Being a leader is about living your life in a way that inspires or encourages others. Here is the 14th in my series of monthly newsletters, each with a section on the skills you need so you can be a leader of your life. To lead is to serve. If you make it your goal to do the best that you can and to help people, then you can't fail. I encourage you to commit to keep learning.

The content below is extracted from Mike Holt's Leadership Skills - Taking Your Career to the Next Level.

Ask any group of people what they wish they had more of. Some people will say money, and some will say a better house or a nice car. You’ll also get various other answers, but the number one response is—TIME. Time can be spent foolishly or invested wisely, but never stored up for future use.

Three key elements to managing your time are:

1. Knowing how you want to spend your time. What are your goals and number one priorities? This is important to know so you don’t waste time on things that don’t move you closer to your goals.
2. Organizing your time and planning your schedule. Once you know where you want to spend your time, map it out, and get it on a calendar. This one step can make all the difference in how effective you are in your career and your life.
3. Staying on top of things. Don’t wait for issues to occur before you take action—consider your alternatives and make plans in time to avoid problems.
   

There’s no such thing as multitasking. True multitasking does not exist and it’s definitely not a time-saving technique. You can learn to work on several different projects, but not all at the same time! If you’re reading your emails while talking to someone, you’re not doing a good job at either. If someone tries to talk to you while you’re reading a book, you can’t do that and listen to them at the same time. You’d need to close your book, hear what they have to say, and then re-open your book and continue reading. You’d have worked on two tasks (reading your book and listening to someone) but not at the same time. You can’t focus 100 percent of your energy on more than one thing at a time, and if you try to do so, none of them will get completed satisfactorily. Proper time management requires you to set priorities so that you can effectively use your time, concentration, and efforts.

Here are some true time-saving ideas and techniques:

• Stay organized. The biggest time waster is not being able to find the information you need when you need it. Find the system that works best to keep you on track. For instance, keep things that are most important on your kitchen counter or your desk. Put the next most important items in a drawer. Pending matters can be placed in the appropriate file. Trash anything that’s not necessary.
• Use technology. Set up a single place to keep track of contact information, files, appointments, meetings, and recreational activities. A smartphone or web-based calendar are both easy to use and easy to share. Make it easy for others to coordinate activities or set meetings with you by keeping everything in one place. With dozens of free or inexpensive options available, the amount of time and aggravation you can save by having information at your fingertips far exceeds the effort required to put it in. The key to success it to start with a simple system and then diligently use it for everything.
• Build a time cushion into your plans. You’ve made a dental appointment for Tuesday at 11 a.m. that’s scheduled to last for about one hour. You mark it on your calendar and know that you must set aside one hour for the appointment—WRONG! There are other considerations too. Preparing for the appointment and the drive time to and from the location are examples. Add this time into your appointment and then add in a little extra to take into account unforeseeable delays that might occur such as the dentist or hygienist running late, road construction, or a delay due to an accident or bad weather. Adding padding may make you uncomfortable if you're busy, but it will alleviate a lot of stress because you will have the time you need to 100% complete each task. You will find that when you are less stressed you can be more efficient and do better work.
• Make quick decisions on small matters. Decisions take energy. Small decisions that have little lasting impact can usually be made quickly with confidence. Some decisions however, take a great deal of time because of their importance and complexity. Be cautious when making quick decisions on big matters and consider the ramifications. If you’re pressed for time, it might be appropriate for you to get help from someone else who’s qualified to make a decision of this type. It's always worth the time and effort to work through the details with someone that has experience before you make a big decision.
• Manage your projects. To help you manage large projects efficiently, break them down into smaller tasks and list them in the order in which they need to be completed. Assign deadlines to each one and set up a project file that will help you keep track of each step and how close you are to completion. Even in this electronic age, sometimes a simple paper system can help you better manage your projects. Use a simple file folder and write the following information on the inside cover:
  • Names, telephone numbers, and addresses of all people involved, if applicable
  • Tasks to be completed
  • Deadlines for each week
  • Dates and locations for any meetings.
  Keep everything related to the project in this file. As you progress, check off the completed tasks and note any modifications to your project schedule.
• Manage your emails. If you work with email, you need to find a system to manage your emails or your inbox will get totally out of hand. Create an email folder for each month of the year. Only keep emails in your inbox if you are planning to work on them this month. Everything else should be moved into the folder for the month you will take care of it. At the beginning of each month go through the emails for that month and move the ones you will work on into your inbox. The others get moved to the next month’s folder:
  • Your inbox now contains only those emails you will be working on this month. Sort them with the most recent one on the bottom! Yes, this is annoying, but will motivate you to get through your emails so that you can get to work on the newest one.
  • If you’re waiting on something in order to complete the email you’re responding to, leave it in your inbox. When you’re done, delete it. Email clutter is a huge time waster. You can always search your deleted folder later if you need to find it again. If it contains an authorization, or something important that you might need to refer back to, save it in a folder. Don’t make too many folders or you won’t remember where you filed something and be sure to make one for your purchases so that you can easily locate your receipts.
  • Adjust your settings so that emails only download to your inbox every 30 minutes; incoming emails are a distraction and you want to be able to finish what you are working on before the next one comes in—if you don’t you might find yourself in the middle of everything with nothing completed, or worse yet, making mistakes.
• Make to-do lists. To-do lists are important even though people say they keep getting interrupted and don’t finish them. The important point is that if you do get interrupted, you know what didn’t get done, and where you left off. Keep a log of your daily activities to determine how you’re spending your time and keep it current for at least three days. Log everything you do and remember that you want to avoid wasted motion and time. If you have something to do and can’t get it done, plan to complete it the next day or at the next available opportunity. Never allow one missed item to cause a delay for the remainder of the day (like the domino effect). Continue through the day, get things done, and don’t waste time! Just like calendar software, there are many free apps for this and some of them will integrate directly with your email and your calendar.
  

Be sure to allot time for attention to family, social affairs, personal needs, and hobbies. Determine the importance of different things as they relate to your job, your personal life, your overall sense of accomplishment, your needs and self-satisfaction.

Protect your free time—everyone needs down time, to relax, have fun and get re-energized. Be sure to allocate sufficient time to pursue your personal interests and give that as much importance as a business engagement.

If you don’t manage your time, someone else will!

We'd love to hear from you about this series, and the ways you're using it. Send us your comments and feedback by clicking on Post a Comment below. Look out for the next part in this series a month from now, and please share with your colleagues.

To review or catch up on previous newsletters on business and personal development click here.
The above content is extracted from Mike Holt's Leadership Skills textbook.

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