SWOT Yourself! How I Saved Hours Every Day & You Can Too

“Boss man, I just don’t have enough time to get everything done!” How often are you hearing this from your rock-star team? This time of year we should be feeling a sense of renewal and experiencing a fresh start! Often times, the opposite occurs as we are inundated with year-end reports, implementing new strategies and keeping up with daily business.

Embedded in my mind are the weekends as a youngster. Every Saturday, like clock-work, my mom and I had “chores” to do inside the beautiful farmhouse where I grew up. She always told me, “We have to finish our work first and then we get to go have fun.” Why that is stuck in my mind 30 years later, I have no idea. What I do know is she knew how to manage time.

We have all read hundreds of articles on time management tips, taken time management courses and received multitudes of advice. All of these workshops, articles and advice have provided me exceptional tools as well as vital components to effective time management. Time Management models will vary for each person on your team but the goal will be the same – Effective Time Management. I have found the best way to keep myself on track is through the development and use of a “model day” format where I create blocks of time from my job description. I have taken my so-called short fallings from last year and incorporated time for interruptions, time for NO interruptions and time for unplanned urgencies. Start your new year with these simple steps, perform them yourself and then share with your team.

SWOT Yourself!

Most of us have participated in SWOT analysis projects, but usually related to our overall business plan. Have any of you or your team members performed a personal SWOT analysis? You can incorporate an individual SWOT analysis into your overall business plan; link them to personal team development, tracking goals and performance reviews. Once you have completed your analysis, incorporate your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats into a list of tasks to complete with an action plan and make it happen!.

Download Ironstone’s SWOT Analysis Template Here

Create Your Time Management Plan

Having a snapshot of how you intend to perform your day is essential to effective time management. Time and time again I end up with “to-do” lists scattered everywhere, 10 post-it notes stuck on my desk serving the purpose of reminding me what needs to be done. Rather than giving me a sense of organization, I am bogged done with stress, anxiety and a sick feeling in my stomach caused by ineffective time management.

We have created a model day template to assist you to:

• Manage time effectively
• Improve organization skills
• Boost time management skills

Ironstone’s template allows you to organize, track and monitor progress by providing 4 tabs within one worksheet.

• My Model Day– Your model day is your intended plan for completing job duties. Use this as a guide to manage your time each and every day.
• Time Management– Use the time management worksheet to gain understanding of how much time is spent on projects scheduled in your model day plan. You don’t need to do this on a daily basis; a periodic check will give you insight on how much time you are using wisely, wasting or necessary adjustments needed to improve time management.
• Priority Items– At the end of each day, allow yourself time to organize and prioritize the most important tasks you want to accomplish the following day. This will allow you to start each day feeling energized, empowered and organized. Keep your priority items to 5 or 6 tasks depending on the amount of time you anticipate will be needed for each.
• Other projects– I like using the “other projects” worksheet to record my never ending list of things to be done. Having this worksheet incorporated into my time management plan allows me to keep my “to-do list” in one location and transfer projects easily to my priority worksheet as others are completed.

Download the Ironstone Model Day Worksheet Here– Tip- add a worksheet to the template with a monthly calendar.

Question: What challenges do you face in your office with time management? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

Additional Time Management Resources;

• Ironstone Time Survey
• Ironstone Personal Management Matrix
• Common Mistakes Your Team May Be Making In Time Management
• Put Time On Your Side, Not Your Back
• The “I’m Too Busy Copout-Create Time For Results