I was recently asked “If there was one bad behavior or practice you’d like to see gone from the work place, what would it be?” Without giving it a second thought, my first response was disrespect for other people’s time. Nothing annoys me more than people being late for meetings, conference calls, etc... I realize their will be those times when being late cannot be helped. I am not perfect and on rare occasions have been tardy. However, when it becomes a pattern of behavior, it not only demonstrates a complete disregard for other people’s time, it also hurts your productivity because your day can potentially snowball into one late event after another. If you find that you run late numerous times through out the week, you probably have a time management issue. Below are some tips on how to better manage your time.

Be realistic about how you schedule your day: Can you realistically make 8 meetings in one day? If you try, when are you going to take time to read and respond to your emails, vmails, etc... Can you realistically attend 3 personal events in one day? Ask yourself as you’re planning your day (hopefully the night before) how long will each activity/event really take. Consider the time it takes to and from these activities/events. I may give myself a goal of 15 business activities to do each day, but in my mind I know I will be happy if I achieve at least 8. Prioritize what is important based on deadlines and interests. Don’t overcommit yourself. You’ll not only be unable to achieve your tasks, you’ll also make people unhappy by either being a no-show or being late.

Learn to say “No”: One of the best ways to be realistic about your day’s schedule is by starting to say “no” whenever possible. Do you really have to attend every meeting for every project you’re on? Perhaps you need to delegate more to be productive. Are you too much of a “people pleaser”? If you are, will you really be pleasing people by being late? It may not always be possible to say “no”. If you don’t have the authority, talk to your superior in private and explain how attending too many meetings is hurting your productivity. I’ve had to have many similar conversations with my Directors and V.P.’s. Once I was able to lay out (with facts, logic, specifics, etc...no emotions) to my superiors why my time could be better utilized, they nearly always agreed with me and either allowed me to delegate or gave me more resources to be successful. Saying “no” is not a bad thing, and making yourself a priority is a good thing.

Schedule your times using the “-ish” method: This really helped me be a successful sales professional! When I was an Account Executive for FedEx in South San Francisco, I had a large geographical territory. Also, traffic was always an issue I had to consider when planning my day. I learned quickly that I needed to make my appointments with an “-ish” if I was going to be remotely on time and stress-free. So, for example, I would tell a customer I would be at his/her office on Thursday around 10-ish. Most customers were very accepting of this, especially because I didn’t abuse it by showing up at 10:55. Try this method for those meetings that are squeezed between other activities/events. You will at least be giving the other participants a heads-up that you may not be on time and you will not feel so stressed out about getting some where right when the big hand reaches 12.

Limit your time on social media sites and email: No one loves Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn more than I do. But I at least realize the difference between a real life and a virtual life. If you’re spending more time tending to your virtual farm on Facebook’s Farmville, than you are nurturing your children, there’s a problem. One of my favorite executives at FedEx once shared with me that he only reads his email twice a day and refuses to be a slave to his blackberry. I believe this is a wise way to manage your time. Only view email more than twice a day if you are expecting something you know you need to act upon quickly. Even then, ask yourself, “How urgent is it really if it can’t be handled by a phone call?”

These are just a few tips. I have several more! If time management is a pressing issue for you or your team (professionally or personally) let me know and let’s work on a plan to help make improvements. :)