Want To Get Promoted? Easy Time Management Tips To The Rescue!
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Sometimes all that it takes for you to get the promotion that you have been looking for at work is a little bit of extra efficiency.
Taking steps to advance your career isn’t as hard as it seems. If you adopt a few of these straightforward time management techniques, you’ll see some real and positive improvements in the work you do and the results you get. Your boss will notice and this is a good thing when it comes time for him to hand out promotions and raises. Here are a few suggested techniques to get you started.
1. Clear the clutter. If your desk is cluttered, and your papers are all a mess, your boss is going to notice. They may not say anything, and maybe won’t even consciously notice, but come promotion time, it will be in their mind. Consider this, if you have two candidates, equally qualified for the promotion, but one had a clean and neat desk, while the other’s desk was a mass of clutter, who would you promote? “Mr. Neat and Tidy” or “Clutter Boy”?
Rather than wait any longer, just clean up your messy desk and office. You’ll see two good things happen when you do. First, your productivity and efficiency will go up because you’re no longer having to dig through a messy workspace just to find your important documents. Second, your boss and everyone else will notice your nice and clean office the next time they come by. Your now clean office is a good conversation started, especially as you talk to your boss about wanting to be promoted. Don’t wait any longer, just do it and you’ll be happy you did.
2. “Environment is stronger than will power”. Buckminster Fuller said that and I agree with it. Now that the clutter is gone from your office, take a look around your office and select 5 elements in your workspace. For each element, ask yourself “Does this help me reach my productivity goals or is it in my way?”. Just ask yourself the question and be honest about the answer. The hard part is being truly honest with yourself, but it’s for your own good so just do it.
The hardest part of this might be simply being honest with yourself. Once you do get honest and start taking action to get rid of the things in your workspace which don’t support your time management goals, you’ll immediately notice a difference. Your energy will rise. So just take action and only fill your workspace with things that support your goals.
Having more energy and better productivity are two key elements your boss will look for as promotion time draws near.
3. Process communications and requests quickly. Most people get overwhelmed each day by too many emails, too many tasks to do and often just let things pile up. It’s more likely you’ll get promoted if you can handle emails, phone calls and verbal requests made of you more quickly.
When it comes to emails, it’s easier to say “don’t let your inbox fill up” than it is to actually find the time to process all your messages. That’s life so get over it. Take a few minutes and figure out a system that will separate emails from your boss, your coworkers and your friends into separate categories. Answer the emails from your boss first with brief and intelligent replies that show you are on top of things, and that you are following through on your commitments.
Use the same style of reply to your coworkers, but answer their emails after you answer the emails to the boss. If they tease you because you answer emails from the boss before you answer their emails, simply say “Yes, of course, isn’t that what everyone is supposed to do?” and move on to your next task. When promotion time comes around, your boss will see you as the one who communicates quickly and efficiently and that’s a good thing.
The last thing to mention about email is that you need to have a personal, non-work email your friends can use when they want to send you an email. Most people don’t realize that emails sent to their work address essentially becomes property of the company. If you have a private non-work email address you only check from home, you won’t have to worry about the possibility of a friend sending “career damaging” information to you at work.
These simple steps may seem “too easy”, but don’t let that stop you. When you start doing them, you and everyone else, including the boss, will see an improvement in your work and how you get things done. It will be clear and obvious that you are ready for more responsibility and a promotion. Get to work right now and you’ll be surprised at how fast things change for you.
