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Otto’s Time Management Tips: For Service Techs

Here are some time management tips for technicians, who are often faced with an overflowing in-box, phones ringing off the hook, and ongoing customer demands and tasks.

1. Set daily routines

If you work in an MSP business, by now it should be clear that there are certain things you do each day. But, they may be the very things that are robbing you of that extra time. Review your day to see if you can streamline or eliminate time-wasting activities. Create “blocks of time” to accomplish certain tasks, and include a review of your personal routines of getting up and going each day in this process. When you plan your day, include calendar times for your personal routine items, too. Routines help keep items that suck up your time from creeping into space in your day that was intended to be time for something else.

2. Fight distractions

Distractions are unavoidable. They will happen, but it’s how they are managed that affects how much time you spend on the interruptions. Determine if the interruption requires your immediate attention. If not, then work to include it on your daily plan for another day/week/month. Interruptions include the folks who pop their heads into your office to ask a quick question or give you an update. So use a system of assessing the interruption, dealing with it quickly (only if it’s a must-do-now item) or putting the interruption on its own “time-out” until it fits in your daily plan for another time.

3. Tackle your email

Overflowing inboxes and constantly checking on messages after getting “the ding” that a new message has arrrived are common timewasters. Learn systems to organize messages and new tickets (ConnectSMART can help!), and use a system for when and how you will respond. Archive and store messages so you can easily access them when you need to. HINT: Just because you have to do something based on an email doesn’t mean it should just sit in your inbox to remind you. You can either deal with the message immediately, or move it for you to deal with at a later time. You can gain a few extra minutes just learning to navigate the inbox quickly with searching, sorting and coding features in email programs.

4. Stop trying to multi-task

I think society has helped us love the term “multi-tasking,” but it’s now come back to haunt us in many respects; think texting and driving! Instead of trying to work on multiple items at once, learn to create clear outlines for when you will accomplish individual tasks. Concentrate on finishing tasks one at a time, but efficiently instead. This focused approach to getting things done will help save you time. Plus, the blissful feeling of accomplishment alone can help you feel as if you’ve gotten more done, and perhaps with some time to spare.

Time is money

Do you have any advice to help improve time management? Share your tips with a comment below!

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