Make most of productive time

We live in a knowledge-powered economy. Yet workers frequently express frustration about being overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information and tasks facing them each day, feeling it is impossible to get everything done.

Meanwhile, experts discuss time management as if people could actually change the number of hours in the day. Clearly, that is not possible.

The real issue is, "How do we manage all the activities we have to do in the time we have available to do them?" Start by asking yourself these two important questions:

--Should I really be doing this activity?

--If I should, how can I do it more efficiently?

Despite all the emphasis on life balance, a little imbalance can go a long way toward helping you with this issue. You can start by applying the 80/20 Pareto Principle to your work. The name derives from Vilfredo Pareto, who discovered in 1897 that in every European country he studied, 80 percent of the land was owned by 20 percent of the people. This rule has been extrapolated to modern life through the expression: "20 percent of your work delivers 80 percent of your results." So what is the 20 percent you should really, truly be focused on getting done?

If your daily work is not dependent on e-mail (stockbrokers and Realtors often fall in this category), one way to get more efficient is to schedule appointments with yourself to create uninterrupted blocks of time in your daily round. If you are a morning person, try NOT answering your e-mail until you have worked for at least 30 minutes on something of significance that must be done, even if it is unpleasant or boring. This is sometimes referred to as "eating the frog first."

In addition to e-mail, turn off all your other weapons of mass distraction: the telephone, Twitter and Facebook accounts, television, radio and the Internet, unless it is necessary for your work.

If the Internet work is necessary, you will have to practice tremendous self-discipline to stop yourself from chasing down rabbit holes of interesting but irrelevant information.

How this works in practice: If you have a report due 1 p.m. Friday afternoon, spend your first half-hour Monday pulling together all the information you need. On Tuesday, you can look over the data and begin to figure out what it means. On Wednesday, you can write for 30 minutes.

Don't worry about writing the first paragraph first. Just begin in the middle if that is where you have the most information. You can leave the introduction for Thursday or even Friday. If you have trouble concentrating on an unpleasant chore (and who doesn't), use a timer. When your 30 minutes are up, you stop if you want to. Nothing says you have to stop if you find that you are in the flow of things.

To make 20 percent of your work time this focused in a 40-hour work week, you have to increase the amount of time to 90 minutes a day, which can be broken into two 45-minute sessions per day. But you may find that even a half-hour a day without interruption is enough to help you think more clearly and get more of your projects done on time.

Being prepared doesn't mean everything always goes smoothly. It means you are able to quickly reprioritize when necessary.

If you do not wait until the hour before a report is due to start writing it, you will not have to panic when the nurse calls and says you have to come collect your sick child from school, forcing you to miss a deadline.

By acting early and regularly to focus, you can break down those big projects into smaller, more manageable pieces.

As Adam Smith noted long ago in the "Wealth of Nations" (1776), doing important work in "brief bouts" helps us to persist with the difficult ones.

Prepare now by learning how to manage your activities in the time available and you will have increased your own marketability and taken a lot of stress out of your day.

Hillary Hutchinson, M.A., M.Ed., is a certified career coach specializing in higher education. Contact her via her website, www.TransitioningYourLife.com.

The Job Coaches are experienced volunteers from the Center for Women's Job Counseling Program. Ask them a question by calling 763-7333 or e-mailing info@c4women.org. If you would like further assistance, make an appointment; a donation of $10 is requested for appointments.