Time Management for Your Livelihood

Medium Blocks: Multitasking Isn't Always the Best Option

When determining what tasks to work on each day, group as many like activities together as possible, such as returning nonurgent phone calls, processing your e-mail, filing or reading. You're actually four times more productive when you can focus on one type of task rather than switching among varied tasks--multitasking slows you down.

The length of each session of "like" tasks depends on the exact type of work you'll be doing. If you need to make five brief phone calls, you may only need to block out 10 to 15 minutes to complete them. For responding to email, you might need as much as 30 minutes. Any of these medium blocks can be repeated throughout the day.

For instance, you might spend 10 minutes checking your email first thing in the morning to handle urgent issues, then spend 30 minutes before lunch and 30 minutes again later in the afternoon. And be sure to stick to the amount of time you originally allotted rather than letting your activity trail on. That'll keep you focused on the task at hand and increase your productivity. Move any tasks you don't complete to the next block of time.

Small Blocks: New Items and Lower-Priority Tasks

New items and lower-priority tasks can be worked on between the other blocks throughout the day. These might include requests for help from an employee, quick answers to questions and other project components that didn't fit into your major blocks but are still necessary.

Structuring each day starts with locating a space for that large block, followed by several medium blocks of grouped activities. Small blocks then fill in the gaps. If you do the reverse and clear out the small items before you find time for your most important work, you may wrap up the workday without ever handling your priorities.