Time Management

Where to start! There has been so much written on this subject and for many years now time management has been one of the key areas for employee training. It started with training top managers, executive officers and working directors. It was then considered useful for middle managers and sales staff. Now, the majority of office staff and anyone who needs to schedule work for themselves - i.e. employees who don't have a set daily time frame for completing tasks, but even then to encourage employees to seek promotion or other areas in the company this is useful training.

There are many tools to help you manage your time. The obvious one is a good paper diary system and is still needed even in this computer age. One of my favourites is the Franklin Covey system - see the link in the sidebar and visit their website. Franklin Covey offer not just a diary system, but self help books and also training courses.

Another system is the Outlook calender and other computerised diaries. These have built in reminder systems together with the ability to schedule meetings and appointments. Technology has really developed this area so check out new updates on the web. On my website -http://www.margaretgammons.co.uk/ -there is a link to a book from the Society Of Virtual Assistants on Time Management which has lots of useful information.

It is now mostly a matter of personal choice - whichever system suits you. Sometimes there can be a corporate system and this obviously must be used. If, however, you are in a position of influence in these companies it is worth keeping yourself up to speed on any new systems. This could be time saving in the long term.