Managing Your Assets

William Maloney and Art Boulay
OPI Consulting

(c)1998 OPI, Inc. All rights reserved.

The quality of our lives is often determined by how we use our time or as we suggest – How we invest it.

For more information on time management:

	OPI Workshops
	Article "I Need More Time"
	If you have any questions regarding Time Management contact Programs@opi-inc.com.

Managing Our Assets

Do you consider the 1,440 minutes or 86,400 seconds of your day as assets? Do you invest them to achieve a maximum return on investment?

We all share certain basic facts in common – 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, and 1,440 minutes or 86,400 seconds of your day.

The quality of our lives is often determined by how we use them or as we suggest – How we invest them.

There are always demands and challenges, and there will always be something else to do or someplace else to be and we all use the excuse we don’t have time. That we know.

Gaining control of our time is a process of understanding what we’re currently doing with the seconds and minutes we have and determining the level of satisfaction or value we got from how we invested them. If you are not satisfied determine what you need to change. Please review the Time Management tips and if you have any questions please give us a call.

Why not put these tips to work today?

Top Twenty Time Management Tips

1.	Maintain an effective daily planning system.
2.	Set challenging Goals and Rewards.
3.	Prioritize what must be accomplished first today—begin early on difficult and unpleasant tasks.
4.	Don’t procrastinate—focus on the possibilities of getting on with things. Delaying progress increases the chance for errors, reduces recovery time and causes stress.
5.	Benchmark your progress of goals to completion. You can’t manage what you can’t measure.
6.	Plan for and anticipate interruptions—interruptions are why you are here.
7.	Eliminate time wasters—unimportant tasks that don’t matter rob energy.
8.	Determine if this is a task/project that can be delegated.
9.	Make the decisions that need to be made—then clearly document and communicate your decisions. Poor communications leads to errors and threatens morale.
10.	Designate the proper times and space to work effectively.
11.	Do it right the first time—redoing things weakens self-motivation.
12.	Communicate your schedule and priorities to your staff/team. Say what is important and why.
13.	Handle paper only once. If you touch it act on it—Delegate it, Dump it or Do it.
14.	Learn to use the technology available—it is the key to long term productivity and quality.
15.	Know you practical limits of work quantity and quality. Don’t push beyond your limit—this can lead to burnout.
16.	Evaluate areas for self-improvement—staying the same leads to stagnation.
17.	Evaluate your staff/team members—look for their contributions and show your appreciation, this builds self-motivation and gets everyone’s engines roaring. Look for areas that need attention now and develop that skill in your employees/team members.
18.	Plan for effective meetings: agendas, purpose, participation and anticipated results.
19.	Other tips for meetings: Take notes, ask questions, keep an open mind, be ready to accept meaningful change and take immediate action on your assignments.
20.	Make time for yourself—reward yourself for effectively managing your time.