We are often required to multi-task a great deal during the course of our workday—going to meetings, answering questions from others, handling “fire-drills,” doing paperwork. If we’re not careful, the interruptions and “small tasks” can rob us of critical time blocks where we get to concentrate on our main work, get problems solved, and come up with creative ideas for the good of our projects. It’s worth periodically analyzing where our time is going each day to see if “time robbers” have crept in as tasks or as influences on what we’re having to spend time on.
Give them the tools to help manage their time. Have team members do the following:
Record where time is going each day.
Analyze use of time to look for ways to get more effective.
Make an action plan to attach areas of wasted or unproductive time.
Eventually get rid of impacts to your project and your sanity from having to spend valuable time on the wrong (or not best) things!
