Techniques To Accomplish More Each Day

Maintenance management can be a pressure cooker. Emergencies, short staffing, vendor problems, shop backlogs and asset breakdowns all contribute to stressors on the job. While removing the stressors is impossible, changing one's attitude is quite possible by "mastering" one's environment.

This can be accomplished by developing time management skills. The goal is not to feel in control, because that is an illusion. The objective of time management is to feel that you can master anything that comes at you. Mastery of this type pays dividends in effectiveness.

The Nature of Time

Time is the only truly non-renewable resource. Unlike energy, it cannot be saved or created. It is also the only resource that everyone has exactly the same amount of. In the amount of time, we are all truly equal.

Do you know how you spend your day? Keep a log of what you actually do in a typical week. Time management experts agree the place to start managing your time is by finding out how you spend your time.

As you go through each day, write down the percentage of time you spend at each activity. Then, as you review the percentages, ask yourself: If I were the kind of manager I'd like to be, what would be the ideal percentages for each activity?

The reality of being a maintenance manager is that frequently you are not in control of your time. When you are not in control of most of your time, it is doubly important to control what little time is left.

Here are four projects to improve your time management.

Project No. 1 - Schedule time to clean up your desk, organize your office

Get a box of manila folders and put them in order with the tabs alternating leftto right.

Get a blank piece of full-size paper to use as your master to-do list. Or, use MicrosoftOutlook's tasks or another mobile phone, tablet or computer calendar system. It is important to get a to-do system that is easy to use and keep on top of.

Put all of your papers from your desk, and from elsewhere in your office, in a pile.

Go through every piece of paper in...