Time Management-Why is there a back burner?

Be honest with yourself and figure out what your ratio of front burner to back burner projects is.  A few weeks ago I wrote about how technology can be a blessing or a hindrance to our overall time management, but today it’s just about the level of importance we place on projects.

On a daily basis there are decisions that are clearly in our court.  We may not need the direction from someone above us.  We have in front of us a challenge, options and then the moment to pull the trigger and do something about it.  It’s at this moment that a character moment is about to be born.  Does it become a front burner or a back burner moment in your business day?  Complacency can be a huge job killer.  You are in a rut as a result of the same perhaps monotonous routine each day, and as a result of this decisions that should be made are not and put on the back burner.  The results are clear.   There is a reason why a project appears.  There is an obvious need to that has to be filled and addressed.  When it goes to the back burner it affects your team, your company, and your personal image.

It’s interesting to note some statistics on how much procrastination takes place.  According to an article in Ezine, 95 % of us do procrastinate with 20 % being chronic.  Now that’s staggering.  When it gets right down to it, time management is revenue management.  The more time we spend on rolling out key projects, the more money we spend, and the more money we lose.  The multifamily industry is working through another major shift.  An interesting combination of sheer survival in this economy coupled with quickly advancing new technology has made the influx of projects staggering.  As leaders and potential leaders it’s always good practice to step back for a moment and analyze our process.  Here are some thoughtful questions.

What dictates the decision to put a project on the back burner?

Do I have personal goals as to how long a project will take and see completion?

Do I clearly recognize the sense of urgency surrounding a project and how does that affect my process?

I found this advice from Procrastinationadvice.com to be very compelling.  Below is a partial quote of the article which had some important tips for effective time management.

Important Tips:

• Distribute large chunk of projects into smaller and more manageable size as well allot appropriate time to attain every task.

• It is a normal phenomenon to extend beyond the time limit that is allotted for every task. Hence, one of the important procrastination tips is to pre-determine the time limit. For instance, an individual can schedule to file papers for 30 minutes.

• Initiate each week in creating a planning session, bifurcating the weekly as well as daily plan. Note all the vital appointments and deadlines that are approaching. Set reminders a day before the deadline date. Make use of highlighter pens to mark the most exceptional task on the calendar.

• Schedule the most important activities as per the maximum productive time zone of a particular day. It is considered to be one of the best procrastination tips, a person highly active in morning needs to plan majority of activities around morning time, since this is the time when a person has less likelihood of procrastinating.

• It is suggested to complete a minimum of 1 undesired job during the morning hours. This will result an individual with a feeling of accomplishing at least something during the remaining portion of the day.

• Preclude the most likely disturbances, prior to their occurrences. It implies switching off the cell phone, hiring a babysitter to take care of the child and so on. This is also one of the most helpful procrastination tips that will enable an individual in achieving more in less amount of time, devoid of any distractions.

Source: Http://www.procrastinationadvice.com

Now it’s time to hear from you.  What are you doing to effectively manage your time?  If you have ever been in a rut before, how did you dig yourself out of complacency?  Any special tips or hints you can share to manage time effectively?  Thanks for your thoughts.

Written by Jonathan Saar

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