Holiday
time again and everyone is looking forward to getting away but this is
when Time Management becomes more important than ever. This is when we
all try to clear our desks before we go off, we try and anticipate what
might happen when we are away and so work twice as hard to get as much
work done as possible before our last day. Some of us who are the
worriers and some of us who are the controllers, will put ourselves
under so much pressure that the purpose of the holiday will be defeated
before we start. There will be that voice somewhere in our heads
alerting us, just in-case someone may look for a particular file,
project, system, when we are away and it may look unprofessional, or it
may look like we don't care, if they find it unfinished, or finished in
a hurry so not 'perfect'. The stress we bring on ourselves putting
these demands on ourselves, for the 'just in-case' scenario while we
are away is horrendous. In any time sensitive situation always revisit your role priorities when you are under pressure. I know I have said this before about many situations in regard to delivering the role you are paid to do rather than the one you would prefer to do, but it is more important when time is short and you can only complete the vital tasks.
A Quick Exercise in establishing the top priorities when time is short.
This is a short exercise and it can be used in many contexts but today it will focus on your priorities.
Take a blank A4 sheet; tear it into eight equal pieces. Write one word or statement on each piece that will represent the eight most important and essential priorities of your role. So if business and plans conspired against you these would be the eight most important topics that should be dealt with. Give this some serious thought. If suddenly you were told that you had to drop everything and you will only have time for the six most important tasks of your role. Remove the two tasks that can temporarily be set aside so you can focus on the remaining most important six.
Again, you are told, you will only have time to complete the four most important tasks of your role; again you must temporarily set aside a further two so you can focus on the remaining four. This is when things start to get really interesting for you. You now have the four most important tasks of your role, what happens if you are told you will have only enough time to take care of two of these tasks. Think carefully and set aside the two tasks that can temporarily wait until you have more time. Painful as it may be you now have the two tasks you will know are the most vital to your role. If you take care of these before you go off on holiday then you can be content that anything outside of these will not cause a crisis. Your time at work is precious but your time on holiday is vital, so be sure to take steps to have a settled and clear head when you are off on your holiday.
Have a great time!
