Do you manage your time like an office worker or an office manager?
Are you managing your time like an office worker or an office manager? Many people recognize they could improve their time management but often revert to old habits, even after taking numerous courses. When workloads increase, they tend to work faster and longer, often relying on overtime to meet deadlines.
The Shift from Employee to Manager
When you advance to a managerial position, where you’re responsible for overseeing both the office and other employees, your previous coping mechanisms may no longer suffice. While you might still complete tasks on time, you won’t experience the fulfillment of enhancing how you, your team, and the office operate—central to effective office management.
Understanding the Time Management Matrix
The time management matrix is a crucial tool everyone should incorporate into their professional lives. Its significance amplifies when you’re responsible for others. The first quadrant—tasks that are urgent and important—often becomes a trap. Daily deadlines consume our days, making it seem impossible to accomplish more. Important but non-urgent tasks get postponed in favor of the next deadline.
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The Cost of Neglecting Important Tasks
Neglecting crucial issues can lead to crises that demand attention. I often ask participants in our courses to draft a sample to-do list, akin to a job description, to analyze their daily activities. Typically, such lists omit tasks like delegating, training or coaching staff, planning, improvement projects, team building, visioning, or relationship building. When I highlight this, they often say, “We do those sometimes.”
Yet, the omission indicates they don’t consider these activities their primary responsibilities. However, as a manager, these are your core duties. They enable you to maximize your time and your team’s potential. Unfortunately, the instant gratification of completing immediate tasks often overshadows the long-term rewards. We blame time constraints, but it’s the lack of an adrenaline rush from immediate action that’s the real culprit. Slow, deliberate progress toward long-term goals doesn’t appeal to our desire for quick results.
Planning Beyond the Daily To-Do List
To move forward effectively, you must first slow down and assess your direction. A simple to-do list isn’t sufficient. It focuses solely on daily goals, lacking a broader perspective. By planning ahead—looking one, three, or six months forward—you can schedule time for non-urgent but important activities.
For instance, if you have a long-term project to enhance office functionality, allocate an hour every second or third day over the next month to work on it. This might involve training staff for new roles, restructuring the filing system, creating new processes, or learning computer shortcuts. Even if you can’t spare an hour, half an hour is progress. Over months, these incremental efforts will lead to greater efficiency, effectively creating more time.
Achieving Accomplishment and Peace of Mind
This approach not only enhances efficiency but also provides a profound sense of accomplishment and peace of mind. You’re not merely performing your job; you’re adding value to the office by leveraging creativity, focus, and self-discipline. Breaking larger improvements into smaller, manageable steps over weeks prevents feelings of overwhelm.
Stephen Covey, in his book First Things First, refers to this planning method as “putting the rocks in first.” In a jar filled with rocks, sand, and water, placing the rocks first allows everything else to fit. Your rocks are the tasks you’re likely to delay because they’re complex, dull, or not as urgent as what’s immediately in front of you. Scheduling them first ensures they receive the attention they deserve.
Taking Small Steps Toward Long-Term Success
Starting with small steps and commitments to non-urgent but important tasks is key. Keeping these commitments leads to positive changes, building momentum and understanding the principle’s importance. You become a time investor—knowing a little effort now can save considerable time later.
Enhance Your Skills with Our Course
Managing your time with an office manager’s mindset is just one of many comprehensive topics covered in our course, “The Effective Office Manager.” If you want to boost your confidence, clarity, and capability as an office manager.
