Deadlines, time thieves and balancing work and family are causing many of us to suffer stress and unhappiness.  By planning each day and setting yourself goals, you will find that life becomes a little less hectic and your stress levels will decrease.  It takes 15 minutes each morning to plan your day.  Use this checklist frequently.

EVERYTHING HAS A PLACE. Good time management means being organized having the ability to locate things quickly. Ensure that everything has a place and always return the item to its home as soon as you have finished with it. A clear environment will help your head to be free of clutter as well.

COPING WITHE EMAIL. Email was once seen as the best thing since sliced bread. How many of us used to wait in anticipation for an email to arrive? These days most of us dread it and email itself has become increasingly stressful to deal with. So how do we deal with it?

• Deal with it in the morning and late afternoon only
• Ensure you answer every single email at that time
• Allow yourself enough time for dealing with Email
• Deal, Delegate or Dump it. Don’t keep it in your inbox to deal with later. Aim to keep your inbox clear Ensure you have personal folders for different items
• Set up email so it gets automatically sent to your folders i.e. if you have regular emails from the same person, set up a rule to have it filed
• Have an efficient Spam filter

Please visit our website to find out more on our professional speaker, Debbie Mayo-Smith who is an expert on marketing with email and coping with email overload.

PLAN YOUR DAY Spend at least 15 minutes each morning planning your day. Complete your diary, your task list, prioritise and allow a certain amount of time for interruptions.

FILE DAILY. Spend the time to organize a filing system. After you have read something, decide whether you will keep it and file it immediately, or if it is to be discarded do so. Use a pending file and ensure it is checked and worked on daily. Train your mind to remember that each piece of paper gets handled once then it is either filed, reassigned and filed, delegated or dumped.

SIMPLIFY. Hoarding creates chaos and time wasting. Have a look at your environment and take stock regularly. If you have items that you have not looked at for some time, consider if you really need to hold on to these.

DUE DATE. Ensure that tasks are assigned a due date and complete the task by the date specified.

PRIORITISE. Ensure that you give all tasks a priority rating i.e.

• Priority 1
• Urgent
• Week
• Month
• Ongoing

Keep folders with these titles and file appropriately. Mark in your diary the date you need to revisit any of the folders. This way you can clear your mind of clutter because you know you will not forget about it.

CLEAR DESK POLICY. Try keeping your desk clear. You only need one tray for work in progress (in) and one for (out). Keeping a clear desk will help you to feel less overwhelmed and more in control. When not in use put it away.

DO IT NOW! Don’t delay tasks and projects. If you can’t do it straight away add the item to your task planner and assign a due date. Ensure you complete the task by the date given.

DELEGATE OR SAY NO. Don’t be afraid to delegate tasks to others if possible. Some people believe only they are reliable to complete certain tasks, don’t fall into this trap. It’s OK to say no sometimes. Don’t take on extra tasks if you don’t have the time.

ALWAYS CARRY A NOTEPAD. Keep a notepad with you at all times and write down any thoughts that you  to remember. Once you have written these down you can forget about it until you action it or write it into your diary.

LIMIT TIME ON THE TELEPHONE. If you are taking a call from someone you know will keep you busy for longer than you can spare (I call these people Time Thieves), you could say that you only have 5 minutes because you have a deadline to complete.

NO TIME IS WASTED. No one likes being kept waiting with train delays, medical appointments etc change these frustrating times into opportunities for catching up on that reading you have been putting off, planning the next week and visualising your goals.

TIME OUT FOR SELF. Always schedule time out for yourself.

If you would like a copy of Debbie’s ebook visit www.coyote.com.au to download your complimentary copy and whilst you are there why not download your free desktop organiser as well.