprised how you can actually time all your tasks for completion.

The best foundation of organization that I have ever used is a filing system with individually labeled folders numbered from 1 to 31, for each day of any given month. Given this system you can file notes, documents, mail, phone lists, truly anything that is going to remind you that on this particular day you need to complete A, B, C, and X, Y, Z. When you start off organized it is much easier to finish organized.

The best way to utilize this system is to make sure you begin each day prioritizing. Most people will go into the day feeling overwhelmed and wondering, what am I going to have to do today and where do I start.
Now any successful person will tell you the key to a productive and successful day are their prioritized list. For example today is September 30, I grab my 30th folder and go through the entire folder first. Rummaging through the notes, documents, mailings, whatever I left in there to remind me of the projects and tasks I need completed today. With my planned calendar I design my priority list starting with deadlines (top priority), and compare the others based on the importance of the other tasks in the folder. For each task you need to block out times for completion.
I recommend using both minutes and hours it is a more efficient way of managing your time. Now here is the other thing if for some reason you were unable to complete your list. Whatever you did not finish put in the folder for the next day and make that your top priority tomorrow.

So now you are organized and prioritized, you can pretty much accomplish anything. Except lets add in communicating into the mix.
This is a very important key point especially in a work environment that includes other people. The reality is when you are housed in a building with other people there is a tendency to socialize. Now, there is nothing wrong with socializing, because every once in a while it is always funny to hear about the crazy things that happen around the office or someone's life. We all love a mini soap opera ever now and again.

However, you must remember your co-workers do not pay your bills, so they don't necessarily have your best interest at heart. On top of that you have already dedicated a chunk of your day to work.
You blocked out 8-10 hours already and you don't want to have to lengthen it. Long days lead to a stressed out boring life. Not fun or healthy. So, here is a clever way to communicate with your office that you are working and this is not a good time for banter. I like the concept of a hotel's room of the Do Not Disturb sign. Make a few signs of your own. How about; In The Process of Making Money-Come Back Later; or I'm Doing My Business Take Your Business Somewhere Else. I am certain you could manage a more clever message.

Take on the challenge of managing your time at work by utilizing these tips. I am certain you will be able to better manage your time if you stick with the fundamentals. Don't get stuck at work or overwhelmed because you just may have to miss Friday night's happy hour. Will I see you there?

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