Rene Ramirez, Senior Project/ Program Manager for AT&T Global Business Services, probably hasn’t experienced that same dilemma. However, he probably has experienced dilemmas that involve his time, which is why he manages his time through two different calendars. His Outlook calendar is for professional use, while his phone calendar is for personal use. Time management helps him when there are typically multiple parties involved because they are able to (1) gather all at the same time and (2) have all major players present to make sure everything gets done. As a professional, there will be times where you have open space in your schedule. Rene suggests, “If you need downtime, it would be ideal to capture it in your business calendar so if you share it with managers or peers, they will see you are unavailable at those times.” He also realizes that some people are uncomfortable writing personal information in their business calendars, but that’s ok. There is no need for an elaborate explanation of your free time. Make it generic like, “out of the office for two hours” or “doctor appointment for one hour.” That way, you don’t have people scheduling meetings or coming up with last minute plans because they will know you have a conflict in your schedule. Another important thing to do is have a place to leave your work. This is especially key if you work from home because it will become hard to distinguish the difference between when you’re working and when you’re not. This is a very important point because no one wants to become a working zombie!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Pay AT&Tention To Your Down Time
The first time I used a payphone was to call my parents for a ride home from school. It took me about four tries to actually reach them. During my first attempt, I dialed the wrong number. I stayed on the line because I figured I already spent the money. On my second try, I believe I dialed the wrong number again. I didn’t realize how complicated a payphone could be! Ok, so they aren’t that complicated; just put your money in, dial, and speak right? Wrong… finally on the fourth shot, I was able to reach my parents. From that point on, they planned a regular pick up time and place, and eventually bought me a cell phone the next month for my birthday.
Rene Ramirez, Senior Project/ Program Manager for AT&T Global Business Services, probably hasn’t experienced that same dilemma. However, he probably has experienced dilemmas that involve his time, which is why he manages his time through two different calendars. His Outlook calendar is for professional use, while his phone calendar is for personal use. Time management helps him when there are typically multiple parties involved because they are able to (1) gather all at the same time and (2) have all major players present to make sure everything gets done. As a professional, there will be times where you have open space in your schedule. Rene suggests, “If you need downtime, it would be ideal to capture it in your business calendar so if you share it with managers or peers, they will see you are unavailable at those times.” He also realizes that some people are uncomfortable writing personal information in their business calendars, but that’s ok. There is no need for an elaborate explanation of your free time. Make it generic like, “out of the office for two hours” or “doctor appointment for one hour.” That way, you don’t have people scheduling meetings or coming up with last minute plans because they will know you have a conflict in your schedule. Another important thing to do is have a place to leave your work. This is especially key if you work from home because it will become hard to distinguish the difference between when you’re working and when you’re not. This is a very important point because no one wants to become a working zombie!
Rene Ramirez, Senior Project/ Program Manager for AT&T Global Business Services, probably hasn’t experienced that same dilemma. However, he probably has experienced dilemmas that involve his time, which is why he manages his time through two different calendars. His Outlook calendar is for professional use, while his phone calendar is for personal use. Time management helps him when there are typically multiple parties involved because they are able to (1) gather all at the same time and (2) have all major players present to make sure everything gets done. As a professional, there will be times where you have open space in your schedule. Rene suggests, “If you need downtime, it would be ideal to capture it in your business calendar so if you share it with managers or peers, they will see you are unavailable at those times.” He also realizes that some people are uncomfortable writing personal information in their business calendars, but that’s ok. There is no need for an elaborate explanation of your free time. Make it generic like, “out of the office for two hours” or “doctor appointment for one hour.” That way, you don’t have people scheduling meetings or coming up with last minute plans because they will know you have a conflict in your schedule. Another important thing to do is have a place to leave your work. This is especially key if you work from home because it will become hard to distinguish the difference between when you’re working and when you’re not. This is a very important point because no one wants to become a working zombie!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I actually prefer using two different calendars in Outlook. You have the option of having a "Work" calendar and a "Family" calendar. You can conveniently overlay the two calendars to see if there are any conflicts. But that's just me. :)
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of scheduling downtime into your calendar. Though I obviously do not have anyone except me looking at it right now, I think it would definitely help me be less stressed to have certain times where I didn't schedule anything at all, and could just take a break.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I use Google calendars. We can bring up both of our calendars at the same time. It helps us coordinate and stay organized.
ReplyDeleteMD