The difficulty with managing time or getting organized is that it is not a one-time or annual event. Maintenance is the key to continuing top performance. The good news is that time management techniques remain fairly constant over time. It is not so much that you need to find the newest trick, technique or product, although these do exist. Rather, it is to remember to consistently use what you know . Be alert to creeping disorganization and bad habits. Watch out for the little things which keep popping up to steal your time away from what really matters. As you progress in your field the low-payoff little things transform, making them harder to identify. But they are still there.

The busier you become, the greater the challenge. It can be a constant struggle to sift the important from the simply urgent. High-payoff activities are those that will provide a valuable payoff in the long run. Dealing with high-payoff activities is often difficult, because they are frequently large, complex or time-consuming tasks. The average manager has very little uninterrupted time to concentrate on these sorts of activities, and so they often get delayed, ending up on a back burner. Low-payoff activities are often short, quick and easy to do, hence they crowd out the high-payoff items.

Here is a quick test to determine whether you have been seduced by low-priority tasks. You begin to focus on efficiency at the expense of effectiveness, and begin to speed up, attempting to cram more into your busy schedule. An efficiency focus sounds like this:

• Can we speed up this process?
• It's faster to do it myself, so I will.
• This task needs to be perfect.
• Let's call a meeting about this issue.
• Meeting all deadlines is the goal.
• Doing things right.

An effectiveness focus sounds like this:

• Should we be doing this process at all?
• Who else can I train so I don't have to keep doing it?
• Is it worth the extra time and effort?
• Is there an alternative to a costly meeting?
• Achieving objectives.
• Doing the right things.

Managing High-Payoff Activities

1. Schedule your day around high-payoff activities. Whatever time is left over, schedule low-priority activities then. High-value activities do not proliferate as quickly as low-payoff items. That is why trying to take care of all the "little things" will suck up your entire day.
2. Leave your immediate work area. When you have an activity that requires concentration, get away from the distractions in your office and on your desk. Use a spare conference room or an absent colleague's desk.
3. Set deadlines. Establish deadlines for completing major portions of the big project.
4. Divide the project into very small units. It is easier to find a half-hour here and there throughout the week than it is to find four and a half hours of uninterrupted time.
5. Stay focused. Choose the time of the day when you are most alert. Use your prime time to attack difficult things which require mental acuity.

Managing Low-Payoff Activities

1. Delegate them if possible. Are you really the best person to do a given task?
2. Systematize them. Use checklists to help complete routine things more easily and quickly. Create logical systems for handling repetitive tasks.
3. Lower your standards. What is the minimum acceptable level of quality that can get by for this task? Do the least amount that you can on these items.
4. Group them together. Return calls or do paperwork at a set time. Fit them in between waiting times, while you are waiting for a meeting, or for your next appointment.
5. Use shortcuts. A handwritten response on correspondence received; three-part memos; a phone call instead of a letter.
6. Ask yourself, can you save time without sacrificing results by: Changing the frequency, reducing quality standards, adopting new methods, or delegating.

Every few months take a hard look at your activities and search out those which take you off track. Keep the end result in mind. Remember: it's not how fast you move or how long you work, it is what you accomplish and can be proud of that matters.