insideKENT Magazine Issue 70 - January 2018 | Page 127

BUSINESS FINDING BALANCE: IS TIME MANAGEMENT YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION? BY MARC FARMER, PARTNER AT WILKINS KENNEDY, MAIDSTONE CHRISTMAS TIME IS ALWAYS GREATLY ANTICIPATED, BUT SEEMS TO COME AND GO IN NO TIME. WEEKS FEEL LIKE A FEW HECTIC HOURS OF PREPARATION AROUND THE USUAL DAY JOB, WHICH HAS SUDDENLY GOT EVEN BUSIER DUE TO THE IMPENDING HOLIDAYS. WITH SO MANY GADGETS DESIGNED TO “MAKE LIFE EASIER”, ISN’T IT ABOUT TIME WE RE-VISITED OUR TIME MANAGEMENT THIS NEW YEAR? As a culture, we are permanently “switched on” thanks to better technology and more flexible working. According to research by the Chartered Institute of Personal Development (CIPD), which surveyed more than 2,000 employees, 40% of people check work emails at least five times a day outside of working hours. Almost a third said that remote access to work means that they can never fully switch off and 17% said they were losing sleep over anxiety associated with working remotely. Here’s an idea – turn it all off: iPhone, tablet, the lot. If you can, do it for the entire weekend. You might just find you return to the office well rested and recharged – you’ll be so much more efficient. If you start to feel like work schedules are getting on top of you, then carefully analyse your workload and prioritise everything that is important for that day alone. Better still, if you can, try to be analytical all the time. Don’t just rush from one meeting or one job to the next and learn to plan your day. Don’t just open the diary and say, “Right, what’s first?” Set aside 30 minutes to really plan: what needs doing, when, how, with whom? Give everything a beginning and an end time. When you plan, make sure you insert short gaps, even if only five minutes, between meetings and tasks. Five minutes planning what to do and say in a meeting will make it more effective and probably shorter. Or, take a break – why not? Physically you could probably keep going for ten hours, but the brain needs some downtime. So schedule 30 minutes in the middle of the day – and take it seriously; get away from the desk, out of the building, stretch your legs. Efficiency doesn’t just apply to work – it can resonate into our personal lives too. We are all juggling family and other commitments around work and it can sometimes feel like you just don’t stop. There is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to apply your structure to your time. If you are online, keep distractions to a minimum. Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter. There’s no shame, we all do it. But learn to turn them off. Finally, tidy your desk. Apart from making you look unprofessional, clutter is distracting and a serious impediment to efficiency. Being efficient is an important part of your business plan, but your business also needs you to be working at the top of your game. If you could do with a few tips to help your business run more smoothly, perhaps dust off your business plan or need some help with other management issues, contact us at Wilkins Kennedy to see how we can help. Local offices: Ashford: 01233 629 255 / Canterbury: 01227 454 861 Maidstone: 01622 690 666 / Orpington: 01689 827 505 Sandwich: 01304 249 997 [email protected] www.wilkinskennedy.com wilkinskennedy wilkinskennedy 127