How do you manage your time? Or is
more appropriate question do you wish you had better time management skills? I have clients and friends who rely on everything from legal pads to brightly colored sticky notepads to manage their time and appointments – practically everything in their life. I don’t understand why some folks place so little importance on something as important as time management!As a professional Virtual Assistant, I have numerous clients and tasks I must complete every day. I also have a hectic personal life, full of family responsibilities and my hobbies. Organizing my time is critical to my success and to maintaining my sanity.
Submitted for your reading pleasure, and to enhance your brain, are some of my tips for effectively and efficiently managing one of your most valuable resources: time.
Determine What Works Best for You
We’re all different in regards to time management -- what works for you may not suit me or my style. Are you constantly on go and need your calendar at your fingertips? Or, do you prefer to keep a paper calendar? Do you loath computers and all they stand for, or are you so wired Edison would be jealous? Whatever tools you choose to include in your arsenal, ensure they’re tools you’ll use consistently.
The Building Blocks of Better Time Management
My time management tools are Microsoft Outlook® and my trusty PDA. Outlook serves all my appointment, e-mail and tasking needs in one easy-to-use package.
Two of my favorite Outlook tools are Categories and Labels features. Categories allow me to classify my calendar items and tasks in a variety of ways, such as Clients, Potential Clients, Personal, and so forth. In addition, you can also Advanced Find (search) Categories, so no more wasted time looking for a calendar appointment or journal entry for a particular client.
Unlike seemingly unlimited number of Categories you may setup, you are limited to ten (10) Labels (at least in 2002 version). Labels allow you to color code your Calendar so you’ll know at a glance which items are personal in nature, and which are client related.
Consistency is Key
Whatever system you have in place or are considering to implement, key point to remember is consistency. Follow same procedures each and every time, without fail. Ensure you put good habits into play and more important, follow those good habits!
When I create new appointments or tasks, I use first few characters to define “owner” (client or myself) of that appointment or task. For example, when creating items for client Tom Smith, I’ll preface all items with TSMITH. When searching for items for Tom, I know if I search for “TSMITH” I’ll access all items related to this client. I’ll also apply a Label to my appointments, such as TeleCon, PCI (Potential Client Interview), or Personal.
I pad all appointments with a 15-minute buffer on each side. I also schedule breaks during my workday.
My clients appreciate that each Monday I release my “Lori’s Schedule”e-mail, a brief note notifying my clients when I’ll be out of office for that week. For example, all my clients know I’m a member of Editorial Team for a well-known eZine and they know that unless it’s an emergency, I am not available during this meeting.
When I interview potential clients, interns and vendors, I keep detailed conversation notes in memo field for that Contact. I date all telephone conversations and apply color coding (font coloring) to each conversation. All interviews are kept to 30 minutes – no exceptions. My Desktop timer helps me keep track of time, and sounds a horn .WAV file when it’s time to end interview.
