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How to get it back and thus become even more effective

The flood of information and the scale of demands grow every day. Who can confine him/herself to the essentials and escape the rushing rapids of daily business? Do time (and above all leisure time) saving techniques exist?

Again and again managers sigh upon viewing their schedule: »Oh God, I´ve no time.« I usually answer then: »Take a break immediately and just wait and see! As soon as time knows that you’re not following it, it comes back to you at once.« Sounds logical – but it isn’t, because the driving forces operate from without and within: we drive and are in turn driven.

I know from personal experience that one tends to perform assigned tasks immediately, without thinking. I always chose to do the easiest tasks first, to get them over with. My idea was that I would sooner or later get to the more difficult and important tasks. Big mistake: I got bogged down in tiring trifles and at the end of the day I had the feeling that I had not got anything important done. Only in the last few years have I changed habit: now I judge every task in terms of importance, urgency and performability. Everything which has to be done in 1-3 days is put into the first of three folders. Tasks which can wait a bit go into the second, and tasks without any time pressure into the last. Then I take the first folder and search for the most important task. If it is simple, I do it myself, if it is too complex, I delegate it. For complex, expensive, time or nerve consuming tasks I obtain assistance. Mostly I create a project group who break down the work into simpler segments, leaving me with the core work. If something is unimportant and expensive, then I throw it in the wastepaper basket, as Ive noticed that the only consequence this has is a feeling of relief.

An important principle of good self management is the so-called Pareto principle: 80% of the really important tasks can be performed in only 20% of your time, whereas the rest of the odds and ends would take the other 80%! So train your eye to recognize the essentials, then you can gradually improve your efficiency and still go home at 5 pm, to the delight of your family. If you work long hours to either prove your irreplaceability or to escape family problems, then even the best time management is useless. In this case you should treat yourself to a few coaching sessions to analyze your own work patterns.

If you really want to improve your own self organization, don´t be discouraged if the towering piles of paper on your desk aren´t diminishing; everything takes time. Be consequent and evaluate every letter, paper, email, and phone call according to the three categories. The errors in your estimates will diminish with time and your work environment will be every day a little better organized. This process took me about three years; then I could get all I considered important done in normal working hours.

If even then you can´t make do with your 38 hours, this is a sign that you need assistance. React socially and acquire assistance from someone who has no job at all; there are more than enough people waiting for a chance to re-enter working life.

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