Time Management Tips

If any of you well organized people have tips you'd like to share, please send them to cbobik@bobik.com.

We'll use your name and city, if you like.

We can't promise to publish them all, but we'll do our best. (Some may be edited for content.)

From Jerry in Miami: Sit down at your computer and send a bunch of e-mails in the evening. You may get a definitive answer by the next morning instead of waiting for a phone call.

We all have to be at airports much earlier these days. But, instead of complaining, look at it as a nice, usually uninterrupted, block of time to get lots of work done.

Consider taking a taxi or limo instead of renting a car. They’re often more cost-effective, and you can use the time to make phone calls or organize your notes. (After all, who needs to be spending time figuring out illegible directions?)

When you pack your suitcase, put toiletries on top. You can grab them in a hurry in the morning, especially when you didn’t get in until 3 am.

Design a standard checklist for travel. If you use it each time you leave home, you won’t forget important things (or just fun things), and it will save time.

Date everything...you're wasting time when you pick up a piece of paper and try to remember if it was yesterday or last month. Don't forget to include the year, even on sticky notes. Make sure your computer software time-stamps and dates all documents.

If you're planning to leave a voicemail message, organize your thoughts first. Think of the message as a verbal bullet list. Make the points clearly and concisely. Leave your name, spelling it, and repeat any phone numbers slowly. Your contact will be grateful, and, we hope, will respond with exactly the information you need. If the message is long, quickly summarize the points again at the end and repeat your name and phone number (slowly, please).

Set aside a block of time in the morning and the late afternoon to deal with the day's telephone calls and e-mail. It's important to communicate effectively, and catch little problems before they become big ones. Even if all you can say is 'I'm working on it'...that's progress.

Color code projects...it's always easy to pull out all the yellow or blue files.

Remember...the person receiving your e-mail can't read your mind. Make it simple, clear, and polite. It'll save your time...and theirs.

Send questions and comments to: inquiries@bobik.com

Last Updated: 16 Aug 2006 19:40:38