Five Time Management Tricks Managers Use

Ever wonder why your manager seems to get so much done without doing a lot of work? It’s not that they’re not doing anything; it is more because they are doing things well. If you take the time to observe your manager, you’ll probably notice that he or she does five things that you may not be doing. These five things are easy tricks for successful time management at the office.

1. Manage what arrives in the inbox. You need to audit the type of things that arrive in your inbox, whether it’s paper or electronic. Information you don’t need to see may be copied to you; if so, ask to be removed from the distribution list. You may be seeing things that require action but are not in your realm of skill or responsibility, if so please pass the information on to the appropriate person and possibly suggest that you request your name be replaced with theirs in future correspondence. That should leave only what you need to know or act on. For the remaining items, act on them somehow so you don’t have to go back to them.
2. Keep the desktop clean. Clutter is distracting and makes it hard to find what you need when you need it. Put photos and memorabilia on a shelf or bulletin board, not on your desk. Make it a habit to put everything away before you end the day or head out for lunch, so you can return to a clean work area. Develop a filing system that works for the things you want to keep. Then immediately recycle or throw away the things you don’t need to keep.
3. Go for lunch before or after noon. Most people go for lunch at noon, so you’ll always be wasting time queuing for a table, waiting for your food order, waiting for and paying your bill, plus traffic to and from where you eat. It doesn’t matter if you go out or eat in the company cafeteria; noon is always a crowded time. Instead, go at 11:00 am or 1:00 pm for a quicker, more leisurely lunch experience.
4. Keep track of who is interrupting and why. If you know who is always stopping by to ask questions or just talk, then you can work together to reduce unnecessary interruptions. This will work for both of you to better manage your time. Together you should set aside 10-15 minutes to meet once or twice a day instead of having multiple interruptions throughout the workday. Since you keep meetings short, you can stay on your feet during the meeting to make sure they don’t last longer.
5. Prepare for meetings. Gather everything you need for the meeting you are participating in or leading. Put the meeting on your calendar 5-10 minutes before and a few minutes after. In the minutes leading up, you have time to prepare and be on time. In the minutes afterward, you can start working on any action items you got from the meeting. Also, make sure the meeting has an agenda so that everyone’s time is used efficiently when you are all together. If you were not sent an agenda, request one before the meeting begins.

Now that you’ve reviewed the five time management tricks most managers use with success, will you consider using those too? If you apply these simple concepts to your work at the office, you should see that you can get more done too.