>> Q: What is the best time management approach in a crisis situation?

A: Here are some ideas to help you deal with a crisis...

1) Don't overreact - Alec Mackenzie points out that "shooting the messenger" is counterproductive in the long run. You need to acknowledge that mistakes will happen.

If people in your organization are afraid to communicate problems or emergencies because of your overreaction to their news, they may wait as long as possible or even stop telling you when things go wrong.

2) Figure out if it's a real crisis or it just seems like one - Often you'll discover that what
appears to be an urgent crisis turns out to be nothing at all.

A real crisis is something that is truly important that requires your immediate attention.

If the situation is a real crisis, then you may have to drop everything you are doing and deal
with it.

If it is not a real crisis, and it doesn't require your immediate attention, you can often delegate it and treat it as a training experience.

3) Avoid management by crisis - Management by crisis is allowing unexpected events,
interruptions, problems, or emergencies to dictate your priorities and actions.

Sometimes we do need to react quickly to a crisis and contain it before it does more damage. The problem comes when crisis management becomes the routine rather than the exception. If you spend more of your time putting out fires than doing your work, you are managing by crisis.

When crisis management becomes the routine, it can easily lead to what Stephen Covey refers to as "Urgency Addiction."

People that are addicted to urgency enjoy putting out fires, they like stepping in and solving
problems, and their bosses often reward them for doing so. They have no incentive to avoid or prevent the fires because they get a payoff every time they put one out.

When crisis management becomes your normal way of doing business, it's usually pointing to a more fundamental problem that you need to solve.

An old Chinese proverb says, "The superior doctor prevents sickness. The mediocre doctor attends to impending sickness. The inferior doctor treats sickness."

Don't just treat the symptoms of the latest crisis, cure the underlying disease and prevent it
from recurring.

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>> Q: What are the best times to work?

A: I don't think there are any times that are "best" for everyone. Most people naturally go through periods of high energy and low energy during the day.

These patterns tend to be fairly consistent from one day to the next, and can vary quite a bit from person to person. Some people work better in the morning, while others work better later in the day.

One way to discover your own energy pattern is to use a simple time log to record how much energy and focus you feel at each hour during the day. Keep this log for a couple of days and see if you spot any consistent trends of energy and focus.

Then, it's just a matter of adjusting your work to match your energy patterns. When you can, do difficult or complex work during your energy highs and save routine tasks for the energy lows.
 
>> Q: When do you conclude that a task is urgent and not important or important and not urgent?

A: Here are some ideas to help you determine whether a task is important or not...

1) What are the benefits? What are some of the benefits that you'll receive from completing this task. The more important the benefits, the more important the task.

2) What would happen if you didn't do this task? Ask yourself what would be the consequences of delaying or ignoring this task. Important tasks tend to have serious consequences. So if there are no consequences to ignoring this task, it may not be that important.

3) Remember what you are ultimately trying to accomplish - How does this task fit in with your current projects, goals, and objectives?

4) What's the payoff for completing the task? An important task tends to have a good payoff or return-on-investment for the time and effort you will put in to complete it.

5) Can you link it to your mission, vision, or goals? Any task that contributes to your long-term goals in some way is bound to be important.

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