In the tips for being an effective manager time management is always near the top but more radical advice would be manage your energy. People who get things done have in common energy and enthusiasm. But energy is exhaustible, let your batteries run down and you become less effective, let them run down completely and you burn out. So target your efforts, put your energy into projects, initiatives, people and tasks that will see the best return.
Secondly look after your self, take your full holiday entitlement, you need to recharge your batteries. I once worked for a Director who used to take three weeks off in the summer as opposed to the usual two. His thinking was that if you were away for a week people just left problems till you returned but if they were told you were away for three weeks they felt it couldn’t wait and sorted it out themselves. This made a big difference to his inbox and workload on his return.
I had another boss who would book a two week family holiday in Wales. The first week he would ring up every afternoon to check if there were any issues. The second week he would return to work early saying he got bored on holiday! Which one do you think was a nightmare to work for?
Learn to switch off.
Blair Mcpherson former Director author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
