Time to change jobs?
Companies supporting balance are much easier to find than they used to be and it is more
acceptable today to say that you want this balance – whether you are male or female,
young or experienced, or working as an executive or a retail clerk.
The last area we need to discuss in the work half of the work/life balance is Time Management.
This may not apply to everyone, but it certainly applies to many people.
In surveys done across many job categories, including construction, service industries
like hotels and restaurants, small business owners and corporate moguls, a large
percentage of those surveyed said that they felt they needed to improve their time
management skills so that they didn’t need to spend as much time at work.
Many wanted to reduce the time they had to spend reworking tasks they had already
performed because they had done it wrong the first time.
You will find a few simple tips below, to get your time under control.
If you do these things, you will find that, even in the most stressful and time-consuming
jobs, you can reduce the hours you spend at work, and arrive home in a less stressed,
more family-friendly frame of mind!
Make a ‘To Do’ List – Then put these items in order, starting with the most critical. If
you could only get one thing done today, what would be the most important?
Cross the items off the list as you complete them, and don’t be distracted. Stay
focused!
Since we all have interruptions, be sure that, if you don’t accomplish the items toward
the bottom of you list on that day, you add them to your list the next day so you don’t
drop them.
Use a daily planner if that makes things easier.
Don’t Waste Time – Use your spare minutes well. Take the train to work instead of
driving and use that time to read critical reports you may have to review, or read your
new equipment training manual on the bus on the way home.
If you are going to take a break during the day and there is someone you have to see,
stop by their office and grab them to go for coffee, then talk about the issue and resolve
it while you are walking out in the sunshine and enjoying your java.
You’ll feel like you took a break AND got something accomplished at the same time.
Just Say ‘No’ – If your boss wants you to work late and you have a family engagement,
but you could work late the next night or come early in the morning, suggest alternatives
and see if those will work.
Don’t be so quick to accept the command without probing to find out if there is another
way to handle it.
If a co-worker asks you to lunch and you MUST finish a report by 3:00, politely decline
the invitation and suggest dinner or coffee later instead, and get the report done.
That way you don’t have to give up the pleasurable experience, but you won’t be
stressed out and working until 9:00 p.m. with your boss standing over your shoulder
bemoaning the delay.
If the project your boss dumps on your desk is a ‘rush’ but she already gave you
something that must be completed today, ask for clarification on priorities and give your
boss a reasonable projection of how long it will take to do both projects and whether you
can do both.
Don’t just take the project on and then not finish the other task she gave you, or you will
both be unhappy. Speak up!
Know Your Brain – Do you know what the Circadian Clock is? It’s that little clock in
your brain that controls when you feel the most wide awake and when you want to go to
sleep.
If you are a morning person, attack the most difficult problems in the morning when your
brain is the sharpest. That way you won’t have to rework the problem the next day
when you discover that the ‘afternoon you’ made the wrong decision about the budget.
