Time Management Tip of the Week

Posted by Emily Hargrave, Total Quality Account Manager

Make the Most of "Waiting Time"

From delayed flights, to the doctor's office, to your morning commute on the train... Make the most of your "waiting time". Whether it's finally catching up on that article you've been waiting to read, brainstorming ideas for your next team meeting, or planning out your next work day, try to make most of those minutes and hours that could be lost otherwise. If you don't have a laptop or PDA, try to keep a pad of paper with you for unexpected opportunities!

Time Management Tip of the Week - TweetDeck

Posted by Jillian Malenfant, Total Quality Account Manager




Twitter can be quite overwhelming for new and established users. The more followers or people the person follows than the more confusing the flood of updates and information can be. TweetDeck brings organization and consolidation to your Twitter experience.



It is a free application allowing users to organize, update, and essentially handle all the @replies, direct messages, retweets, and updates that come up 24/7.

Time Management Tip of the Week

Posted by Ashley Hedlund, Total Quality Account Manager

ASSIGN NEXT STEPS:

It’s critical that you understand each task's very next step. If you know your next step ahead of time you can quickly work towards completing each project. The added benefit is your monumental meal becomes manageable bites.

source: GTD-style

Time Management Tip of the Week

Posted by Jillian Malenfant, Total Quality Account Manager

KNOW WHEN YOU WORK BEST

Some folks are morning people, while others take a while to wake up and get in the groove. Know your most productive hours of the day and schedule your challenging work during those hours.

Time Management Tip of the Week

Posted by Ashley Hedlund, Total Quality Account Manager

DO THE RIGHT THING RIGHT!
Take time to do things right the first time. This will save you time in the end. Doing the right thing is effectiveness; doing things right is efficiency. Focus first on effectiveness (identifying what is the right thing to do), then concentrate on efficiency (doing it right). If you rush through something you may have to spend time redoing it later. So spend time doing things right!

Time Management Tip of the Week

Posted by Emily Hargrave, Total Quality Account Manager

Battle Procrastination and Chip Away at Difficult Tasks!

We all know how easy it is to keep putting of a daunting task until it absolutely must be done. Get in the habit of setting time limits for tasks. Instead of waiting until the last minute and working on a project for hours on end, set a limit of 30 minutes a day for this project and stick to it until it is complete. Start early, and make the most of your time in the end! This can even be applied to tasks like responding to emails and sending out follow-up communications.

Time Management Tip of the Week

Posted by Jillian Malenfant, Total Quality Account Manager

Delegation
When you delegate something to someone else you need to decide what it is, who is best qualified to undertake it, and what information you need to provide; but mainly you have to take on the responsibility together and accept the fact that it might not be executed exactly as you would have done it.

Time Management Tip of the Week!

Posted by Kristen Doescher, Total Quality Account Manager

Timelogs- Evaluate how You are Spending your Time

Keep a diary of how you are spending your time for a few days. See what tasks you could spend less time on and what tasks need more attention. You may not realize how much time you are spending doing tasks that aren't that important and how crunched you are for time on tasks that require more attention.

You can easily track your time with the "tasks" feature in Microsoft Outlook.

Time Management Tip of the Week!

Posted by Emily Hargrave, Total Quality Account Manager

Get in-sync with your biological clock.

What time of day are you at your prime? “Morning person”? “Night Owl”? Use this to your advantage when prioritizing your day. Try to schedule your important daily tasks during the times that you are most “effective”. In the end, this will lead to the most efficient time management.

Time Management Tip of the Week

Posted by Jillian Malenfant, Total Quality Account Manager

Work with a clean desk.

Keep the clutter before you at a minimum and you will have a more accurate focus on what you need to do to increase your daily productivity.

"Out of sight, out of mind." The reverse of that is true too. When it's in sight, it's in mind and we cannot help but be distracted.

Time Management Tip of the Week!

Posted by Kristen Doescher, Total Quality Account Manager

Don't leave email sitting in your Inbox

"The ability to quickly process and synthesize information and turn it into actions is one of the most emergent skills of the professional world today," says Merlin Mann, editor of the productivity blog 43 Folders. Organize email in file folders. If the message needs more thought, move it to your to-do list. If it's for reference, print it out. If it's a meeting, move it to your calendar.

"One thing young people are really good at is only touching things once. You don't see young people scrolling up and down their email pretending to work," says Mann. Take action on an email as soon as you read it.

Time Management Tip of the Week!

Posted by Jillian Malenfant, Account Manager

Prioritize your day with the hardest tasks first. Your mind is sharpest in the morning, before the daily tasks begin to wear it out. Therefore, instead of easing yourself into the day (as most people do) tackle your hardest projects first. No matter what your job or assignment, when you can get the hardest tasks done and out of the way, you are able to think more clearly the rest of the day.

Time Management Tip of the Week!

Posted by Kristen Doescher, Account Manager

According to the Mayo Clinic's tips to reduce stress and improve productivity, you can improve your time management and productivity by taking a break when needed.

Too much stress can derail your attempts at getting organized. When you need a break, take one. Take a walk around the block. Do some quick stretches at your workstation or desk. Take a day of vacation to rest and re-energize. No matter what you do, you will come back feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the difficult tasks on your to-do list.