Thanks for joining me.  This forum is dedicated to helping you improve your time management skills.  Have you ever found yourself at the end of your day wondering, "Where did the time go?"  I certainly have and so have many of my clients.  It's a common occurrence.  Have you ever wondered how some people find time to vacation, work out, coach little league, or simply relax?  Do they have more money?  Do they have more help?  What's their secret?  Their secret is simply having learned the art of prioritizing, delegation, setting expectations and how to effectivley use the word "No". 

Unfortunately for many of us, this is easier said than done.  So let's take a common time waster and break it down using the above tools.  Email.  Email is a very common time waster.  I often have people tell me that they are surpised how fast the hours go and how little work gets accomplished while they're corresponding via email. 

1.  Try shutting down the email application for an hour or two (or at least turn off the email notification noise/icon).  Many of us feel a sense of urgency to check our email when a new message is delivered.  Eliminating this distraction will allow you to focus on the work in front of you.
2.  Designate certain times during the day in which you will read and respond to emails.  If you are managing a staff who needs your input on a regular basis, set expectations by sharing your strategy for addressing email.
3.  When reading and responding, try to prioritize and address the most important emails right away.  Eliminate the urge to procrastinate.  Saving an action item until later will only create a backlog of deliverables.
4.  Emails that aren't sent to you directly (i.e., you are copied on them) are usually for information purposes only.  Try to acknowledge that role and delegate the responsibility of the action to the intended recipient.

These are just a few tips to help save you time during the work day.  I welcome your comments, feedback and additional questions regarding time management.  We have two weeks to continue the discussion, so let's get started!

That's a great question and also one that has so many answers.
I'll give you the top three for starters:

1.  If you have a project to work on or an important "to do" item, block out time in your schedule for it and write it in your calendar.  Treat that item as any other appointment or meeting you would have.
2.  Many people get caught up with phone call interruptions.  Make use of your caller id.  There's nothing wrong with screening your calls when you have an important deadline to hit.  Letting the phone ring is much easier when you have an assistant to back you up, however, we all have voice mail for a reason and it should be used accordingly.
3.  Close the door to your office (if you have one) to limit your distractions when you're trying to concentrate.  If you don't have that option, try to face away from the door or away from the direction in which people walk by your work space.  Limiting the visual distractions will help you stay focused on the task at hand.

If you have a specific situation you'd like to discuss, please let me know.

Cara

Can you address the importance of dealing with clutter? In particular, how do you stop it?

I have stacks of material on my desk and credenza representing projects that need to be done. Other stacks are issues I'm procrastinating on, hoping that they'll go away if I don't pay attention to them. From time to time I survey the mess and have a panic attack.

Once a month or so I go through the piles to stash, trash,or thrash (complete the project). I would rather not get to the point that I panic because I can't see my desk.

Dave

Thank you for your question.  Clutter seems to be a big issue for a lot of people, especially when it comes to paper.  It not only takes over your physical space but it also takes up space in your mind.  A cluttered office can be visually distracting while you're trying to work in it. And sometimes when you leave the office that clutter remains at the back of your mind nagging at you to address it.

When you make the decision to attack the clutter, break the project down into manageable parts.  Many times it's easy to get overwhelmed when you look at the cluttered space as a whole.  It's easy to say, "I only have a half hour right now and I couldn't possibly make a dent in that mess.  So I'll do it when I have more time."  Even if you only have a half hour, pick one pile or one box or one small area, set a timer (if you need to), and get going.  If the clutter is still visually overwhelming, I'll often suggest to people that they take the pile they're working on to a conference room or a different area to sort through it.   It  helps them focus on what's in front of them and not worry about what else has to be done.  

Tips regarding procrastination:
1.  Many times we procrastinate because we assume a task will take a long time to complete (similar to my example above).  If that's the case, take 5 to 10 minutes to review the task and determine what steps need to be taken to complete it.  If you can break it down into 5 or 10 steps that will take a half hour each, then you can start working on the project and complete it one piece at a time. 
2.  Use your calendar and schedule these tasks.  It's difficult to want to find time for some of the larger, more involved tasks especially if there isn't a formal deadline.  Schedule time to work on them and give yourself a deadline.
3.  Identify the time of day that you're most productive and when your energy level is at its peak.  Utilize that time to address these tasks.
4.  Limit your distractions while working on these tasks.  If you're procrastinating, these probably aren't tasks you're thrilled to be doing.  Try to isolate yourself from interruptions so that you can focus.
5.  Reward yourself.  Make a deal that you're going to work on one of these tasks for a certain amount of time, uninterrupted, and then at the end of that time period reward yourself by taking a break, eating a snack, etc. 

Tips on how to avoid getting to the clutter stage:
Usually the people who have lots of piles on their desks are very visual people.  They need to keep things out so they remember to do them.  With them, out of sight is out of mind.
1.  If you'd like to be able to file everything away, you can set up a system to remember to address these items.  Designate one file drawer for all of the currently active files (those you need to work on).  Utilize your calendar to schedule time to work on each of them.  When the time comes to work on File A, for instance, you know where it is and can access it easily.  If you don't finish working on the file that day, put it right back in the drawer with the other active files.  When you do finish the work, however, make sure you remove the file as it will no longer be active.  (At this point you would likely file it in a reference section of your office, if applicable.)
2.  If you like the idea of filing but still need things visible, the office supply stores sell file carts.  They look like stand-alone file drawers on wheels but they have no cover/top.  So you can hang files openly and in an organized fashion.
3.  Don't forget to use vertical space.  I have a client that has those magazine holders that hang as pockets on the wall.  He has several of them around his office that he stores file folders in.  That seems to work for him visually.

The idea behind controlling clutter is essentially to identify a home for every item coming into your office.  Even if you identify five main categories of items/papers/files that come in to your office and have a spot designated for each category, at least that's a start.  You can assign baskets or boxes or even file folder sorters (they help file folders stand upright so they are easier to see) to designate sections for incoming items.  Then you'll need to block out time in your schedule on a regular basis to go through them, address them, and get them where they're supposed to be.

I hope this information was helpful, Dave.  I know it was a lengthy answer but there are so many ways to address clutter, it's really a personal choice as to what's going to work for you.  If you'd like more specific tips, feel free to post a reply letting me know what you may have already tried and whether or not it has worked for you.  I might be able to come up with a few more solutions.

Cara

Would you address best practices in filing whether it be electronic or paper? I think there are a lot of inefficiencies in these processes especially when employees spend time having to track down documents when they could be doing other more productive activities.

Caleb

I don't have a time management problem, it's just that there are not enough hours built into a day!

Thanks for sharing your valuable insights.

Tony

Thanks for your question.  I think as far as best practices in filing, it really depends on the person.  Some people do much better with hard copies and others are perfectly comfortable keeping everything on the computer.  Each person has to choose the method of information retention that works best for him/her.

Regardless of the method, it is important to name things appropriately.  A lot of my clients will look to me for ideas on what to name a file.  What I think a file should be named is irrelevant.  It has to make sense to you.  For instance, if you keep copies of your electric bills, you can name the file "Electric Bill", "CL&P" (which is the electric company's name), "Utilities" (maybe you'll store all of your utility bills together), etc.  Which name will help you remember the contents of that file?  If you're looking for something in that file, which name is going to remind you where you filed it?  If you keep several years worth of information on file, maybe keep a separate folder per year.  That would help reduce the number of items in each folder and help you find what you're looking for more quickly.  All of the above tips work for paper files as well as electronic files.

If you do need to keep a combination of electronic and paper files for certain aspects of your personal or professional life, coordinate the file names between your computer and your file drawers.  Use the same file names, the same category and subcategory structure on your computer that you do in your file drawers.  This will make cross-referencing much quicker for you. 

Another tip on paper files: keep the active files visible and at your fingertips.  Either keep them in the top file drawer in your desk or keep them on top of the desk in some kind of vertical file sorter.  Keeping files in the vertical position helps with visibility.  Once we start laying files horizontally, things get lost very quickly.

I hope this information was helpful.

Cara

Thanks again,
Cara Brook