These days it seems that more than ever before people are working harder but have less time to get things done. This may be due to layoffs of their co-workers (that used to share the workload); cutbacks that affect the tools they need to do their jobs; the increased pace of work that must be done to “keep up” with competitors; among other things.
Time management experts have provided some relief by helping us organize our priorities. Each of us has many roles and functions on any given day in our jobs. Most days may vary to a certain degree. But if we step back and look at a “typical” workday, there are probably several things that are done on a regular basis.
Peg Pickering’s book Prioritize, Organize: The Art of Getting it Done, Stephen Covey’s internationally successful The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and Hobbi/Martinez’s book Building A Customer Service Culture are examples of resources that help us organize time by consolidating our activities into four categories:
Firefighting – crisis mode (important and urgent)
Attention Getters – like a ringing phone(urgent but not necessarily important)
Capacity Building – (important but not urgent)
Time Wasters – (not important and not urgent)
Organizing tasks by priority can improve efficiency and overall effectiveness, and keep up with today's heavier workloads.
