SELF-HELP

Having a detailed professional development plan is useless if you do not have enough time in your day to implement it. It's fine to adopt time management strategies but be careful the free time you create in your day is not filled by more of your day-to-day work. Here are some ways to get more out of your day:

Strive for efficiency and effectiveness. Prioritise your day's activities and don't be afraid to say no to your colleagues'request for your time. Setting aside blocks of time to finish a project or meet a deadline will be more effective than taking on ad hoc reactive work and will help you focus and complete more tasks.
Think about cutting out a level of the project review process. Do projects really need to be signed of at all levels of mangement or can a few steps be removed? You will be surprised how this reduces stress and accelerates production.
Strive for the most effective and appropriate form of communication- whether e-mail, phone, or face-to-face. Don't dither on email when a 30 second conversation will deliver the same result.
When communicating, seek clarity of thought and purpose. Make sure your collagues know what is truly expected of them, and give them the tools and resources needed to achieve their goals.
Place yourself. Assume long hours if that is what quality-not politics-demands. Set priorities and eliminate a few routine, time consuming tasks from your workload.
Schedule some "normal" time in your life. When fighting stress, go for activities that counteract your regular work. For instance, if you sit at a computer all day, do something that is active or verbal after office hours.
If you do not manage your diary effectively, the number and length of meetings in a day can get out of control. Meetings can be effective in getting work done but can also be a waste of time. Question the purpose of the meeting and the need for your involvement.
For the meetings you attend, communicate at the start of the meeting the amount of time you have set aside. If the meeting is getting off the origianl agenda, request the digressed topic to be discussed at another time and resume the original meeting focus.
Shuffle the deck if you need more time to complete the project. Quickly assess other items on your list that might be dropped, delegated, delayed or done with less polish to allow the extra time you need.
If you find yourself being driven by the clock on a creative task, take a refreshing break or do something purposely else for a while to take some of the forced time pressure off.

Professional development is important for your career aspirations and ambitions and deserves your discipline, attention and effort. By pushing back on additional work requests and working efficiently, you will help to find the time in your day to focus on how you can improve, innovate and professionally grow.

Goal Setting | Motivation Quotes 1 | Motivation Quotes 2