These are good strategies, Scott. When I was a Dean, I found that working for a few hours once in a while on a Staurday or during the evening shift when there were fewer folks in the building helped me to get more done in less time. That way, there were fewer times that I had to close my door when students or faculty needed to see me.
My biggest personal "time-waster" is starting and stopping projects due to unscheduled interuptions from staff and students; although these interuptions go with the territory of my job. Going forward, I will schedule time for these high priority projects when the majority of students & staff are in class. Also, when necessary, I will close my office door as to limit distractions.
I agree that this could help. I feel though that for the social networking sites, this may be a challenge to do. Sometimes you miss a lot in the conversation.
Thanks, Susan.
Not many people have the self-discipline to keep their personal email and other social networking "responsibilities" from creeping into their work day. A recent study on "Net Generation" workers found that many do not try to keep them separate.
It may be helpful to give yourself two 15-20 minute breaks during the day so that you can check these things so that you do not feel like you are missing anything.These could be your "coffee breaks"
A personal time-waster for me,is staying on top of the facebook, e-mail and texting tasks. I know that these items should not take up too much of my time. Yet, personally they do. And with work places communicating by email, I feel that if I'm not checking, I may miss out on some important info. However, I would like to note that this is a personal time waster not a time waster at work. I only concern myself with my work email at work.
Shawn,
Many organizations are having success with project management software that team members can update. It limits the need for drive-bys to get status updates.
Valerie,
The ability to say "no" without feeling guilty is something many of us have had trouble developing. Not saying "no" can really lead to frustration as we fall father and farther behind.
I have found that saying "not right now" works pretty well. I often let the person who asked for help know when they should check back with me. Sometimes their time frame does not match my availability, so they find other ways to accomplish the goal.
In the past, when my schedule was overloaded, I would try to handle everything and get bogged down. This resulted in projects been completed late and frustration from the heavy work load. I will now try to delegate work to others and learn when to say no when the work load gets too high.
Most of the time drive buys are opportunities to find out the status of aligned initiatives and are opportunities to gather information regarding other projects that I might be working on. I try and keep the personal chatter to a minimum. If it gets overbearing, I claim “Meeting†and escape the environment!
Thanks, Shawn.
What are some things you do to try to keep the drive-bys more focused on the important goals?
I have a lot of drive buys and conduct a few myself. Given the limited availability of some colleagues, it is beneficial to conduct them, however because it may have been a few weeks between passings, the discussion will almost always get into personal discussions which take up unnecessary time.
Not accurately estimating how long a task will take. Then finding that I must stop due to other priorities. Time wasted due to the start/stop.
I could limit wasted in the future by spending the time to better strategize and organize approach
