Your Environment
Rate your environment by determining your neatness scale. 1 - being spotless/organized to 4 - needs some work to 7 - being "a real mess":
Office
Desk
Desk Drawers
Dressers
Closets
Car
Car Trunk
House
How did you score? Neatness helps in time management.
Why do you have clutter:
Restructure your areas to improve work flow, equipment, files/filing, making useful space, clearly know what you have.
Desk - work space to work. Do it now/handle once!
Have a place for everything. Do your work in priority order.
Phones: Be aware when on your cell phone other people can hear you, whether intentioned or not. Don't share everything! Be that a personal situation or work challenges. You don't know who is in ear shot! (Your boss, the person you are talking about, a new co-worker). Think, on the Metro - can you really 'see' everyone in your train car or standing on the bus?
When making your calls at work (or, home) - Ask, "Are you free to talk"? or "Is this a good time"? Have a phone call agenda! List the calls you need to make. Log your calls: who you spoke with, date/time. Cross the call off your list when they have to call back. Review your list at the end of the week - if necessary, call them a 2nd time. You will have the reason and when you previously called at your finger tips.
Try to group your calls. Make appointments first thing in the morning. Make short calls around 11:20 AM and near close of the day around 4:20 PM (need a quick answer, have a single question).
Information is shared from Effective Time Management by J. Michael McDonald, Ph.D.
