You will need

  • - diary;
  • - standard daily routine for the manager;
  • - a list of current events with the participation of the manager.

Instructions

Determine your standard daily routine. Some events can be repeated day after day, others are one-time in nature. Formulate plans for the coming week and month. Rank the expected activities in order of importance. As a result, you should receive a list of tasks located in a certain hierarchy.

Include in your daily routine those events that are contained in the work plans of the organization or enterprise for the quarter, half-year and year. Collect information from departments and structural units about control and inspection activities in which you must directly participate.

If planned events are scheduled for a specific time, group them and enter them in the work diary in order of priority. Make a note of the importance of a particular meeting, meeting or negotiation. When setting priorities, be guided by your main functions. Instruct your assistant or secretary to remind you of the most important events well in advance, rather than at the last minute.

Make sure that the planned events do not overlap each other in time. If attending a meeting or business meeting requires traveling away from your facility or office, factor in the travel time required.

Leave time in your schedule for other unplanned business activities. Even a small time gap will avoid haste and prevent many misunderstandings. Also include time for rest and eating in your daily routine.

Bring your daily routine to the attention of your assistant. Demand that you be regularly notified of changes in event plans that occur for objective reasons. Once you receive meaningful information from your assistant, immediately make adjustments to your daily routine.

Sources:

  • Planning the manager's working day

Why is it that two workers spend the same amount of time in the office, neither is distracted by extraneous things, but they manage to do different amounts of work? Because one of them scatters his attention, while the other managed to structure the work process. Proper planning of working time is one of the keys to a successful and efficient working day.

Instructions

Form work blocks in which you will perform similar tasks. As you know, starting a job is difficult. Having reluctantly sat down to the first task, you get involved, and things go much faster. Therefore, organize projects and tasks into folders and start completing similar ones. To receive visitors or employees, if you are a boss, it is also better to set aside your own office hours so that you are not constantly distracted from working with papers.

If there is a lot of work and it requires your full attention, allow yourself to arrange non-office hours. Transfer the phone to your colleagues or secretary, send visitors to your deputy. Don’t be shy about locking yourself away from everyone in your office and completely immersing yourself in an urgent project.

Often, the duration of a project depends directly on the time allocated for it. If your superiors do not rush you to complete the task, you can independently regulate the time frame within which the project must be completed. This way, your work will go much faster than if you work slowly day after day.

Time management, work time planning or work time management is an important skill for a business person. Success is most often perceived as high performance and the achievement of meaningful goals. But don’t forget: time well spent is another key criterion for success.

Time management goals

Working time management can solve a lot of goals and tasks, the modern rhythm of life forces you to treat time with great attention, and fashionable and successful coaches are developing a lot of techniques that subordinate time to the business rhythm of life. But what is surprising: many of the laws of time control were discovered and formulated in the middle of the 20th century, some even earlier - a hundred or even more years ago, when business was just beginning to assert itself and the rhythm of life was just beginning to accelerate.

Parkinson's Law states: "Work fills the time available for it." This aphorism is ironic, but its correctness is proven by direct life. Observing himself, his loved ones, and then the work of government bodies and official institutions, the English historian noticed that both in everyday life and in public life a person is ready to waste time on useless things.

Parkinson's Law was formulated by historian Cyril Northcote Parkinson in an article published in the British magazine The Economist in 1955.

If a person does not limit himself to a time frame, he can do the work again and again, endlessly correcting something, adjusting, looking for shortcomings, as if trying to bring the job to absolute perfection, acting not on the result, but immersing himself in the process.

However, compliance with this law is not a dogma. On the contrary, the task of any successful person is to overcome the inertia of this rule, to subordinate this law to his plans and guidelines.

The purpose of time management is to organize working time, set priorities, control time and spend it rationally.

Planning principles

Planning always consists of several levels:

  • strategic global (planning for several years, this is a supergoal or supergoals that a person sets for himself)
  • strategic planning for a year or six months (those general tasks that will slowly but surely bring a person closer to his main, main goal)
  • tactical planning for the month and week,
  • tactical planning for the day.

Each of them has different requirements, and time management methods are also noticeably different. They are very individual and are largely formed by the individual independently.

Eisenhower Matrix

Planning for the day is also, of course, individual, but in this case, the business world has accumulated a lot of experience in time management. The main principle of everyday time management is based on the so-called Eisenhower matrix.

36 US President Dwight David Eisenhower developed a priority matrix to optimize his busy work time. He understood: all the things that a person needs to do in a day can be divided into important and unimportant, urgent and not urgent. As a result, the following square with 4 zones is formed:

The most difficult thing is to distribute all the responsibilities and concerns into these 4 groups: to understand which things are actually important and which are unimportant. According to coaches, important things are those that bring us closer to our goal and are related to planning for the year.

The first square should ideally be free, because if it is busy, it means that important things were not completed on time and time pressure set in. Ideally, unimportant and non-urgent matters (as a rule, these are social networks, aimless telephone conversations, computer games, etc.) can also be safely brushed aside and concentrate on the important and non-urgent ones, occupying a key place for them in the workday schedule. Urgent and unimportant matters can be given the remaining time or their execution can be delegated to colleagues or subordinates.

Pareto principle

Second important principle is consistent with the Eisenhower Matrix and was named after the sociologist Vilfredo Pareto. The second name of the principle is the 20/80 principle, Pareto back in the 19th century. noted: “20% of effort produces 80% of the result, and the remaining 80% of effort produces only 20% of the result.” It's really hard to argue with this: most efforts don't produce the desired results. However, taking this fact for granted and applying it not only to results, but also to time spent, will prove to be very effective. The main thing is to find those 20% of important information from a letter or business conversation that will bring those 80% of results. During the day, amid the cycle of affairs, isolate these 20% of your plans, the implementation of which will bring 80% of success.

Corollary of Pareto's Law: It is usually too difficult and tedious to understand what is going on, and often it is not necessary - you just need to know whether your idea works or not, and change it so that it works, and then maintain the situation until it does. until the idea stops working.

Another principle of time management is based on human physiology and taking into account his biorhythms. During the day, the human body functions unevenly; the biorhythm curve looks something like this:

When planning your work day, it is important to take into account the time of high performance and be sure to leave time for rest and the opportunity to relax and switch off, this will allow you to get rid of the negative effects of daytime stress.

Fourth principle planning may seem contrary to everything that was described above, but its observance will contribute to a soft, calm feeling of the passage of time, a feeling that it is subject to man. A plan cannot dominate a person: variability and flexibility of planning are perhaps the most important principles of time management. This principle implies the ability to change plans in time and build new chains of connections between events. In practice, this means recording important and urgent matters as the main ones that form the backbone of the day, leaving so-called buffer zones for possible changes, new circumstances, and unforeseen urgent matters.

In a word, productivity and busyness cannot be mixed; planning will allow you to avoid situations of lack of time and correctly set priorities, which will significantly increase the productivity of your working day.

10 rules for planning working hours

In fact, there can be as many rules as each person can choose from the list below.

  • Privacy rule. At work, it is desirable to be able to remain alone: ​​to do this, close the doors, set closed hours, turn on the answering machine, ask the secretary for silence. The time for such work can be set in the morning or towards the end of the working day, when the office work mood is reduced.
  • Work block rule. All work in the office can be divided into blocks: telephone conversations and business correspondence, meetings and meetings with colleagues, documentation and paperwork. By performing work in similar blocks, we save effort and do not switch from one type of activity to another.
  • The rule is small parts - right slices. A large, difficult task, a strategic task, cannot be accomplished with a single application of effort, therefore, by daily and methodically completing small parts of a large project, we tactically bring the global goal closer.
  • Rule of delegation of responsibilities. The ability to delegate authority is also part of time management.
  • Regulation rule and deadline rule. Setting a clear time frame for a business meeting, meeting or interview, as well as a framework for completing work, means consciously and productively violating Parkinson’s Law, making it your ally.

Voltaire: Time is quite long for one who uses it; whoever works and who thinks expands its limits.

  • Rule of prioritization. Gradually, you can develop the skill, when new cases and situations arise, to mentally assign each of them a status from the Eisenhower matrix: urgent - not urgent, important - unimportant. Then priorities will line up automatically.
  • The rule for taking into account the time of day and biorhythms. It is better to plan important and urgent matters in the morning. Their implementation will create a situation of success during the working day. It is better to plan in the evening: according to psychologists and coaches, then the subconscious mind will itself optimally build the next day’s routine overnight.

  • Note-taking rule: “Think on paper.” Notes are necessary: ​​they organize your consciousness, form a visual picture in your head, and help you control yourself throughout the day.
  • Results rule. A summary at the end of the working day can create a feeling of success, productivity, and help coordinate your actions and plans for future days.

Working time planning methods

The main methods of time management are keeping records, calendars, and workday cards. In this case, one or more principles of time management are taken as a basis: a general scheme is created, a template that can be adapted and used by a specific person for his or her daily routine.

One of the author’s methods is set out in Tracy Brown’s book and is called “Leave Disgust, Eat a Frog!” It involves dividing plans into positively colored, pleasant responsibilities and unpleasant ones. If you carefully and consciously analyze your plans for the day, you will definitely find things that you don’t want to do (they can roughly be called frogs or toads). These are the things that need to be done first: put aside disgust and metaphorically “eat this frog thing first.”

Brian Tracy: Finally, an observation: if you have to "eat" a live frog, don't sit and stare at it for too long. The path to achieving a high level of professionalism and productivity lies through acquiring a sustainable habit of solving the most important tasks first thing in the morning, without wasting time on other problems. You need to learn to “eat the frog” first, without engaging in preliminary, often idle, reasoning.

In addition to this technique, one more tip: to make the aftertaste even more pleasant, after the frog you can “eat a dessert”: do something pleasant, loved, bringing pleasure and joy in the workplace.

An interesting method of planning a working day was proposed by Alexander and Dmitry Tsyglin, representatives of the Franklin School:

Video about making a map for the day

Benjamin Franklin, the author of the famous aphorism “Time is money,” also noted the following: Wealth depends mainly on two things: on industry and moderation, in other words, waste neither time nor money, and make the best use of both.

The modern form of making plans for the day is special programs for smartphones and PDAs (organizers), which take the calendar or spreadsheet capabilities as a basis, which allows you to reflect the date, time, indicate the time frame for each event, leave notes and comments, and also create not only tactical plans for the day, but also to see strategic movement towards the main goal. They are mobile, convenient and, most importantly, effective in modern living conditions.

Sample programs

By combining several techniques and taking into account as many principles and rules of time management as possible, you can create a program template.

It is important to understand the main thing: a list of things to do is not a plan. He will only become a plan when he can live up to Brian Tracy’s rule: “Planning precedes right actions and prevents bad actions.”

If you spend a few minutes, it will become clear which tasks can be combined into blocks, which tasks are too global, but important and not urgent (they, on the contrary, are divided into “even slices”), which tasks can be considered “frogs”, which will become pleasant and delicious dessert. You can depict them in the form of diagrams or diagrams, you can paint them in different colors.

Planning and organizing work is the key to further self-development. Read the article about the basic principles and rules of daily planning.

From the article you will learn:

Why do you need daily planning?

Not everyone understands why they need to plan their working day. After all, every person, even without planning, knows what functions he performs and what tasks lie ahead of him. Many people do not see the point in making plans for the day, since there are always unexpected tasks that can confuse all the previously planned points.

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If you compare two workers performing the same functions and having the same abilities, you will find that the volume and quality of work they perform are different. One employee manages to solve both current and strategic tasks, the second does not have time to complete even urgent assignments and is forced to stay after work all the time. The best results will be shown by those who are more . That is, someone for whom the planning process is a daily responsibility and need. Having a plan, even on a psychological level, forces a person to mobilize. He has a fixed goal and an internal need to achieve it appears.

How to plan effectively?

Planning and organizing work is carried out by the employee. It is not the manager, but the employee who should set tasks for himself. In this case, he sets goals for himself independently and acts in the direction that he chooses. As a rule, the percentage of completed tasks when planning independently is higher than when performing general planning. , developed by the director.

There is a work planning system that has been tested in practice and ensures optimal use of working time. This is a set of principles by following which a person can create a competent, realistic and achievable plan.

First, determine what you need to include in your daily plan. It should be drawn up taking into account a strategic plan developed for six months or a year. Planning for each day takes into account all the tasks scheduled for implementation, both directly related to work and secondary ones. For example, congratulating a colleague on his birthday. In addition to those items that the manager expects to be completed, personal matters must also be included in the plan. This is necessary for personal development and creating a positive image.

When planning work, large tasks that will take several days or weeks to complete should be broken down into steps and completed sequentially. For each stage, set a due date. Make a plan for the coming day, including subtasks. To draw up a plan, you can use a regular paper diary or a special program.

The goal of work planning is not to fulfill the plan items at any cost, but to timely and high-quality execution of priority tasks and urgent tasks. Therefore, the list of tasks to be completed must be sorted and the items arranged in descending order of priority. In progress You can use several methods simultaneously.

For example, tasks with a fixed deadline and tasks that require more effort to complete are given the highest priority. The second most important tasks will be the daily tasks that must be completed and those tasks whose completion dates are scheduled for the coming days. The lowest priority in daily planning is given to minor matters, the failure of which will not have significant negative consequences.

Day planning rules

Just like planning the work of an enterprise, planning the working day of an individual employee must follow the rules. Following them will help ensure that your plans are carried out in a manner that is comfortable for you.

  1. Plan no more than 70% of your working time. This will allow you to calmly complete urgent unscheduled tasks and not be nervous if you have to be distracted from execution .
  2. Do not include more than three important and urgent tasks in your daily plan at the same time. Limit the total number of plan items to ten.
  3. Form similar cases into blocks. This will help to execute them using a single algorithm, which will reduce execution time.
  4. Move the planning process to the evening of the previous day. You will have time to make adjustments to the plan if necessary.
  5. Plan complex tasks taking into account your biorhythms. Some are more productive in the morning, some are more productive in the afternoon, and some work most productively in the evening.
  6. Don't start a new task before you finish the work you've already started. If you had to take a break, come back and finish what you started.
  7. Don't put off completing an unscheduled task if it can be done in a few minutes.
  8. Take breaks every hour without remaining at your desk. Devote your breaks to light stretching, this will help “refresh” your head.
  9. Don't be confused with achieving goals, do not set tasks for yourself and do not outline volumes that will be difficult to cope with.
  10. If there are unfulfilled tasks that have not lost their relevance, move them to the plan for the next day.
  11. Organize your workplace in such a way that it is comfortable to work.

Conclusion

Planning for each day is a useful and necessary skill. This is a way of self-organization and self-development, a guarantee that you can work effectively. The proposed work planning system will help you understand the basic principles time management and successfully use this knowledge in practice.

You've probably noticed that some specialists' careers are going uphill, while others, as they say, are lagging behind in office life. Some people manage to solve both current and strategic tasks, while others always miss deadlines. According to experts, it’s not just a matter of quick response and general professionalism. A successful career is primarily the result of effective work time planning.

How can you learn to use every working minute for your benefit? Read the advice from the recruiting portal.

Managing your time
Fresh and in the mood for productive work, you come to the office, turn on the computer, check your email, and at the same time remember what you have to do today. But while you are answering letters, your boss distracts you with a small but time-consuming assignment, and your colleague emotionally talks about yesterday’s meeting with the director. In the meantime, you receive two more letters marked “urgent”. When you finally remember that this morning you were supposed to start preparing an important presentation, the day has already passed the halfway point. Most likely, you will have to stay at the office again...

Is this a familiar picture? But all this could have been avoided by spending five minutes the day before planning the day. Of course, this would not save you from urgent letters, but still the day would be noticeably more organized.

According to the Research Center of the recruiting portal website, 23% of economically active Russians do not know how to plan their day. Meanwhile, according to time management experts, competent planning is the key to well-being in life and, of course, a successful career. By making a plan for the day, week, month, we become more organized, learn to value time and set priorities. A person who plans his time manages it himself, unlike those who go with the flow.

What should be included in the plan?
How should a specialist focused on career success plan his working time? A strategic plan for a year or six months should be turned into a tactical plan for the day every day. Daily planning is the secret of personal effectiveness for many successful people.

When planning your day, write down everything you need to do - from attending a meeting to congratulating colleagues or partners via email. And remember, for a successful career you always need to do a little more or better than what is expected of you. For example, if your manager has instructed you to systematize the department’s archives, do it in such a way that using the results of your work is not only convenient, but also pleasant. In addition, train yourself to include in your daily plan not only those tasks that the boss expects to be completed, but also those that will work for your personal image, bringing you additional “points” in daily office affairs.

You can make a to-do list in a regular paper diary or in a special program on your computer - it doesn’t really matter. The main thing is to put your thoughts in order and not forget a single thing that requires your attention.

Setting priorities
So, the to-do list for the day has been compiled. Now you need to set priorities - determine what is of paramount importance from what is written (designate such tasks in the plan with the letter A), what is important, but not urgent (B), and what is desirable, but not necessary (C).

When setting priorities, do not forget: what works for your career (your initiatives, projects for which you are personally responsible, etc.) should be of paramount importance, that is, marked with the letter A.

Having decided on the main thing, think about when it will be most convenient for you to complete this or that task. Work that requires concentration and absorption is best planned for a time when you are not too often distracted by calls and overly sociable colleagues. Many successful people have long made it a rule to do something difficult or important early in the morning, in peace and quiet, while the working day is not yet in full swing.

And, conversely, tasks that require contact with colleagues, clients or partners will be easier to complete in the middle of the working day, when everyone is available for communication and in a businesslike mood.

Time management for your career
A fairly effective rule of personal time management, which helps not to keep many small tasks in your head at the same time, sounds like this: if something takes less than three minutes, it needs to be done immediately, without delay. Do you need to call your client to confirm the time of the meeting? Don’t think about what time of day is best to do this – pick up the phone and call. Following this principle will free your diary from unnecessary entries, and your head from unnecessary thoughts and plans.

Another very useful commandment is not to do several things at the same time. And even if the laurels of Julius Caesar haunt you, do not try to discuss the terms of the contract over the phone and at the same time make changes to the table on the computer monitor. This way, you risk making a mistake in the table and missing something important in a telephone conversation. In other words, do important things sequentially, not in parallel.

Flexibility or hardness?
The plan is ready, priorities are defined, and now your task is to stay on course. Almost certainly, from the very morning you will have a lot of other things to do, some important and some not so important. Your manager may entrust you with important negotiations with a client, and your colleagues may be entrusted with the preparation of an important document.

Which of these is more important for life and career success is up to you to decide. On the one hand, you need to be able to not only draw up a plan for the day, but also adjust it as necessary. On the other hand, in order not to drown in unimportant matters, sooner or later you will have to learn to say “no” to people.

Main value
Daily planning teaches us to value time. A person who has a plan for the day, week, month or even year will hardly allow himself to lose an hour every day, for example, getting to work by subway. Most likely, he will spend this time reading professional magazines or listening to podcasts in English. After all, an hour a day is twenty (or more) hours a month and at least 240 hours a year! A lot of time that can and should be spent with benefit for yourself and your professional development.

Among other things, for the sake of successful career advancement, you will have to learn to forget about the temptations of the Internet, such as social networks, forums, chat rooms and online games. The only exceptions can be specialists whose daily activities are closely related to the promotion of their company in the virtual space. For the rest, we strongly recommend using social Internet resources at home, in your free time from work.

Good luck to you in planning your working time!

M.A. Lukashenko, Doctor of Economics, Professor, Vice-President of the Moscow Financial and Industrial University "Synergy", leading expert consultant of the company "Organization of Time"

Effectively plan your working time

Once talking with one extremely busy general director, I heard a wonderful phrase from him: “I don’t waste a minute. I even have lunch only with the chief accountant in order to resolve all the accumulated issues.” At that moment, I felt a mixed feeling of compassion and admiration for the chief accountant. After all, during his hard-earned lunch time, he cannot relax and take a break.

It is well known that the work of an accountant is very difficult, responsible, and stressful. And, as a rule, there is a lot of it. Therefore, most accountants are philosophical about the fact that they often have to stay late or work on weekends in order to have time to get everything done. But there are no miracles in the world, and over time, constant overload makes itself felt by chronic fatigue. And for a tired person, even his favorite job is not a joy.

However, there are time management tools that can make your work much easier, more predictable and manageable. With their help, you can manage to do all your planned tasks and still go home on time. This article is dedicated to them.

How to make a work to-do list

Have you ever heard the saying “The sharpest memory is dumber than the dullest pencil”? If not, then be sure to take it into account, because it reflects the key principle of time management - the principle of materialization. It says: “Keep nothing in your head, write everything down and in a convenient place, to find it immediately, and in the correct form, so that after some time you can understand yourself.” Accordingly, all planning tools are based on not trying to remember the required tasks, but immediately writing them down.

Making simple task lists is the most reliable and effective way to not forget anything and get everything done. You take a piece of paper and write down everything you need to do today. At the same time, you must prioritize all tasks - from the most important to the least important. And they must be performed strictly in order. Then, by the end of the working day, you are guaranteed to get the most important things done and will be able to decide whether the remaining tasks are worth staying late at work.

We correctly formulate what needs to be done

When making a to-do list, it is advisable to use a result-oriented recording form. Imagine that for the next week you wrote down for yourself: “Ivanov, agreement.” A week has passed, during which many different events happened to you. And when you see this entry again, for the life of you, you cannot remember what you meant, what kind of agreement we are talking about and what needs to be done with it: pick up, draw up, sign, terminate... Therefore, in your entry you must be a verb denoting the action itself plus its result. In our case, you need to write down: “Submit loan agreement No. …” to Ivanov for approval.

We plan for the future

With the help of “business” lists, you can organize not only short-term, but also medium-term and even long-term planning. To do this, you need to create three different lists of tasks - for the day, for the week and for the month (quarter, half-year, etc.). Please note that we are talking about tasks that are not tied to a specific time. For example, you can collect business trip reports on any day of the next week; this does not have to be done strictly on Monday by 12.00.

The main trick of this technique is to regularly review lists and move tasks from one to another. At the same time, you should review the list of tasks for the week daily. You move those tasks that are “ripe” to be completed the next day to the list of tasks for the day. “Not ripe” - leave them where they were. And you look at the list of long-term tasks once a week, for example on Friday. You move things that need to be completed next week to the appropriate list. This way you won’t forget about those tasks that need to be completed not immediately, but later.

By the way, the reverse movement is also true. After all, a diligent accountant usually tries to cram more things into his daily list. At the same time, he is aware that he will not physically be able to complete them all, but he hopes for the best. What is the result? A person leaves work with unfinished business, forming a loser complex in himself. But you need to do the opposite - plan as many tasks as you can easily complete in a day, and go home with a feeling of accomplishment.

The best planning technique is implemented using MS Outlook. Using the "Tasks" panel, you can create to-do lists by assigning them a specific category - "Day", "Week" or "Month". And set up grouping of tasks according to these categories (see illustration below). Then you can easily transfer tasks from one list to another in a second, just by changing their category. However, this technique can be implemented perfectly in a diary and on planning boards.

Every task has its time

Now tell me, has it ever happened to you that you accidentally meet the person you need, for whom you have a couple of important questions, but at the moment of the meeting, they, as luck would have it, flew out of your head? And probably your colleagues often call you with the words: “I wanted to tell you something, but I forgot... Okay, I’ll remember and call you back.”

We have many tasks that need to be done not at a certain time, but under certain conditions. For example, when we manage to catch the director, we need to sign all the documents with him, discuss the report, resolve issues regarding the decommissioning of equipment, etc. But sometimes we have no idea when we will be able to talk to him. This means that we don’t understand where to write down such tasks, because it is impossible to tie them to a specific time. Needed here contextual planning technique. This is when a set of conditions are observed that are favorable for performing a particular task.

One of our contexts is place. For example, when I’m at the tax office, I’ll sign up for a reconciliation. When I go on a business trip, I’ll stop by our branch at the same time. That is, tasks are tied to a certain place.

Another context is People. We all periodically have matters that are tied to certain persons. For example, when I see client N, I need to discuss with him a new price list and contract extension. Other contexts are circumstances, external and internal. Examples of external circumstances: when the boss is in a good mood, when such and such a law comes out. Internal circumstances are, for example, a sharp surge of inspiration or, conversely, a reluctance to work.

Contextual planning: various techniques

Here we return to our task lists again, only now we group them by context. For example, we create sections in the diary for typical contexts. Let’s say we call one of the sections “Bank” and list all the issues that need to be resolved while in the bank. Or, for example, “Project XXX” - and there was a list of questions that need to be clarified about the project. The main thing is not to forget about the task at the right time.

And there are many such methods of contextual planning. For example, you write down on a sticky note questions that you absolutely need to ask at a meeting, and put this piece of paper in your glasses case. At the same time, you know that the first thing you do at any meeting is take out and put on your glasses. Accordingly, the questions for discussion will remind themselves.

You can prepare context folders for different occasions. For example, you know that in a year your office will be renovated with replacement windows. Create a folder “Repairs” and put in it all the “accounting” articles, letters from the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Tax Service on this topic, etc. Believe me, when it’s time to take into account repair costs, the contents of the folder will be of significant help to you and will save a lot of time.

You can learn more about time management in MS Outlook from the book: G. Arkhangelsky. "Formula of time". Using it you can easily configure your computer for mini-automation of your personal planning system

When scheduling using MS Outlook, categories assigned to tasks can be used as contexts. For example, you can create categories “Chief”, “Bank”, “Tax”, “Project XXX”, etc. And when certain tasks arise, immediately add them to the desired category. When your boss calls you, you can open “his” category, see all the tasks associated with it and quickly solve them.

Accountant, are you ready for changes in circumstances? Always ready!

In business practice, sudden change of tasks is a common occurrence, and it is certainly depressing. However, we can plan things so that changes cause minimal or no disruption to our plans. To do this, it is convenient to use the rigid-flexible planning algorithm. It involves dividing our daily tasks into three types.

First type- This tough tasks the execution of which is tied to a specific time. Their planning is usual - we simply write them down on the time grid of the diary. For example, at 10 o'clock - a meeting, at 12 o'clock - call social security, at 17 o'clock - a meeting.

Second type - flexible tasks, not tied to time. For example, you need to write a cover letter for the clarification. And it doesn’t matter when you do it: at 11 o’clock in the morning or at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. The main thing is today.

And finally, third type- This budgeted tasks, requiring a time budget. For example, draw up a balance sheet for 9 months. It is clear that this is not a matter of one minute, you will need at least a couple of days.

The principle of a rigid-flexible approach to day planning is to not include in the clock schedule those tasks that are not strictly tied to a specific time. To do this, we divide the page of our diary in half vertically.

(1) We only record hard tasks in the clock grid. We also place budgeted tasks here, allocating the necessary time budget for them.

(2) On the right side of the diary we write a list of all flexible tasks, ranking them by priority.

Thus, we have the whole picture of the day before our eyes. We know what tough cases are ahead of us and at what time. We understand what time-consuming tasks need to be done, and we have time reserved for them. At the same time, we clearly see free time and calmly deal with flexible tasks. If new tasks arise, we can simply reconsider priorities and, if necessary, change the sequence of tasks. But in general the plan does not change.

To summarize the planning of the day, let’s highlight the basic rules.

1. At the beginning of the working day, set aside 5-10 minutes to plan tasks. Ideally, they should be planned in the evening. But this does not always work out; in addition, the day before we may not know about some urgent matters. Therefore, in the evening you can figure out a rough plan for the day, and when you come to work, calmly check to see if any urgent matters have arisen.

2. We include only tough tasks in the time grid.

3. A daily plan drawn up in such a way that every line of the diary is occupied is in itself already tiring and annoying. Therefore, the amount of planned time should not exceed 70% of the total working time. We set aside 30% for unforeseen circumstances. Try to have more “air” in your plan, that is, time in reserve. The more it is, the higher the likelihood that the plan will be completed and at the same time you will remain in good health and good mood.