Time Management - Marc Mancini
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62<br />
<strong>Time</strong> <strong>Management</strong><br />
that 12-to-2 block of time for what can be a relatively<br />
quiet period in the office.<br />
Doing Nothing<br />
Up to now, this chapter has examined ways to concentrate<br />
blocks of time for serious work. But what about time for taking<br />
it easy, socializing, just doing nothing? Is that productive?<br />
It can be. Working past your optimum level of energy and<br />
attention can be self-defeating; you could be spinning your<br />
wheels and going nowhere. Pausing to relax and recuperate can<br />
reenergize your work and make you more productive. It can<br />
also make work seem less like work. And if you drive your<br />
employees to squeeze effort out of every minute, you’ll be left<br />
with people who are unmotivated, burned out, or seemingly<br />
happy workaholics. Is this what you want?<br />
Another reason for carving out totally unplanned times in<br />
your schedule: it allows you leeway to deal with the unexpected.<br />
An anecdote about Henry Kissinger comes to mind. The wellknown<br />
statesman is said to have remarked to a reporter, “Next<br />
week there can’t be any crisis. My schedule is already full.”<br />
A recent study discovered an interesting fact: executives<br />
who did not fill in every single time block in their calendars,<br />
who left broad stretches of blank space, were actually more<br />
productive and less stressed than their overscheduled colleagues.<br />
Your day need not be seamless. Give your schedule<br />
room to breathe.<br />
Clustering<br />
A term that is in frequent use in time management, clustering,<br />
refers to the practice of assembling tasks. Clustering—for many<br />
reasons—makes activity far more fruitful, efficient, and compact.<br />
One example: paying bills. Should you deal with them daily,<br />
as they come in, or pay them off in groups, perhaps once a<br />
week, when you’re free to do so? The latter course of action<br />
generally works far better; you need to get the checkbook and