Years ago when I started in this business, it seemed many clients had difficulty identifying their priorities. This isn't as true today as it was then. Unfortunately, now what I hear clients say is?'I can identify my priorities with no problem, but I can't get to them. At the end of the day I look up and realize I never got to the one thing I needed to do.' We are all busier today than ever before. A certain amount of chaos in our lives has become acceptable. But it has also cost us focus. Here are a few suggestions on identifying and working on getting to your priorities:
Create SMART goals and visit them regularly.
In order to know your priorities, you first need to know your goals-both personal and professional-because one flows from the other. Make sure your goals are SMART. Zig Ziglar says SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Accountable, Relevant and Timelined. Now make sure you visit them daily. If your goals are SMART and visible, you are paving the road to then identifying your priorities.
Create focus time.
If you have identified your priorities but are not protecting time to work on them, you are setting yourself up for frustration and stress. Everyone deserves some amount of uninterrupted time to work on things they have identified as 'important'?and not necessarily 'urgent'. The Covey Time Matrix this represents Quadrant II activity and it is where about 75% of our time should be spent. If you think you don't have time to do this, consider the fact that you don't have time NOT to do this.
Minimize priority busters.
During my 'Clear your desk. Clear your mind. Organize it.' workshop, we identify and talk about how to handle the 3 top priority busters-interruptions, overcommitment and procrastination. Not only are we interrupted at least 8 times an hour, but it takes about 20 minutes to climb back into the project we were working on prior the interruption. If you are committed to your priorities, over-committing is more difficult. Each time you encourage or allow an interruption or over-commitment, you are letting others pull you into their priority at the expense of your own. The third and most obvious priority buster is?procrastination. Every time you delay a decision to work on something important, you become your own priority buster! Identify your procrastination roadblocks and move forward in overcoming them.
Begin practicing these basic time management principles and remember?time flies but YOU are the navigator.
Copyright 2002. Cynthia Kyriazis. All rights reserved.
Cynthia Kyriazis is an organizing and time management consultant, trainer, speaker, coach and author with over 20 years management experience in multi-unit corporations. Organize it, a division of Productivity Partners, Inc. is an organizational training firm she founded in 1995 and has been serving Fortune 500 clients ever since. Cynthia works with business and their employees to help improve performance and realize productivity gains.
Cynthia has appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Kansas City Star and the Legal Intelligencer. She currently serves as Secretary on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), member of the National Speakers Association (NSA), member of the Kansas City of the International Society for Performance Improvement ? (ISPI-KC) and consultant to the American Coaching Association.
Ashley limo service .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareDo you have plenty to do, but don't have enough... Read More
Tring ? Tring the alarm rings?but did you fail to... Read More
Today, it is hard to open an e-mail newsletter, a... Read More
How many people do you know who are so busy... Read More
Determine Your Procrastination PersonalityBrook Noel is the author of The... Read More
Microsoft wanted to know how individuals around the world were... Read More
My husband and I recently returned from a trip to... Read More
"There is never enough time, unless you're serving it." -Malcolm... Read More
Benjamin Franklin wrote: "If you want to enjoy one of... Read More
Choose to be HappyHappiness is a choice. You can choose... Read More
Do you manage your time or does your time manage... Read More
Recently I was working with a new client who had... Read More
Are you working a "day job" while building your home-based... Read More
"How do you DO it?!" If I had a dime... Read More
OK...let's assume that you're truly motivated to change. Great. But... Read More
Time is money in your online business, just as in... Read More
As mothers we play so many different roles and most... Read More
Any habit of mind or body that interferes with taking... Read More
Number Yourself: Count yourself as an important individual. You are... Read More
"Time management" is a myth. Time ticks by, whether you... Read More
Most of us have a to-do list ? some of... Read More
"TIME CANNOT BE 'MANAGED.' THE WHOLE CONCEPT OF TIME MANAGEMENT... Read More
Time management is absolute crucial nowadays where business decisions have... Read More
Time is wealth;Time is health; Time is power; Time is... Read More
As a business owner, wouldn't it be great if you... Read More
car service from Midway Arena ..The Internet is increasingly becoming a major time killer for... Read More
As the song goes, this is the time to relax,... Read More
This past Friday I was asked to speak with a... Read More
Time management is absolute crucial nowadays where business decisions have... Read More
"Can you find four extra hours in your day?" a... Read More
"Slaves to the clock" was the cover story in the... Read More
There is no such thing as time management. You cannot... Read More
Recently I saw an advertisement for a time management booklet:... Read More
There are times, when I am driving in my car... Read More
Time is money in your online business, just as in... Read More
"Fashionably late" is no longer in fashion. In today's heavily... Read More
When a good friend asked me to contribute a little... Read More
Time - it is the one thing that we are... Read More
If you have ever missed an appointment, forgotten to pick... Read More
If you can regularly ask yourself "Am I regularly and... Read More
Once you have completed your day you can boost your... Read More
I have worked with so many people over the years... Read More
In most organizations, meetings are often the biggest time-wasters. With... Read More
As mothers we play so many different roles and most... Read More
How many people do you know who are so busy... Read More
You can lose, damage or waste some things in life,... Read More
Most people want to start a home-based business to make... Read More
Our daily lives are inundated with a crammed to-do list.... Read More
1. Do tasks less frequentlyClean house every 10 days rather... Read More
Recently I've experienced a barrage of time wasters. Everything you... Read More
Time Management |