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101 Ways to Make Every Second Count

Time Management Tips and Techniques for More Success with Less Stress
Robert W. Bly • Career Press © 1999 • 224 pages

Workplace Skills / Become More Productive / Time Management

Take-Aways
• Technology and faster communications are among the reasons people feel so rushed today.
• People now view time as their most treasured commodity.
• Time management skills can enable you to get more done in less time.
• Organizational skills can help you reduce time wasted.
• To be productive, you actually have to want to be productive. You need to be willing to create the
workstyle and lifestyle to match that desire.
• Burnout can be avoided by managing your energy and pacing yourself.
• With a few key workstyle changes, you can increase your efficiency and productivity by 10%, which can
make a big impact.
• Work must be balanced with rest and relaxation for maximum productivity.
• Clutter is your enemy.
• Worrying is a waste of time.

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 Recommendation
Robert W. Bly’s helpful, amusing and slim volume is jam-packed with wisdom and plenty of tips to help
you organize, manage your time better, cure procrastination and increase your productivity. While some
of his advice is plain old common-sense information that you’ve probably already heard, it may well bear
repeating. Just one look around your office may show you how many people have heard some of this counsel
before but are still hopelessly disorganized time wasters. Bly includes pertinent data from surveys of leaders
and working stiffs who feel overwhelmed by information, too many demands on their time and the constant
struggle to fit 25 hours of work and real life into a 24-hour day. He also sprinkles witty and instructive
quotes throughout the book, which getAbstract recommends to anyone who’d like to have a little extra time
left over (and that’s everyone).

Summary

Quick Tips to Speed You Up

Some of the rush you feel is due to technology. In an article in the Business-to-Business Marketer, writer
Gary Springer says, "We’ve learned to live by the Rule of 6. What used to take six months, now takes six
weeks; what used to take six weeks now is wanted in six days; what normally took six days is needed in six
hours; and what used to be done in six hours is now expected in six minutes." What can you do to keep up?
Learn time-management skills.

“If you don’t think it’s necessary to be organized in order to use time efficiently, think
again. The average adult spends 16 hours a year searching for misplaced keys.”

These skills will enable you to:

• Get more done in less time.

• Meet deadlines and commitments.
• Increase customer satisfaction.
• Have more time for your family.
• Feel better, have more energy and reduce pressure and stress.
• Improve your efficiency and eliminate time wasters.
• Find the information you really want quickly and effectively.
• Get through your work backlog.
• Benefit from technology, instead of feeling pushed by it.

“The cost of a thing is the amount of life you must exchange for it.”

Become "the master of your time, rather than its slave," by adopting the following work habits:

• Make to-do lists: daily, by project, and long-term, and chose your priorities.
• Manage meetings by starting and stopping at pre-arranged times.

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 • Overcome procrastination by breaking down projects into less overwhelming bites, giving yourself
incentives for completing things, overcoming your need to be perfect and delegating or outsourcing parts
of projects you find boring or awful.
• Eliminate bad habits that waste time and learn to avoid distractions.
• Use the 80/20 rule that states that "80% of your accomplishments come from only 20% of your efforts."
Figure out what makes that 20% so productive.
• Make and use standard operating procedures, including designing a productive work space.
• Adjust your schedule to your energy levels.

“Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.” (Henry Ford)

You can work better if you get rid of any perfectionist thinking, switch back and forth between different tasks
and stop wasting time on projects you don’t even officially have yet. Set realistic deadlines. Don’t commit
to a schedule you know you will have difficulty meeting. Protect and value your time, stay focused, set goals
and, above all, do work you enjoy.

“Procrastination is opportunity’s assassin.” (Victor Kiam)

Don’t forget the old Scottish proverb, "Be happy while you’re living; for you’re a long time dead."

Do You Really Want to Be Productive?

Author Isaac Asimov wanted to write many books, so he designed his lifestyle to increase his writing output,
which included writing about topics on which he could produce books very quickly and limiting his travel, so
he could spend most of his time at home writing.

“You can’t jam 25 hours into a 24-hour day.”

Ask yourself if being productive is important to you, and if so, whether you are willing to do whatever it
takes to achieve a high productivity. You can design a pleasant and productive work style and lifestyle to
accommodate your choices.

Avoiding burnout is critical. If you work hard for a long time without a break, you can "become tired, fall
out of ’flow,’ and feel bored, de-energized, even depressed." Pace yourself by varying your tasks and taking
frequent short breaks.

“The ability to work faster and get more done in less time isn’t slavery; it’s freedom.”

Burnout can actually arise from not working to your full potential and, instead, being assigned or taking
on tedious, non-challenging tasks. Sheer boredom and frustration burn out your energy. If you’re burnt by
boredom, ask for more work, more challenges. If you feel stuck in the tedium, take on a different job entirely
or ask for different tasks. You can get a re-energizing boost from learning something new, doing something
new, restructuring your job or becoming more active in your field.

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 The 10% Solution

Since few people are masters of personal efficiency, increasing our productivity by 10% or even 25% doesn’t
require superhuman effort. Incremental improvements take little effort, but yield big results as they add up.

“The key component of my personal productivity system is a series of lists I keep on my

computer. In fact, I have so many lists, that I have a file called ”Lists” to keep track of
them!”

Take the 10% solution approach: make a 10% improvement in all areas of your work and personal life. Look
at all the time-wasting things you do, but don’t categorize "down time" as wasted time. It’s healthy to balance
work with relaxation. Time wasters are easy to spot: All that time you spend looking for misplaced things, all
the things you do that you should delegate, the time wasted arguing with people, the list goes on and on. Use
that time to be more productive.

“Talk to super-productive people. Many get a rush out of being super-efficient time
managers, in addition to the pleasure they derive from simply being competent in their
job, profession, or skill set.”

You can also gain 10% more energy if you also watch your health, exercise, stretch, avoid big mid-day meals,
drink plenty of water or other fluids all day (they have an immediate, refreshing effect), go easy on the
alcohol, take a multivitamin, take a cat-nap, and go to bed earlier.

Think 10% faster by using these nine steps to better thinking:

1. Identify the problem.

2. Assemble pertinent facts.
3. Gather general knowledge.
4. Look for combinations.
5. Sleep on it.
6. Use checklists.
7. Get feedback.
8. Team up with others.
9. Give new ideas a chance.

Getting Organized

A 1995 study by the Merck Family Fund found that 62% of adults surveyed agreed with the statement, "I
would like to simplify my life," but most people never even try. "They continue their disorganized ways and
refuse to change."

“Mark Gruenwald, a senior editor at Marvel Comics, loved his work so much that when
he died in 1996, he left a request that his ashes be mixed into the ink used to reprint a

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 superhero series he had written ... His wish was granted. ’He has truly become one with
the story,’ said his widow, Catherine Gruenwald.”

Professional organizer Sandee Corshen says, "Organization is the key to moving forward in life or in
business." Disorganized people are inefficient because they spend most of their time in avoidable, time-
wasting activities.

Use these techniques to organize your life and save time:

• Carry a small to-do list and a pen with you. Write down thoughts and ideas when they arise, then you
won’t have to waste time trying to remember it all later when you need it.
• Create a filing system for everything so you can get what you need in seconds. Then do the filing - Having
the cabinets, the folders and the system (alphabetical, by topic, or a combination of both) will do you no
good if you don’t actually file anything. People waste hours and hours looking for notes and papers. Filing
systems are perhaps the most important aspect of time management and organization. Forget the piles of
stuff on the floor, desk and table: those are not filing systems. Buy filing cabinets, and use them.
• Don’t be a pack rat. Get rid of the clutter.
• Keep a calendar of appointments and deadlines.
• Keep a clean desk. A messy desk is a huge impediment to productivity.
• Put things in the same place every time. Every item has a "home." Let it live there.
• Make to-do lists and update them, using your priorities. Know what your priorities are.
• Learn to say no. You can’t do everything and you can’t feel guilty about turning things down. Be polite,
but bow out of things you would rather not spend time doing.
• Be realistic about the consequences of doing "one more thing."

Maintaining Your Personal Energy

Increase your energy level and maintain better health by eating "light and right," reducing caffeine and
sugar (which boost you temporarily and then cause you to crash) and getting enough sleep. Fight stress with
relaxation techniques, enjoy hobbies and take a vacation.

“If you want to be superproductive, there are certain things you will have to give up.
These things include the extravagant luxuries of sloth, inertia, laziness, and wasted idle
time.”

Research shows that your energy sags after 90 to 120 minutes of focused activity. The body needs a break to
"induce the biological changes that restore energy." Focus by using your productive energy in intense short,
one-task bursts, followed by breaks.

Reduce the amount of time you spend worrying, which saps your energy and rarely ever solves any
problems. Mull over the solution, yes, but don’t worry. Studies have shown that 40% of people’s worries
relate to things that never happen, 30% to things that can’t be changed, 12% to health (even when people are
still healthy) and 10% to petty concerns. Only eight percent of worries are about real problems. The other
92% of worries are wasted, result only in stress and adversely affect your health and productivity. A Mayo
Clinic study showed that 80%-85% of patients were ill directly or indirectly because of stress.

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 Managing Information Overload

More information has been produced in the last 30 years than in the previous 5,000. Everyone is "drowning
in data." A radio commercial for the Dilbert cartoon show uses Dilbert’s voice mail saying, "You have 947
messages...all of them urgent." That isn’t exaggerating by very much. According to an article in Men’s Health
(Sept. 1997), the typical Fortune 1,000 employee sends and receives 178 messages a day.

“Be wary about forsaking all human contact because you find e-mail easier and more
productive. An OfficeTeam survey of 150 executives showed that 44% prefer face-to-face
business meetings to other forms of communication, while only 34% prefer to do most of
their business interaction via e-mail.”

An article titled "Information is Bad for You, says Reuters Report," published in 1996 shows that too much
information is "strangling businesses and causing personnel to suffer mental anguish and physical illness, as
well as having a detrimental effect on relationships and leisure time."

Other findings of the survey include the following:

• 62% of managers say their personal relationships suffer because of information overload.
• More than four out of 10 managers think that important decisions are delayed and the ability to make
decisions is affected as a result of having far too much information.
• One in five senior managers believe that substantial amounts of time are wasted collecting and searching
for information.
• Almost half think that the Internet will be a prime cause of information overload.

“Do not use the average worker as a role model for productivity. Most people do not set
their sights high enough.”

How can people keep up with all the information without becoming overloaded?:

• Reduce information input.

• Don’t read everything; scan whenever possible.
• Cut "info fat" (such a gossip and celebrity news) from your "data diet."
• Improve your listening skills, provide feedback and don’t skip to conclusions.
• Be selective about the information you spend time absorbing.
• Subscribe to a customized news/data service.
• Reduce your e-mail correspondence.
• Clean out information resources frequently, such as paper files, electronic files, reference manuals and
the like. Get rid of whatever you don’t need anymore.
• Know when you have enough information.

“The primary reason most workers are not productive is that they do not really desire it.”

"The difficulty in life is choice," says Dr. Andrew Linick, a successful entrepreneur. "The cost of a thing is the
amount of life you must exchange for it."

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 About the Author
Robert W. Bly is director of The Center for Technical Communication (CTC), a consulting firm. He is
the author of more than 40 books, including The Six-Figure Consultant, Selling Your Services, The Lead
Generation Handbook and The Encyclopedia of Business Letters. His articles have appeared in many
national publications, and he is editor of the magazine Bits & Pieces for Salespeople, published monthly by
Economics Press.

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