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For many people, time is an enemy. We race against the clock to finish assignments and meet deadlines.
The Pomodoro Technique teaches you to work with time, instead of struggling against it.
A revolutionary time management system, it is at once deceptively simple to learn and life-changing to use.
Here is what makes it so unique:
If you’ve ever had to send event paperwork to attendees, you already know the pain that comes along with managing a ton of documents. Papers get lost or misfiled. Attendees forget to complete an important field or don’t write legibly.
Thankfully, modern event organizing technology offers plenty of ways to get event paperwork completed quickly and easily — and makes illegible handwriting a thing of the past.
Here are three simple ways to get your paperwork signed faster and more reliably:
There are a couple truths behind successful event organizing: people like to know what to expect, and they like things to be easy.
You can achieve both when you give attendees the early heads-up about event paperwork they’ll need to sign. This sets expectations and onboards attendees to future actions they’ll need to take.
Most importantly, introducing paperwork early on minimizes the day-of-event chaos for both event organizers and attendees. When registrants have the opportunity to receive and sign event paperwork before the event, it cuts down on day-of document chaos.
So when your big day comes, your staff will be able to focus on more pressing tasks, and your attendees can focus on having a great time at your event.
eSignatures – like traditional signatures – are a legally-binding way to sign documents online.
Compared to pen and paper signing, eSignatures come with a few extra perks. They’re trackable. They can generate reminders for documents that still need to be signed by attendees. And you usually have the option to automatically store signed copies of documents in one easily-accessible place.
Another bonus of planning an event with online paperwork? You can cut down on the redundancy of formatting paperwork. Online templates make it simple to prep once and then send as many documents as you need. This can be a huge time saver for any event organizer who’s juggling different forms for big events.
Instead of having to print, sign and fax forms, online paperwork allows attendees to sign online in a few clicks. To get the most out of online signing, though, it’s super helpful to think about mobile-friendly signing. After all, more people access the internet on mobile devices than desktops.
Luckily, most people already carry the capability to complete paperwork in their pocket.
Mobile-friendly documents make it easy for attendees to fill out, sign, and complete event paperwork from wherever they are. That way, they can use their phone or tablet to sign as soon as they’re ready—and you can get paperwork filed faster.
Don’t forget about other devices, too. Attendees and event organizers often use tablets for live, in-person signing at events.
The reason time management gadgets and systems don’t work is that these systems are designed to manage clock time. Clock time is irrelevant. You don’t live in or even have access to clock time. You live in real time, a world in which all time flies when you are having fun or drags when you are doing your taxes.
The good news is that real time is mental: you create it. Anything you create, you can manage. It’s time to remove any self-sabotage or self-limitation you have around “not having enough time,” or today not being “the right time” to start a business or manage your current business properly.
There are only three ways to spend time: thoughts, conversations and actions. Regardless of the type of business you own, your work will be composed of those three items.
As an entrepreneur, you may be frequently interrupted or pulled in different directions. While you cannot eliminate interruptions, you do get a say on how much time you will spend on them and how much time you will spend on the thoughts, conversations and actions that will lead you to success.
Here is an infographic that will help you managing your time:
When working with employees and first time leaders around the world, over half (56%) of them spend time on activity that takes lots of effort for very little result. In short, they’re wasting their time. Yet, just a few small adjustments to the way they work can make a big difference to their productivity.
Despite what many believe, multi-tasking is not a great way to manage time efficiently nor to get things done: each time someone switches from one activity to another, people suffer from something similar to writer’s block and then need to take time to ‘reset’ their minds between tasks.
The more complex the tasks the more time it takes to re-organize the mind but even brief distractions add up.
Rather than multi-tasking, employees should estimate how long it will take to accomplish an activity and only focus on those things that generate a good return on investment. They should be allowed to block dedicated periods of time in their calendar and discipline themselves to focus on the task at hand during those periods.
A lot of work gets done without the benefit of clearly defined goals and objectives but without clarity it is difficult to know whether the right work is getting done and priorities then start to clash.
It’s also important for employees to set personal goals which will energize and engage but as we become busier it is easy for meaningful goals to be displaced by urgent things. The longer this goes on, the more stressed a person becomes.
Create a flexible weekly schedule in terms of work and home-life categories of activities job, chores, exercise, family, unstructured relaxation, and so on.
People over-commit for a variety of reasons: they don’t want to disappoint others; they feel they have no choice; they have an unrealistic idea of current commitments or of what is involved in the new commitment.
But those that over-commit can quickly become burnt-out and exhausted.
It’s important to create a workplace culture where it’s acceptable to say ‘no’ at times; that it doesn’t show unwillingness but rather a sign that you are responsible and take your commitments seriously.
Before saying yes, employees should let the person know that they will check their other priorities and time-frames. Before agreeing, they should have a realistic and detailed idea of what the commitment entails and if they can’t do it, then give a reason for declining.
We are constantly bombarded by distractions and interruptions in the workplace.
Think of these events as forcing the mind into a multi-task mode, with each event either preventing or breaking concentration and time lost to constant task switching.
To overcome distractions, employers should provide quiet places of work or flexibility to work from home for when employees are working on projects that require concentration. Employees should set aside time periods for specific activities, and discourage interruptions. Email and voicemail checking should be saved for the time between other tasks.
For some people, organization means files, drawers, cubbies, neat stacks (or no stacks at all), and a complete lack of clutter. For others, it simply means knowing where to look and being able to find what you need right away.
The point of organization is not to fit someone else’s definition of ‘organized’, but for employees to have what they need in an easily accessible place.
They should be encouraged to organize themselves in a way that makes sense to them, to cull information and emails regularly and to recognize that being disorganized is a drain on their time and energy.
Failing to reflect is a vicious circle as it can lead to people becoming stressed and overworked which then means even less time for thinking. This stifles creativity and innovation but also a lack of downtime means many aren’t considering their activities and whether they’re key for meeting their goals and objectives.
Employees should set aside specific time each month or week to reflect on their work, themselves and their long-term goals, and be partnered with a coach or mentor for support (this could be a manager, colleague, or friend outside work).
Perfection is an indefinable and unobtainable goal that increases workload significantly for very little value. Employers and managers should establish objective quality measures by defining what is ‘good enough’.
But if in doubt, before ‘making it better’, they should ask themselves whether a person, whom they respect, would notice a meaningful qualitative difference if more time and effort was invested.
We can’t of course all work like robots, ensuring that every minute of the working day is used efficiently and productively. There will of course be days where people lack energy and enthusiasm either due to personal issues, ill health or just general ‘off’ days. But with the right motivational leadership in place and a few simple steps to help teams to use time effectively, then output versus activity should be evenly balanced.
Every meeting—online or in person—is an investment of time, money and resources.
A good sales meeting takes the prospect to the next step. A good project management meeting synchronizes the team and supports on-time, on-budget project outcomes.
Follow the infographic below and find out how effective your meetings are:
