Time Management for Knowledge Workers

There are some good tools, resources, authors, etc. out there on time management. David Allen's Getting Things Done methodology http://www.davidco.com/, Mission Control http://www.missioncontrol.com/index.php, and the Franklin Covey methodologies just to name a few...

I like to listen to successful people I know talk about time management. They are usually hard on themselves in that area. But they must be doing something right! Time Management is not a science, it is definitely an art.

So there are a lot of good systems, tips, electronic tools, and blogs out there on time management, but there is not a one-size fits all time management system. What I thought I would do is list out some of the characteristics I see consistently in the good time managers I observe and coach....Here are 7 to begin:

1.) They protect their time .... They do not allow others to distract them. They work privately when they need to, they demand others request time from them, they demand a good reason for someone else to get time from them, etc. The best time managers in many respects can SOMETIMES be the hardest people to get a hold of and there is a reason for that.

2.) They time-block .... They proactively set time aside in their calendars to get the most important things done. Not only do they block their calendars, but they know exactly what they want to come out of each block they make. What is the end product of that meeting? Do we have enough information to even hold the meeting? Good time managers will challenge poor ones in ways that may make them feel uncomfortable.

3.) They respond to less important matters on their time .... It's difficult to proactively manage your time if you allow others to dictate your responses. Email can be a great example if this. Are you allowing email to suck you into responding to unimportant emails just as fast as the most critical matters?

4.) They are continual students of time management .... they learn from themselves. They find out when their peak periods are during the week for getting certain things done. They understand you cannot engage your left and right brains all the time at the same time. They separate activities that utilize different parts of their brain. They also combine activities that are synergistic, such as working out with listening to an important podcast.

5.) They value the power of important routines .... they do things like daily planning of their time. They do that consistently. They do it religiously. They use routines in other ways also. They check in with key colleagues on a consistent basis. They reach out to clients on certain days, etc.

6.) They have a formal time management system .... They might not all be the same, but they all have one. It is always evolving.

7.) They are fully engaged. While it may be difficult to get a hold of them (see #1), when you do have their attention, they are fully engaged in the activity at hand. They are not checking email at the same time. They are not thinking about other things. They are fiercely focused on the activity at hand.