I’m always late for everything

You need to do two things. First, take a long hard look at yourself. Time management experts believe that people who are late tend to have common personality traits. They often, for example, have a pathological fear of being inactive, or not using time constructively, so, subconsciously, they create ways to avoid having to kill time. If you know that about yourself, you’re in a better position to address it.

Second, learn to make a daily schedule of activities and timings, always aiming to be anywhere 15 minutes early. If the phone rings at your appointed set-off time, ignore it.

I constantly get thrown off course by e-mails demanding my attention

Deal with your e-mails just once, or possibly twice, a day, in a big bloc. Some time-management experts suggest that the best way to do this is only to work on yesterday’s e-mails, so you know that you are dealing with one whole day in one go.

The truth is that most e-mails can wait, but you can check your inbox once hourly just in case there’s one from your boss that demands your attention now!

There just never seem enough hours in the day

Learn to say “no”. It can be the hardest thing, because we all want to appear helpful and enthusiastic, and saying no — whether it be to your boss, your family or yourself — requires a lot of selfconfidence.

Mark Forster, a time-management expert, says that “no” is the biggest, single, most useful time management tool. He suggests that you say “yes” only if you know you can do so wholeheartedly, knowing that it’s right for you.

Make a game of it: see how many “no’s” you can collect in a day. And don’t give convoluted explanations; just be firm, saying something like: “I can’t fit it in at the moment.”

I know I tend to procrastinate, but it just seems natural to me

Most of us procrastinate, but there’s a simple technique for overcoming it, says Forster. When the inner voice of conscience tells you that you really must get moving on that important report, but your first instinct is to do something else, say to yourself: “I’ll just get the file out.” Once you’ve got the file out, give yourself a choice: either put it away again, or do some work. Though it’s up to you, most people will do at least some work on it. Repeating the process each day means that the report will get done. The “file” is, of course, metaphorical; if you don’t want to clean the house, you could just get the vacuum out.

I make “to do” lists for everything, but they never get done

There’s a real difference between being busy and using your time effectively. Making “to do” lists, prioritising work in terms of importance and urgency, and drawing up time-use charts all have their uses. But by doing these, it’s easy to fool ourselves that we’re being productive when we’re not, and to get waylaid by other people’s demands. Try this.

At the start of the week, write a list of all the things you think you have to do. Now work out how long each job will take. If the task time outstrips actual time, start thinking about what work you really have to do to fulfil the objectives that you have set for yourself, or have been set for you.

Cut the tasks from the list that don’t tie in with your objectives, or which can be delayed. Now you have a real “to do” list. Inform people of delays as necessary.

TRY THIS...

Are you always early or punctually challenged? Time management consultants say that people who are always late have certain common characteristics. Do you follow the pattern? Rate yourself from 0 to 5 on each of these.

- I’m messy

- I’m a perfectionist

- I’m a thrill seeker

- I like to fill every minute

- I tend to procrastinate

- I’m often surprised at the time on my watch

If you score 20 or more, you’re probably among the punctually challenged. If you score 15 or less, you’ll tend to be early. In between, you’ll probably be on the dot! Or ask a friend to time you while you read for exactly 90 seconds. Stop at what you believe to be the right time, and ask your friend how long you took.

Research at Cleveland State University has found that people who tend to be early consistently read for less than the 90 seconds; those who tend to be late carry on reading for minutes on end.

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