Introduction

If a librarian is a poor time manager, she will not have time to thoroughly research her previous annual budget to see where it was short. Consequently, in a rush, she will submit essentially the same budget this year and find herself in the same predicament - too few funds. If a librarian is a poor time manager, she will not spend the time necessary on new employee interviews and will wonder why her staff is so ill-suited to the requirements of the library and why she spends so much time counseling her employees. If a librarian is a poor time manager, she will find herself constantly working just to keep up with the day-to-day requirements of her job, and she will never find the time to develop a vision and a plan for achieving that vision. And, she will be at her job late into the evening, long after the rest of the staff have gone home. And that is the crux of time management.

When deciding if time management is important, consider why you should manage your time. The old adage, "all work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy," is absolutely true. A well-balanced life includes time for things other than work: for things that are much more important than work; family and friends, health and recreation, spiritual development and volunteerism, among others. So, practicing time management at your job is not merely so you get more work squeezed into an eight-hour day, but mostly so you have time for the important things in life. There are plenty of books on how to maintain focus in your life (several are listed in this chapter's bibliography). That is not the topic of this chapter, but it is the reason the tips provided here are so important.

To control your time, you need a very clear understanding of your priorities, not only for a particular day, but also for your job and your life. This requires constant planning, review, and revision. Take time every day to determine what tomorrow's priorities are. Frequently and regularly review the library's mission and goals; make sure that what you do forwards them. Do the same thing with your life: determine what is important, and make sure that you spend time forwarding those things. Focus, have goals, have a plan, and time management will be easier, because you will have some basis for the decisions and choices you will have to make.

This chapter provides some time-tested (sorry, couldn't resist the pun) remedies for the refrain "there's never enough time." However, the most important thing to remember, once you understand that time management is crucial to your mental health, is that no time management plan will work if it doesn't suit your personality. As you read the chapter, decide: will this work for me; how can I modify this concept to fit the way I live; what else can I come up with that fits my unique way of thinking? Try everything, discard what doesn't work, and keep what does. For time management techniques to succeed, you must fit them into your life style, not the other way around.

Just Say NO

Often people are uncomfortable turning down a request for one of several reasons: they don't want to appear confrontational, they don't want to seem to be rejecting the requestor, being asked to do things makes them feel important, they feel that saying "no" will stymie their career, or they like being incredibly busy.

• To make saying "no" easier, review your priorities.

• Determine if you are the best person to do the task, based on your priorities, responsibilities and strengths. If not, delegate to an appropriate individual. Delegation requires planning and follow up. It is discussed later in the chapter.

• Don't postpone the decision. Say "no" quickly so the requestor can find someone else to do the task. People appreciate honesty ("No, sorry but I can't do that."). If a person says "yes" but is reluctant or unenthusiastic, odds are they will not complete the task or will do a poor job. So better to say "no" initially and let the requestor find someone who is enthusiastic than to reluctantly say "yes" and do a poor job. It does not leave a good impression of your capabilities or reliability.

• Suggest solutions or alternatives when you say "no." Even if the request does not meet your criteria for what you should spend your time on, you may have some good ideas. Offer them.

• Offer to do some part of the task (review the work product for example).

Make meetings work for you

When you do have a meeting, plan it.

• Put together an agenda and distribute it before hand. Stick to the agenda. If other items come up, table them and add them to the end of the agenda to be discussed in any allotted time remaining at the end of the current meeting, or schedule another meeting, or delegate the item.

• Establish a start and a stop time. Start on time, even if someone isn't there. Don't penalize punctual people and reward tardy people. Control the meeting so that the business is concluded by the stop time. Some people monopolize meetings. It is your responsibility to ensure that everyone gets to speak, and that the long-winded ones get to make their point, but not over and over. You must also ensure that the meeting stays focused on the agenda. It is easy to get off track and reach the end of the meeting time without having accomplished its purpose.

• If you really want a short meeting, don't provide chairs. Have people meet in your office. Don't let anyone sit down. That signals that the meeting is to be a brief one. People will quickly tire of standing, and the business will be concluded in 10 mintes.

Delegate

• Define the project: its purpose, importance, deadlines, and the scope of the delagatee's responsibilities.

• Provide the necessary authority, resources and, support.

• Delegate for results. Let your staff handle projects in their own way. You are after results, not process.

• Review progress and follow-up.

Minimize interruptions

Alternatively, establish a door policy. If your door is open, you are available to your staff. If your door is shut, you are available for important things only (its good to let your staff know what sort of things you consider important). And if you absolutely do not want to be disturbed unless the building is on fire or a crime has been committed, hang a "do not disturb" sign on your closed door. If you use this system and are sparing with the use of the sign, staff will generally respect your privacy.

Phone calls are sometimes more demanding than people. Train yourself to let your phone roll over to voice mail. On your message, remind people to be very specific about why they are calling so that when you return their call, you can provide them with the information they are seeking. That way, even if they are unavailable, you can leave them a message with the information they need, thereby breaking the dreaded phone tag loop. Return the courtesy. When you leave a message, be very specific about why you are calling. Return all calls at one time. For example, return the calls you received in the morning right before you go to lunch and return the calls you receive in the afternoon before you go home. If you don't have voice mail, ask someone to screen your calls and take messages, getting enough information so that when you return the call, you are able to answer the inquiry.

Email can be a time-waster or a tremendous time-saver. Read and respond to emails only at designated times during the day, for example at the beginning of the day, before lunch, and again before you leave work. But, email is an excellent way to convey information. It can be more precise than voice mail, the sender and receiver have a record of the communication, more information can be conveyed than through voice mail, and the information can be conveyed at a convenient time.

Plan your day/week/month/year

In general, draw up a daily list of things to do, and prioritize them so you give the greatest time to the truly important tasks. When planning your schedule consider what you know about yourself. Determine what time of day you work best (often in the morning) and do the most difficult tasks then. Do less pleasant tasks before the ones you enjoy - then you "reward" yourself for your earlier hard work. Don't schedule your day to the minute. Leave some unscheduled time each day to accommodate all those unexpected things that always come up. Check off tasks as you finish them. Those checkmarks give you a sense of accomplishment and help keep you motivated. Set aside time each day to plan the next day, and to do long-range planning. During that time, review not only what you accomplished that day and need to get done the next, but what needs to get done in the next week, which of your monthly goals can be done, what part of a long-range goal can be worked on.

Planning is the key, and deserves an entire chapter, not just a couple of paragraphs. If you don't read anything else on time management, spend some time reading about planning and perfecting a system of your own. The characteristics of a successful planning system include that it is not too cumbersome to use, and it works.

Know yourself

• Do more of what you are good at and less of what you are not good at. If you are a whiz at collection development but hate budgets, keep the collection development tasks for yourself, and assign a staff person who likes working with numbers to put together the first draft of the budget. Then review it with her, and assume the responsibility to complete it, understand it, and present it to management, since that is a responsibility of your job. Just because you are responsible for a particular task does not mean that you can not assign it.

• Know when you are most productive. Keep that time sacrosanct. Discourage all interruptions. Work on the tough stuff.

• Know your most effective work style. Is it easier to focus on one project until it is complete or to work on several things in parallel? Do you work better alone or a part of a team? Which method of communication do you prefer: visual (email) or aural (telephone). Use what you know about yourself to make your work climate as amenable to your style as possible. If the work environment is transparent to the worker, getting things done is easy. Not being frustrated about simple logistics makes work easier and ultimately saves time.

Don't Procrastinate

• Set a deadline, which creates a sense of urgency, whether actual or artificial.

• Do the most unpleasant part first. Then you can look forward to the more enjoyable part of the task, and end the job on a positive note.

• Make a game of it. Turn drudgery into fun.

• Build in a reward, which provides an incentive to finish the task quickly.

Organize your office

The tips provided here are obvious and easy to implement. As you work, you will discover other ways to save time based on your job responsibilities, the organization, even the physical layout of the facility. One last tip: keep a picture in your office of what is really important to you - family, pet, place, whatever is your top priority. It will remind you of why you are working and why you should work smarter, not harder.

McCarthy, K. W. 1992. The On-Purpose Person: Making Your Life Make Sense. Pinon Press. Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Blumenthal, J. 1998. How to take control of your life and say "good-bye" to stress. Bottom Line Personal 20(6): 9-10. March 15.

Winston, S. 1983. The Organized Executive: New Ways to Manage Time, Paper, and People. Warner Books. New York, New York.

Brewer, K. C. 1991. Getting Things Done. National Press Publications. Shawnee Mission, KS.

Truitt, M. R. 1991. The Supervisor's Handbook. National Press Publications. Shawnee Mission, KS.

In addition, there are countless articles in popular and professional magazines and journals. Time management is a popular topic. I did not include any in the bibliography because they all present the same basic ideas and techniques, and more articles are published every month. For a listing, search on "time management" in any database.