Last week I took the time to sit down, take a deep breath, and consider how I could improve my time management skills. As part of Thursday evening seminar series at the Women’s Enterprise Centre, Cec Hanec delivered ‘Time Management’ and I saw it as a great opportunity to brush up my skills. 

 

Cec shared lots of great tips and tools, but there were a few that really resonated with me:

·         We shouldn’t be focused so much on a Monday to Friday view of things but rather should take a 90 day overview!  By having a larger picture, we are less inclined to get stuck in the bits and pieces that keep us running from this to that.

·         It is imperative that you write down your goals for that 90-day time period so that you can assess what you need to accomplish and then determine if you achieved what you set out to do.

·         You need to know yourself before you can find the time management strategies that work for you.  Mastermind groups and mindmaps can help you learn more about yourself and will provide you with tools to help make decisions and solve problems.

·         Regularly asking yourself “Is this the best use of my time?” is a great way to stay focused.

·         Don’t treat everything as if it was at the highest level priority. Assess the priority of each task, job and project, then make a plan.  

·         Look for tools that help you manage your time in a way that works for you – I do love my Blackberry!

 

Not everyone works in the same way, learns in the same way or manages their time in the same way. It takes time to figure out what works best for you, but once you figure it out, you can increase your productivity and decrease your stress.

 

Posted by Cathie Clement at 9:02 AM 0 Comments

Tags women entrepreneurs  women-owned businesses  Women’s Enterprise Centre  time management  Cec Hanec  Mastermind  mind maps