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Time Management
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workday. If you’re employed at a company that communicates
across the country or around the world, of course, the pattern
will be far more complex.
A useful exercise would be for you to chart the times of
incoming calls for a week and attempt to identify patterns. If
such patterns emerge, rethink the way you schedule your hours.
Might there be a more efficient way to free up time for these calls
(and minimize interruptions of tasks requiring intense concentra-
tion)? You might also repeat this exercise at different times of the
year. For some businesses, phone work fluctuates dramatically
according to month, season, or special event.
Discovering Patterns

Telephone patterns aren’t the only ones worthy of attention.
Many subtle and significant patterns lurk beneath the ebb and
flow of business. Dedicating blocks of time to analyze patterns
can yield powerful insights into the ways behavior can be man-
aged. You may not be able to control the patterns that are set
by others, but you can recognize those patterns and adapt your
schedule accordingly. If you know that you’re more
likely to get visitors in the
The 50% Rule morning than in the after-
Whenever you schedule a noon, you can schedule
meeting, add 50% to the activities that require long
time you schedule. One of the most stretches of uninterrupted
schedule-wrecking problems most peo-
time when you’re most
ple face is the tendency to underesti- likely to be left alone.
mate the time it will take to meet face-
Do you know, for
to-face with someone. Meetings can be
unpredictable and events can some- example, when most of
times wrench the timing out of your your faxes come in? At
control. So just to be safe, plan for any what time the Federal
meeting to take 50% longer than you Express delivery person
think it needs to take. If the meeting usually arrives? When
ends early, you’ll have that extra time most e-mail is exchanged?
available for a task you might not oth- When customers or suppli-
erwise have had time to do.
ers are least likely to come