little while, and then I go out at night "
And yet for all his attempts at organiza
tion, it's a good thing Green is in the boxer
shorts business. “When I get home and do
my laundry tonight that’s been sitting there
for three weeks," he says, "then maybe I'll
have a better idea bout how organized I
really am " At least he’ll always have clean
underwear.
OVERTIME
MANAGEMENT
Successful time management means
getting more done in less time, not
working long overtime hours to ac
complish what should have been done
before sundown.
The typical office is filled with distrac
tions—from water-coolers to gossiping co
workers to incoming phone calls Unless
you learn to work against these distrac
tions, you'll never find enough hours in the
standard work day to achieve your short
and long-term goals
Below, The American Express Real Life
Planner offers 10 pointers and short-cuts
that will help you buy precious time and
allow you to leave the office at a decent
hour:
1. Use the phone. The travel time to a one
on-one meeting, for you or for your client,
can get in the way of other work oppor
tunities. A lengthy, uninterrupted phone
call can often achieve the same results as
an in-person meeting. (It's even a good
idea to conduct in-house meetings over the
phone, if appropriate Sometimes, par
ticularly in a big company, there is too
much short-stopping between offices to
make the short trip wothwhile.)
2. Train your secratary or aaaiatant, to
handle routine matters that don't require
your attention Your assistant should be
able to screen phone calls, sort your mail,
and handle some of your workload to free
you for more important tasks Don't be
afraid to delegate responsibility
3. Arrange tor an uninterrupted block of
time at least once a day Sometimes a half
hour is enough time to think about what it is
you have to do. rather than plunging right in
and blindly going through the motions Put
a "Do Not Disturb” sign on your door if you
have to
4. Avoid "workday erosion" by setting
hourly schedules for yourself Eight hours
can disappear quickly if you're not careful
with your time, but if you establish
60-minute targets for certain proiects.
you'll be less likely to dawdle
5. Put a limit on personal calls. It ’s okay to
take or make quick calls to plan for dinners
or functions, as long as they don't get in the
way of your work or cause you to stay late
6. Circulate an agenda before each
meeting you chair, so that participants
have ample time to gather their thoughts
and notes beforehand A poorly-planned
meeting is a waste of everyone's time, not
just yours.
7. Set realistic deadlines. If you have a
choice, don't take on a protect you know
you can't finish on time Instead, convince
your boss or supervisor that the protect will
take more time than he or she expects, and
get the deadline extended before you even
begin.
8. Arrive early. You're likely to find your
most productive office time is early in the
morning, before your colleagues arrive and
the phones start ringing Many young pro
fessionals find they get more done in the
hour before nine o'clock than they do in the
three hours after quitting time
9. Limit the number of trade publica
tions you read. It 's a good idea to pool time
in this area with your co-workers, with each
of you monitoring certain publications,
photo copying and distributing to important
articles to the others
10. Leave the office. If the workplace
becomes too hectic, and you can't concen
trate on that report you have to draft, pick
yourself up and leave Work in the con
ference room, or in the office library, if there
is one When office distractions are not
related to your own work, you can't let them
keep you from your job
Don't become a workaholic unless you
have to, and don't let your boss or co
workers turn you into one by example Of
course, you should expect to have to stay
all night now and then in times of crunch
and crisis, but it's a dangerous habit to
develop at other times If your boss likes to
work late, make sure he or she understands
and appreciates that you've handled more
than your share of the workload during the
standard workday Some bosses will
unreasonably demand that their support
staff stay to work alongside them until all
hours, but most will be glad to hear you’re
on top of things, and happy to learn you
have a personal life to rush home to
If your colleagues work late and make
you feel guilty by comparison, make sure
they understand you are not shirking your
responsibilities for a night on the town Tell
them that you're up to date on your
workload and that you value whatever free
time you're able to muster The work-late
ethic is their problem, not yours, and it’s
often a tell-tale sign that the workaholic's
job is too much for them to handle
CASE IN POINT
You've probably heard the theme song
from Hawaii Five-O on your college radio
station recently Or The Beverly Hillbillies.
Chances are you’ve heard someone whist
ling the theme from The Andy Griffith Show
on your way to class (or even in class).
Everywhere you look and listen, it seems,
you're hit with the blast-from-your-past
theme songs from your favonte shows of
yesteryear Well, the man responsible tor the
tv theme song revival is Harvard Law School
graduate Steven Gottlieb, and he has to
switch speeds to 78 rpm if he hopes to get
through the rest of the world's 33 rpm day
Gottlieb, who launched his company
TeeVee Toons. Inc from his Manhattan
apartment, has turned on his generation's
thirst for nostalgia to build a thriving, multi
million dollar record and video production
company. But tor a while, during the
development stages of his company's first
effort—a two-album compilation of tv theme
songs called, appropriately enough. Televi
sion’s Greatest Hits—the enterprise looked
like an episode of Mission Impossible
“I'm terrible at organizing material," he
says “I have more little leather books and
notepads than I know what to do with And I
love them, and every time I buy one I say,
This is going to do it.' It's almost
superstitious, that I think suddenly some
material is going to impose order on my life.