In a fast paced industry like the DM industry, time management and organizational skills are essential to achieve any sort of success. This brings us to the eighth tip in our time management series.

Tip #8:

SETTING TIMELINES FOR TASKS

I’ve mentioned it before, but I think it deserves mentioning again. When you are setting deliverables for yourself, be sure to take into account all other activities and tasks that may affect your ability to meet that deliverable. Things to keep in mind:

  • Your day-to-day job and ongoing tasks/deliverables
  • Busy times of the month (hotline processing, merges, hotline orders, monthly blogs, etc.)
  • Meetings you will be attending
  • Upcoming holidays for yourself and other team members where you may be a backup
  • Unplanned absences
  • Additional projects or other deliverables you’re working on
  • Special events, such as Trade Shows, out-of-office training, and seminars
  • Time required by others involved in your task/deliverable

Once you have taken into consideration all of the above (let me know if you can think of any others), look at how much time you think you will need to complete the task/deliverable. After you’ve worked out how many hours you will need, see when you can fit those hours into your schedule and come up with a completion date.

When someone assigns a task to you, they will have gone through the above process to the best of their ability. Tasks that are assigned to you should be completed by the due date unless there are unforeseen external forces that hinder your ability to do so. If you see this happening, it is imperative that you advise the person who has assigned you the task (well before the due date) that you will not be able to meet the deliverable date and then advise when you will be able to complete the task. It may be that the deliverable cannot be revised, and you will then need to look at other tasks and see what can be adjusted so the deliverable can be met.

If you have some good tips of your own, please feel free to share them with us.

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