Page 19 - Leadership Basics 8
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Conclusion
Start with the most important parts of large projects; often it is unnecessary to do the rest.
Keep pushing and be persistent when you are ‘on a winner’.
Handle each piece of paper or email once only.
Clear the desk and put the most important item in the middle.
Have a place for everything.
Save trivia for one three‐hour session each month.
Give yourself special rewards when you do something important.
Realize some time will be beyond your control; don’t fret about it.
Write replies to letters as soon as you receive them.
Continually ask yourself: ‘What is the best use of my time right now?’
It’s often said but it is certainly a truism. If you don’t manage your time, it will manage you. If you are
anything like most mid‐level leaders you are finding it incredibly difficult to try and fit everything in
and this is giving you considerable stress. At this stage of your career it is well worth thinking carefully
about how you use your time and how it can be better utilized.
If you can develop ‘good’ time management habits early in your career these can be come more
automatic as gain more experience. Managing your time on its own won’t make you a better leader in
itself, but it will give you more opportunity to concentrate on those things which really make a
difference to your school and to you as a leader.
Managing Your Time
Decide on what is really important to you and write it down.
Develop an awareness of your behaviours, habits and methods of communication.
Know what you are responsible for in your job, and what you are not responsible for.
Find out how you are actually spending your time.
Look closely at how you use your time.
Sort your tasks and actions in terms of what is really important to you.
Consider how much time you have to complete a task.
Identify actions which waste your time and consciously try to eliminate them.
Organize and plan your time in accordance with what is really important to you.
Monitor your time usage on an ongoing basis.
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