Effective managers master their time in three steps

The biggest difference between effective managers and others is that they value their time so much that they don't waste it on unproductive work. They will master their time in three steps.

Step 1: Record your own time

Effective managers usually go on a cycle for three or four weeks, two or three times a year, and record their time consumption each day, with the goal of discovering how much time is being wasted. Moreover, it must be recorded at the time of work, and not made up from memory afterwards.

Step 2: Analyze your own time

1. Find out unproductive and time-wasting activities. Ask yourself:

Ø What things do not have to be done at all, and what is done is a waste of time and does not contribute to the results (no contribution to the organization, to the person, or to the other party)?

Ø Which activities on the time record can be participated by others without affecting the effect?

Ø Ask your subordinates what he did that wasted his time without producing results?

2. Find out the time waste factors caused by poor management and institutional defects.

Ø Identify the factors that produce wasted time due to lack of institutions or vision. For example, the same crisis occurred twice.

Ø Waste of time caused by too many personnel. The criterion for judging is that if a manager wants to spend 1/10 of his working time dealing with disputes, friction, disputes and cooperation, then the number of people in this unit is too large.

Ø The organization is not sound. This manifests itself in too many meetings. Too many meetings indicate that the position structure is improper, the unit is set up improperly, and the responsibilities are confused.

Ø The information function is not perfect, the lack of feedback and the expression of information are improper, such as the information provided is not the information required by the relevant departments.

Step Three: Schedule your own time

1, even out the whole piece of time to deal with important things

Time is divided into many segments, which equals no time. So, you need to concentrate all the bits and pieces of time. The exact method varies from person to person:

Set aside one day a week to work from home.

ü The routine work such as meetings, audits, and analysis of problems is stipulated to be handled centrally on one or two days of the week, and the entire morning of other working days is reserved to deal with major affairs.

2. Regularly analyze the time record.

3. Set a deadline for important tasks that must be completed.

The core idea comes from Peter. Drucker, "Effective Manager"