Fast-tips for dealing with work-life balance
September 6th, 2008
When You Have Too Much To Do and No Time To Do It
Prioritize and organize. Have a “to do” list for every day, and try to get through it. Make
tomorrow’s list at the end of your workday. Don’t over-schedule your life.
Focus. Know what your major goals are for the week and don’t get distracted.
Know when you are at your best. If you are most productive between 3 P.M. and 5 P.M.,
that’s when you should be doing the hardest work. Never fritter away your peak hours
on phone calls or other distractions.
Clean up your mess. Clutter makes it harder to do your job.
Quit procrastinating. Just do the hard or unpleasant tasks you have to do first and don’t
lose time worrying about them.
Set deadlines. Know how long each assignment should take, and try to complete it on
schedule.
Don’t get stuck in the mud. If things aren’t clicking with what you are doing, either take a
break or switch to another assignment and come back to it when your mind is
refreshed.
Use your commute to your advantage. Do work or read when you are on mass transit. If
you are in the car, listen to tapes. Have work with you when you are waiting for
meetings in other offices.
Schedule alone time. Clear your mind and focus on what you need to do and how you
intend to do it. Or do nothing. Let your mind and body rest.
Have smart meetings. Have an agenda, and send it around before the meeting. If you
have a choice, use it to decide which meetings you will attend. Handle what you can in
e-mails and conference calls, but when you meet, don’t let things drag on endlessly.
Delegate. Don’t be proud or stupid about doing what other people are able to do.You
don’t have to do it all, you just have to see that it gets done right.That goes for career
work and housework.
Return phone calls during lunch. Leave a voice message, that way you spend one minute
instead of ten connecting.
Know what counts. Few people will ever remember which meetings you missed, but
your children and spouse will never forget.
Consider your timing. Maybe you would rather jump off the fast track while your
children are young.
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