3 Reasons Why you don't have Time: Common Time Management Challenges For Managers

“I know I’ve been busy, but I have no clue where my week has gone”.

Have you ever caught yourself saying this?

Here are some others I hear daily:

“I’m slammed”

How are you? ?“Busy”

“I’ve got so much to do I don’t know where to start”

“Is that the time already?”

?In the day-to-day hustle of the office, it's not uncommon to feel stretched thin when it comes to time. As senior managers we often find ourselves facing a multitude of demands, making it challenging to prioritise what truly matters. Here are three common challenges we encounter, along with practical steps to address them:

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Reason 1: You think time is out of your control

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Control is about identifying what is most important and urgent RIGHT NOW. To be able to decide, you must have something to compare what has come up to, otherwise, it’s easy to always default to what shows up, regardless of importance. Start each week with a clear plan. This is your map forward and forces you to assess, what is not going to get done. Without a plan, you might think you have more time than you really do.

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Reason 2: You are over ambitious with your plans

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Have a look at your to-do list… do you have a week’s work or 3 months of work that you are attempting to get done in a week? A to-do list is a hope list, I hope to get this done this week. A best most senior managers have 5-10 hours to get work of real value done. Being realistic enables you to make more realistic plans, make more progress with important work and reduce interruptions and distractions because if you don’t do it then, when are you going to do that work??

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Reason 3: You're Busy With The Wrong Tasks

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Busyness is often a guise for avoiding delegation or being seen as unhelpful/difficult. You don’t have to do it all, ultimately hinders progress on important work. Again, your schedule can help you overcome this. Learn how to point people in the right direction rather than do it for them. Learn how to delegate with just the right amount information (I have a tool that can help with this – DM Tool if you would like copy) rather than on the fly. Schedule tasks that directly contribute to your goals into your calendar first, triage the rest.

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By understanding these common challenges and implementing strategies to address them, you can reclaim control over your schedule and focus on what truly matters most in your role.

Want to learn how to reclaim time and get to what is most important?

?? Book in for a PEP call - Managers and Execs, Want to Get Visible Results From Your Productivity Training Investment today? Over 25,000 Australian Public Servants have experienced significant improvements in productivity and wellbeing through PEP.