Have you got a minute? Manage your time

For an event organiser, time management is key. Organising an event implies coordinating many elements, and concentration to assure the best results.

The essence of time management is the achievement of objectives, not keeping oneself busy. Time management is self management. Here are some guidelines for to manage your time efficiently.

What are the factors that reduce effectiveness in the workplace
Interruptions (telephone and personal visitors,3), meetings, tasks you should have delegated, indecision, lack of planning, stress, not saying “no”… are some of the most frequent timestealers.
The biggest mistake is not being aware of the amount of time that you waste. Some of the keys to manage your time properly are establishing your priorities, making sure work does not pile up, learning how to organise your work (and yourself) correctly and keeping it all under control in the less time possible. A practical example can be: if your mails are piling up, create mail folders so you can prioritize all the mails you receive. Give colours to folders, red for “Action”, blue for “Read”, etc. Establish a routine and find time to process all the information, starting by the “Action” folder.

Define your goals as clearly as possible
One of the keys to success in time management is the ability to work out what you want to achieve. Write down your goals so you can review them constantly. Your long term goals should be included on your "to do" list. Without a goal or objective people, tend to just drift personally and professionally.

Avoid wasting time at meetings
Meetings are definitely a necessary business function that few people look forward to. They can be made better if they are better planned. First, you should make sure the meeting is really necessary and that everyone invited to the meeting really has a need to know, and is clear on the objective. Staying on schedule, keeping to the point, and ending on time, as well as hanging clocks in the office and in the meeting rooms can help to stay on schedule.

Time management strategies
Once you have identified your timestealers, apply the necessary strategies to manage your time, keep work under control and reduce stress.

Have you got a minute?
Knowing how to deal with interruptions is one of the best skills to avoid wasting your time. Learn to say “no” and you will avoid people dumping their work or problems on your shoulders.

Delegate
Learn the ability to delegate work to staff and to ensure it is done correctly. This is probably the best way in building team morale and reducing your workload at the same time. The general rule is: if one of your staff can do it 80% as well as you can, then delegate it.

Desk stress
When you have finished reading this tip, take a look at your desk. If you can see less than 80% of it then you are probably suffering from ‘desk stress’. Nothing serious. For effective time management keep your desk clean!