Keep your focus in the age of e-clutter
By Asjylyn Loder, Times Staff Writer
Published March 9, 2008
I don't think I can write this column.
My instant messages ping constantly. Voice mail awaits on each of my three phones. My inbox overfloweth. I'm not popular. I'm just trapped by the beeping widgets of the modern workplace.
How can I get everything done, and still leave the office in time for the late show? Desperate for advice, I quizzed a trio of Florida time-management gurus.
-"Turn it off," instructs Catherine Funderburg, professional development officer for the Corporate Training Center at Hillsborough Community College. "We need to decide if we want to be a driver or a passenger in our lives."
With five children, three dogs, two car payments and a house, Funderburg has a ready store of spine-stiffening instructions.
First: "Keep first things first." Know your boss' priorities. Ask often. Are you the boss? Then repeat often.
Second, start every day with a short to-do list. That keeps your priorities in view and on track. Disengage from the electronic fusillade. Check messages three times a day and that's it.
- "Be ruthless," said J. Yellowlees Douglas, who teaches management communications at the University of Florida. Douglas loves to take on multiple projects, sometimes working 120 hours a week.
Her advice: Know how long a task should take. Don't spend two hours on something that should take 20 minutes. Don't have 20 minutes? Say no.
Keep a "drop dead" list of tasks that must get completed that day. Write down long-term projects and goals, and keep the list where you can see it.
Don't procrastinate. "Apply a-- to chair." Don't peek at news Web sites. Work until done.
- "Quit," advised Marvin Karlins, author of Romancing the Clock and management professor at the University of South Florida. Don't wait to make a change if you're unhappy.
But don't walk out the door at the first sign of trouble. "There's no job that I know of that's not going to have some measure of terror or hassle or disappointment or dissatisfaction," he said.
Regularly re-evaluate what makes you happy. People change. Maybe you need more of a challenge or a shorter commute. Focus on spending more of your day on things you like.
Remember the importance of joy. "When it comes to life, revel in the journey or skip the trip."
Asjylyn Loder can be reached at aloder@sptimes.com or 813 225-3117.