As we return to our routine or embrace new ways of working, we need to think about how effectively we manage ourselves. Personal management looks at how we manage time, balancing the different priorities and demands to avoid unnecessary stress.

With changes to working practices, understanding our personal management styles and identifying new strategies to deal with problems can help us to adapt to change and alleviate stress.

Understanding time management

Everyone has the same 168 hours in a week however how we spend these differs hugely! The average worker will check their email every six minutes and their phone more frequently. We spend just under seven hours each night sleeping and an average of two hours every day recovering from distractions.

For many, the biggest problem with time management are the time bandits. Although we are very careful about who goes into our purse or wallet to take out our money or credit card, we pay very little attention to the people and things which steal our time, also a precious commodity. Time bandits include unexpected visitors, people who are late, paperwork and bureaucracy, automated telephone answering services, procrastination, poor personal organisation, inappropriate working environment and travel time. Identifying your time bandits and finding strategies is the first step in becoming more effective in managing your time.

There are several different animals that influence our time management and consideration of these and how they affect us can help us in planning our time so we can become more effective.

Firstly we have the larks and owls. Our circadian rhythms are biological rhythms which determine our ‘clock’ preferences and are controlled by the Period genes (PER1, PER2 and PER3). Some people have distinct time preferences and understanding these can help us to plan our day and be more effective. The larks are the early morning risers. They usually wake earlier, have no problem getting up and are best earlier in the day. As the afternoon draws on their attention beings to wane. Breakfast meetings are good for larks. Larks should aim to complete important tasks early in the day and leave mundane tasks to later. Owls do not enjoy early mornings and find concentrating difficult until around late morning. As the day wears on, owls become more productive. Owls should aim to complete their most important tasks later in the day and focus on mundane tasks which require little energy first thing.

Secondly, we have the elephants. These are large and represent the projects or more complex / time-consuming tasks. We may not have many elephants in the workplace, however we need to accommodate them and plan accordingly. When we have large or complicated tasks to complete, cutting them into smaller chunks helps them to become more manageable.

Thirdly, we have the ants. Everyone has ants although they will be different for each person. These are the small, routine tasks of which there are many - they represent emails, filing, telephone calls – the tasks which quickly accumulate. These are generally low-energy tasks however we need to keep on top of the ants and should schedule these for the times of day when we are not at our best.

Finally, we have the monkeys. For many people, the monkeys represent the biggest challenge to effective time management; these are other people’s problems which we are quick to take on. They usually result from someone else’s poor time management and can have an impact on our workload. We need to be assertive, say ‘no’ and get monkeys to stay with their owners.

Identifying your time bandits and finding strategies is the first step in becoming more effective in managing your time...

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Top Twelve Tips for Managing Time

1. Identify your preferences and plan your day accordingly

2. Stop procrastinating as this wastes time

3. Promise yourself a reward as you complete the tasks you least enjoy

4. Spend ten minutes at the beginning of each day planning what you are going to do, when and how

5. Keep a ‘To Do’ list (either hardcopy or electronic), focus on the ten most important items and tick them off as you go to give yourself a sense of achievement

6. Avoid taking on monkeys by learning to become more assertive

7. Maintain a ‘clear desk’ policy as this can have a positive psychological effect

8. Organise email and minimise the number of items in your inbox

9. If working from home, have certain working times and avoid the temptation to work beyond these hours by shutting down the computer or closing the door

10. Delegate tasks that can be done more effectively by other people

11. Plan your day, week or month according to deadlines and prioritise using a tool like the Eisenhower Principle

12. Allocate a set period each day to deal with emails, telephone calls and mundane tasks

To learn more about personal management, consider taking a short course - https://www.findcourses.co.uk/training/praeceptor-consulting/workload-and-stress-management-14292605