Time Management
Do you ever wake up in the morning overwhelmed by the amount you would like to achieve and at the end of the day feel under-whelmed by what you have actually managed to complete? If this is the case you could probably benefit from a good time management process.
I recommend the use of lists; list all the tasks you would like to achieve and then give each task a priority based on how important it is that you finish the job.
Using a unit measure of say 30 minutes (1 unit = 30 minutes) give each task in your list an estimated unit value based on how long you think the task will take to complete. If your work consists of lots a small tasks like phone calls or trades you may wish to use a smaller unit of time (i.e. 1 unit = 15 minutes)
Try to break down tasks with large unit values into smaller easy to complete sub-tasks. I normally work with a maximum unit value of ‘5-Units’ or 2.5 hours
You also need to establish how many hours of the day and how many days of the week you can commit to your work. This will give you the average number of units in your working week. Try to build-in some contingency units, unexpected things can always crop-up and it’s important not to fall behind on your schedule. Also, try to be realistic about how long tasks are going to take, underestimating the time a task is going to take and falling behind on your schedule can be both frustrating and demoralizing.
Some e-mail applications like Outlook have built-in task management applications, where possible use these facilities to keep on-top and up to date with your workload.