8 days every week

It never ceases to amaze me how much time people waste. But by following a few of these time management tips and tricks, not only can you get ahead of almost everyone else, but it will seem like you really do have 8 days in every week.

1. Start work on time, every time. If you are supposed to be starting work at 8.30 or 9.00 or whatever your start time is, don't waste the first 30 minutes checking the email, the internet, internet email, facebook, twitter and every other social networking site there is. These might be important, but not at the expense of the first 30-60 minutes of every day. Turn on, tune in and get on with the very important stuff.

2. Write down where you spend your time. It's time to be honest with yourself - if you had to charge out your time, how much money would you really earn today? Honest answer for most people - not that much.

3. Don't waste the last few minutes before morning and afternoon tea breaks (assuming you still get them where you work), but especially the time just before lunch, the time just after lunch and time just before you finish work at night. This is especially true of Friday afternoons. Imagine Friday is the last day before your holiday and you're off to somewhere nice on the weekend and won't be in on Monday...how much more would you get done? If you line up your jobs and projects, those few minutes we just mentioned can be used to do some of the mundane tasks you never get round to doing, but are essential to the smooth running of every office and organisation. So if you find yourself thinking about surfing the net for something to do - take that as your cue to do something more useful - the filing may not seem like the most important job in the world - until you need to find something that is.

4. Use the last 5 minutes of every day to organise the next. A friend of mine writes himself a note and sends it to himself as an email - no scrappy bits of paper that tend to get lost, and the first and only thing that gets opened in the morning.

5. Start work before everyone else. I love getting to the office early. I can organise my thoughts and get some serious writing done before the phones start ringing and before the interruptions begin. That may only be 15-30 minutes before the official working day starts - but it can move you ahead like few other things can.

6. Down time and breaks. One of the best pieces of advice I heard was this - if you are at work, then work. If you are at home, then be there. Although I have a home office that occupies my time when I am at home, when I am at the desk - that is work time, and everyone knows it.

7. Do similar tasks at the same time. If you have to hunt for something once, you can almost guarantee you will have to hunt for them again later. So, once a week I organise bills, letters, cards and presents, do the filing and reconcile the budget. I've got this down to a fine art now and it only takes me a few minutes to organise my time and I can schedule present buying and trips to the post office into the week.

8. If you are on a roll, then don't stop. As a writer I love it when the words flow and I hate having to stop because it's supposedly lunch time or some other random happening. So, if I have any say in the matter - if the words are flowing I don't turn off the faucet (tap to my Aussie and English friends). When you get to a natural stopping point - then by all means (and I do) stop and do something else. But stopping the flow of what you are doing just because it's "time" - is the best way of stopping your productivity and it will take you longer to get back to where you were.

How do you make the most of your time?