You know how it feels; you have your own agenda but the world and his wife seem to be making demands on your ...


TIMEManagement!


YOU know how it feels; you have your own agenda and ‘To Do’ list (mental or actual), but the world and his wife seem to be making demands on you as well. Where to start? Well, first of all make a clear division


between home and work. Try to keep them as separate as possible. It is sometimes unavoidable to deal with home issues when you are at work, but try to do so as early in the day as possible and then put them out of your mind. Equally, it is sometimes necessary to


complete a piece of work, or make work- related phone calls from home, and certainly this can free up your mind so you can focus on your home life. But do try to keep these instances to a minimum - the family stuff is important and underpins your working life. Now, back to the office. Most of us are bombarded with paperwork, despite the widespread use of technology. Make it a rule to handle each piece of paper only once.


Never pick up a piece of paper, partially deal with it, and put it down again; and try not to start lots of jobs at the same time. Of course, if you have progressed a task as far as you can for the moment, perhaps because you are waiting for information from another source, then that is the time to turn your attention to the next job - but don’t forget where you are with the first task. Write on a sticky note what or whom you are waiting for, and pop it on the top of the file. Then put the file in a ‘pending’ or ‘holding’ tray. The messages in your E-mail inbox can be just as daunting as a pile of paper. You should aim to clear your inbox at the end of every day, by deleting unwanted messages and those that have been dealt with and do not need to be retained, filing the rest in folders. Each morning, the first thing to do is to go through and delete all the junk messages. Then sort the remainder by sender (by clicking on ‘sender’ or ‘from’ at the top of the screen). That way, related messages from the same person can be dealt with together. Many people find it useful to keep a time log of their activity for a week or two. This will highlight what causes you the most interruptions - whether it is unscheduled visitors, meetings or phone calls - and you will see how much time is wasted. Next, try to ‘section’ your time through the day, so that you deal with incoming mail (post or electronic) first thing and just before lunch, just after lunch and at the end of the day. In between, decide on sections of time when you would prefer to hold meetings and greet visitors, and make telephone calls, and do all you can to keep to your schedule. In other words, take control. If you find it difficult to stop the interruptions, try to find somewhere else to work while you deal with the particular piece of work you are trying to progress. Having a tidy work environment can have a huge impact on you mentally. Tidy up your working area and keep all paperwork filed away unless you are actually working on it. Acquire three filing trays and label two of


them ‘Action’ and ‘Pending’. Label the third ‘Pass On’ - and in it accumulate documents for colleagues. Either wait for them to come to you, and hand over the papers then, or do it on your way to lunch, or the coffee machine - whenever you are passing. Don’t make a special trip. Don't use the ‘Pending’ tray for work that


you are reluctant to address! It will just sit there and fester, and one day it will become an urgent problem! Items in this tray should be those that are awaiting information from another source - in which case make a note (in your paper diary or on your electronic reminder system such as Microsoft Outlook) on the date you would expect to receive a reply, and follow it up. Similarly, with documentation that needs to be dealt with on a certain day, make a diary note or set a reminder and then file the documents away - perhaps in a ‘bring forward’ folder or drawer with dividers for each day of the month. If you produce regular reports, set up a


template so that you can just update the text and/or figures each time. Similarly, consider carefully the information that regularly comes to you - do you need it all? Can you devise a template that will combine two or more reports? Perhaps the most difficult action to take, but possibly the most effective, is to learn to say ‘No’ - but in the nicest possible way. You will find that it is not very often that you have to say ‘No’ absolutely. Negotiate deadlines or suggest alternative dates/times for meetings that will fit in with your new schedule. Suggest a colleague who might be able to help. Always give a reason why you cannot comply with the request, and make it as business-based as possible. Try to be fair, and always offer to assist colleagues who have a high workload during periods when you are not so busy. Reorganising your way of working takes some time and effort, but you will reap the rewards. Just take it a step at a time - never try to eat the whole elephant at one sitting, several little meals will be much more digestible!


Days OFF!


... or what Pitchcare readers get up to out of office hours


were about to knock the remaining wall out to make way for the two 4m long steel joists to be put in place, he rushed down from the Midlands to give us a hand! I am a very keen gardener and particularly enjoy growing conservatory plants, especially cycads and palms. The conservatory was originally designed around the plants, although we may need an extension if they continue to grow at the rate that they are. The two dogs also take a bit of looking after, plenty of walks and exercise required, always a good excuse to get out of the office, but I’m not entirely sure who trains (or walks) who. My other interests include listening to music. I was born and raised in the Midlands listening to my brother’s collection of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Ozzy and the like. I am proud to say that I haven’t moved on much from then but do listen to more ‘modern’ rock like G&R, Extreme and Nirvana.


renovations and improvements to the property. We have, sometimes rather foolishly, undertaken the majority of the work ourselves, but at last it is starting to feel more like a home than a building site. Perhaps the most foolhardy thing we did was to take out the back wall of the house in order to extend the kitchen in to the original outbuildings and at the same time, prepare the foundations for an adjoining conservatory to be built. Fortunately, when my older brother heard that we had the back of the house balancing on acro’s and


DR KATE ENTWISTLE : I left the STRI in 2000 to relocate to Hampshire and set up my own business, The Turf Disease Centre, to provide a professional and independent turf disease service for the amenity turf grass industry. Like most home run businesses time off for me is very rare. However, I’m not complaining. The move was very beneficial as it not only gave me the push that I needed to start up my own business, but also allowed me to develop my DIY skills whilst renovating the old house that we moved in to. I share this house with my two Rottweilers, Harvey and Helga and my husband, Paul. Since moving into the old house most of my spare time has been dedicated to


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99