One of the most popular courses in TourismProAcademy.com lately is Time Management for Tourism Professionals. I guess that is no surprise since everyone I know is short staffed and wearing multiple hats during the course of the week. Would you like to get even a few minutes back in your day? Read on!
Consider these time management tips to enhance your productivity:
1. Realize that not everything is going to get done.
In a perfect world, every task and project would get completed. But we weren’t living in a perfect world 5 years ago, and it hasn’t gotten better. It’s hard to pare down that to-do list, but you have to learn to be ok and let some things go.
With practice, you’ll learn to recognize which tasks need more time to be completed and which tasks’ scheduled time can be shortened, and most importantly, which can be eliminated. That will free up your mind and calendar for the tasks that are most important to your role.
2. Delegate simple tasks to others.
I can hear you from here – there is no one to delegate to! I used to say that as well until a business coach told me to pretend I had a broken arm. I would have to delegate a lot to continue working so how would I do that? I ended up hiring a Virtual Assistant from Upwork.com. Do you have an intern that could take something off your plate?
Is there a volunteer that could help stuff bags, put away files, or input data? I’m willing to bet there is at least one regular task you have that you could delegate.
3. Getting up and taking short breaks makes you more productive.
Do you eat lunch at your desk? Do you keep working even though you need to get up and use the restroom? Stop! Building short breaks into your day helps your brain reset and gets the blood flowing again. For those of you working from home, taking a break to put a load of laundry in will help you focus when you sit back down. Win-win!
4. Take active steps to screen out distractions.
If you work better with soft music playing in the background, arrange to listen to your tunes while you complete your tasks.
If you’re on the job, keeping headphones on can help deter people from stopping to chat too.
5. Stand up.
If someone calls you into their office for a minute to get your opinion on an issue, avoid sitting down. Impromptu meetings are shorter when at least one of you stands.
6. Have confidence about limiting chitchat at work.
Don’t be afraid to tell people you can’t talk right at the moment. I had a neighbor tell me she went to get a drink and it took her 45 minutes to get back to her desk. Yikes! Tell well-meaning co-workers that you are on a deadline for a project and keep walking.
7. Get comfortable with saying “No.”
Being politely assertive is the hallmark of effective time management.
When you take on more projects than you have time for, the quality of your work may suffer. Plus, your most important tasks don’t get addressed in a timely fashion if you have too much to do. You’re more likely to get more work done – and do it well – if you aren’t overwhelmed by taking on too much.
Saying ” No” or “Not at this time” can be especially difficult for women but today is a good time to start practicing.
8. Realize it is not going to all get done today.
I think one of the lessons that Covid has taught us is that our lives are precious. And life outside the office is the most precious of all. Believe me, that pile of work will still be there tomorrow. So go home at the end of the day and have fun.
Many times children’s best memories of growing up aren’t the big vacations or huge milestones, but the things that happen when you are together living life. Go home and create some memories with your loved ones – and that includes your pets!
9. Read a Good Book on Productivity.
You knew I would have a book or two to recommend, right? Here are two of my favorites:
The Miracle Morning helps you to set up a great start to your day. It’s written by someone who does not like to get up early, so take heart! But the changes to your life will make you want to start setting your alarm a bit earlier.
The One Thing has a simple premise: What is the ONE Thing I can do now that would make everything easier or unnecessary? It is a book that helps you see what prioritizing activities can do.
(These are Amazon links. If you purchase, I receive a small commission. This does not change your pricing. Thanks for your support!)
Interested in Learning More?
Managing your time effectively isn’t just a nice thing to try, it is imperative now. That is why I created an online course called Time Management for Tourism Pros. This course will go over 5 different techniques to try when planning the best use of your time and talents on a daily basis. Best of all? It’s only $39! And you can go back and review and rewatch as often as you like.
Would you like to learn some additional techniques? Check out Time Management for Tourism Pros at TourismProAcademy.com.
Buy it today and just take one module at a time. You will develop some new habits that will set you up for success for years!
Here’s some news!
I am excited to announce that I recently was awarded the Certified Virtual Presenter by espeakers.com. This designation is given to those who can show their expertise in providing value via Zoom and other platforms. I have been using Zoom before it was cool as a way to educate tourism professionals and provide DMOs with remote training opportunities and the ability to build a resource library for their partners.
And here’s a way to watch me – for Free!
I will be offering a FREE Group tour webinar – Group Tour Tactics for Our New Reality– on Thursday, August 18th at 1 pm EST. If you are interested in learning more about group tours- or have partners that could benefit, click on this link to register. It is free and you will be able to ask questions at the end ( I love questions from the attendees!) Feel free to share the link with others. We can take up to 100 people on the webinar that day. You can check out my Virtual presenting skills in person!
New Group Tour Resource
Are you new to the Group Tour world? Serendipity Media has developed a free e-book ” New to Group Travel”. There are many helpful articles in there – several of which I wrote. You can click here to go to the Groups Today site and download the book. Make sure to thank them for creating this helpful resource!