How can I use time management skills to stay on top of work

by Barry
(New York)

I want to use time management to stay on top of my work.

I am a private banker and find that I am falling behind my work. This of course means that I am working longer hours and seeing less of my wife and kids.

Most of the time I feel like I am working hard but just not getting any impact on my work. I feel I lack planning and am mostly in reactive mode.

Can somebody please provide me with some time management skills deal with this issue?
Barry


Kell's reply: Thanks for your post Barry. As a time management consultant I have worked with a number of private bankers who have to manage a large client base and stay on top their workflow.

In today's world of work it is clear that we cannot get everything done. So the traditional tools of keeping a to-do list are not the gold standard anymore in workflow management or maintaining effectiveness in the workplace.

In fact, planning at the daily level will pull you into reactivity, so that you have the feeling that you are working hard but not really getting any traction on any of your key priorities.

The end result...frustration, stress, and performance at the cost of work life balance.

A better way is to plan.

Whether you do long term planning or not, it is important to have quarterly plans that funnel down into weekly plans.

These weekly plans bring the long term focus into the actual 'doing' phase.

In these weekly plans you ensure that you block time for yourself to work on your high impact activities and also schedule time for crises that are likely to pop up (heck life happens and you need to build in flexibility).

At effective time management we give you three steps.

Warning: These are simple steps but they are very hard to consistently maintain.

Why?

Because fundamentally we are talking about changing a habit and a mindset to one that is more focused on what really drives your long-term performance.