Bangalore: Analysing how you utilise your time at work and at home may be the first step towards better time management.

"A lot of time may get wasted because you are not organised enough. Searching for lost papers, keys or spectacles can take up a lot of time which could be spent in more productive ways,'' says consultant M.K. Rao, who was formerly a Human Resources head.

Research shows that most managers need to spend only 10 to 15 minutes on each routine task on a working day. But chores such as asking for overdue reports, reminding staff to complete projects, answering phone calls that should have been screened by the secretary, and checking junk mail which should have been dumped without being opened, add to the working hour. "The fifteen-minute task could become a 45- minute one because of interruptions,'' he says.

One answer could be to designate a particular period of time, say from 11.30 to 12 noon to take phone calls, and 3.30 to 4 p.m. to meet unscheduled visitors, says Mr. Rao.

In all offices, there may be colleagues who drop in, only to just pass the time of the day. Unless you are passionately interested in office gossip, such people should be discouraged after five minutes or less. There may be times when the mobile phone has to be switched off and the receptionist told to inform you only in case of an emergency, Mr. Rao says.

Ten to fifteen minutes can be saved if instead of sitting down at the office canteen for coffee, you can get a cup delivered to your desk or bring it yourself. The lunch break can be combined with a look at business journals or looking at a news slot on TV, he says.

"Keeping a list of things that you do on a typical working day, including meetings, phone calls made or received, visits made outside the office or visitors received and time spent on correspondence, which now means reading and replying by email, can be a pointer to how your day is spent," he adds.

After going through the list carefully, you can tick off a few that can be avoided or delegated. And the other items can be prioritised. "Your core professional competence depends on how much time you can spare to update your knowledge and skills. Wasting time is unproductive. It does not advance your career or keep you in touch with the latest in your field,'' Mr. Rao says.

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