Keep Your Workday Sanity

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With all the recent layoffs, those who are still employed face a tough dilemma. On the one hand, they're grateful for their job, but on the other hand, their workload may have become too much for one person to bear. In fact, many people are now doing the work of two or even three people. Their mantra has become, "There's simply never enough time."

Whether the issue is that you have too much to do, too little help, too daunting a task or all of the above, you can feel like there's no way to keep up. Fortunately, you can start to take control by learning to maximize your time.

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MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TIME

Strategy No 1: Go to the Calendar
You stop taking every e-mail, phone call, meeting and problem as it comes up, and instead you start scheduling things in a way that makes sense. Going to the calendar means literally opening up your calendar, turning on the PDA, getting out your schedule, and physically putting into place a written, concrete plan to use every hour in the most productive way.

The key to making this work is to start with a blank calendar and address the tasks, projects or activities that matter most to you first, before you take those calls and e-mails. Ask yourself, "What's the best use of my time?" and "Where am I going to get maximum value?" Schedule those things first. Then you can see where the other tasks can go in your calendar. You may find that not everything can fit, and that's okay. If you're focusing on what matters most, the secondary items can usually slide. Either you'll realize they are just "busy work" that doesn't really need to be done, or you'll suddenly see shortcuts to the tasks that you did not realize before.

Remember, just as you can control your time, you can also control your calendar. Don't let it control you.

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Source: Dr. Joelle K. Jay, Ph. D., is an executive coach and the senior managing partner of the leadership development firm, Pillar Consulting. She strategizes with business leaders to enhance their performance and maximize business results. Her clients include presidents, vice presidents, and C-level executives in Fortune 500 companies. Joelle is the author of The Inner Edge: The 10 Practices of Personal Leadership.