已经是晚上8点了，Mary 仍然在办公室。叹息着终于回复完了当晚最后一封邮件，她对当天作了一个回顾。

“这不是我被聘请来要做的工作，”她抱怨道。“所有我现在做的都是像保姆一样坐着、处理一个接一个的危机，而不是我喜欢的项目管理和人员管理。”

如果您是一位经理人，您可能曾经经历过这种情况。有时似乎就是没有足够的时间把事情做完。但是其他人可以做到，您当然也可以。

“一些极其成功的人士不仅能把工作全部做完，而且还能有时间休假、旅游和打高尔夫。你有没有想知道他们是如何做到的？” 位于明尼苏达州 Elk River 的一家职业经理人培训公司 The Gillen Group 的主席 Kathy Gillen 说道。“这是因为他们设法找到了如何管理他们的时间的方法。”

让我们来面对一个事实：对于大多数忙碌的经理人而言，没有一天能完全按照事先规划好的来进行（计划总是赶不上变化）。这就是管理 – 同时处理多项任务来达到一般性目标，并最终改善整个企业。

“你最后一天没有遇到高优先级的电话、紧急邮件或者催得很紧的同事是什么时候？” 位于明尼阿波利斯的Gegax Management Systems 公司的创立者、《By the Seat of Your Pants: The No-Nonsense Business Management Guide》一书的作者 Tom Gegax 说道，“从繁琐事务中解脱出来位于每个领导的职位描述中。这就是为什么聪明的经理人一定要有策略来应付日常干扰。”

6D理论

Gegax 的时间管理原则基于“6D理论”：不做（don’t do it），推迟（delay it），转移（deflect it），委托（delegate it），不完美地做（do it imperfectly），做（do it）。

“当一些事情突然蹦出来时，我并不是机械地上去就做，而是首先从第一个选项开始考虑，” Gegax 说道。“如果不适用，我会继续考虑第二个选项。我按照列表顺序扫描下去，直到找到了最合适的行为。”

例如，如果你不去做或者推迟再做，很多表面看起来很紧急（但事实并非如此）的任务自然会消失，他说道，这可以为你留出更多的时间和精力去集中处理那些真正重要的任务。

而且当一些紧急事务需要立即处理时，并不总是一定需要你的参与。仔细考虑是否要把这个任务转移给另一个部门或者委托给下级，Gegax 建议。

如果你的确选择自己处理问题，Gegax 警告说不要自动陷入“完美主义模式”。

“我的很多项目都很难称得上完美，然而它们仍旧是成功的。”他说道。

当然，对于那些你确定会让你达到目标的重要任务，保留最后一个D – 做。

多任务陷阱

多任务可能看起来像是一个有效处理大量任务的方法，但事实上它阻碍你把事情完成，位于丹佛的顾问公司 The Productivity Pro 的主席、《Leave the Office Earlier》一书的作者 Laura Stack 说道。关于如何更好地管理你的时间并保持注意力，她提供了如下提示：

• 集中处理：电子邮件会扼杀你的注意力。关掉电子邮件程序的自动通知功能。每天设置一些明确的时间点去集中查看并处理邮件。
  
  
• 设置优先级：不要被干扰所打断。如果你在为30分钟后就要开始的会议报告准备最后的细节，不要接受那些贸然访客的“很快问你一些事情”之类的请求。
  
  
• 控制自我干扰：很多时候，干扰你的是你自己。你坐在办公桌前，突然，你的大脑开始和你对话：“噢，我需要告诉 Chris 这个，”它说道，然后你抄起电话或者匆忙写邮件，好在你忘记之前记录下你所想的内容。改为你自己准备一个活页夹、一些活页纸和从A到Z的标签。为你经常沟通的每个人制作一页纸。当你的大脑提醒你一些事情时，简单地翻到那个人的沟通记录。简单记下想法或念头，然后回去做你刚才做的事情。当那个人的记录上积攒了一些想法时，给那个人打电话，并设立一个会议或者电话会议。

--- 原文内容 ---

Time Management for Managers

It's 8 p.m., and Mary is still at the office. Sighing as she answers her final email for the night, she thinks back over the day.

"This isn't the job I was hired to do," she grumbles. "Instead of the project and people management I love, all I'm doing is babysitting and dealing with one crisis after another."

If you're a manager, you may have been in this situation. Sometimes there just doesn't seem to be enough time to get things done. But other people do it, and so can you.

"Have you ever wondered how some extremely successful people not only get it all done, but also have time for vacations, trips and golf?" says Kathy Gillen, president of executive coaching company The Gillen Group in Elk River, Minnesota. "It's because they have managed a way to figure out how to manage their time."

Let's face it: There isn't a day that goes as planned for most busy managers. That's what management is -- juggling tasks to achieve a common goal and ultimately better the whole organization.

"When's the last day you didn't have a high-priority phone call, an urgent email or a stressed-out colleague begging for attention?" says Tom Gegax, founder of Gegax Management Systems in Minneapolis and author of By the Seat of Your Pants: The No-Nonsense Business Management Guide. "Getting pulled off-course is in every leader's job description. That's why enlightened managers must have a strategy for dealing with daily interruptions."

The Six D's

Gegax bases his time-management principles on the "six D's": don't do it, delay it, deflect it, delegate it, do it imperfectly and do it.

"When something pops ups, rather than robotically just doing it, I start with the first option," Gegax says. "If that doesn't apply, I move on to the second. I keep cruising down the list until I reach the appropriate action."

For instance, many seemingly urgent tasks disappear if you don't do them or delay them, he says, leaving you more time and energy to focus on the tasks that matter.

And while some flare-ups need immediate attention, your involvement isn't always required. Carefully consider whether to deflect the situation to another department or delegate it to a subordinate, Gegax advises.

If you do opt to tackle the problem yourself, Gegax cautions against automatically shifting into "perfectionist mode."

"A large number of my projects could hardly be described as perfect, yet were successful nevertheless," he says.

Of course, reserve the final "D" -- do it -- for the tasks you've determined will keep you moving toward your goals.

The Multitasking Trap

Multitasking may seem like a way to productively "juggle" numerous tasks, but it actually prevents you from getting things accomplished, says Laura Stack, president of Denver-based consultancy The Productivity Pro and author of Leave the Office Earlier. She offers these tips on how to better manage your time and stay focused:

•Batch: Email kills your concentration. Turn off the notification function on your email program. Set aside a specific number of times per day to check and deal with your email.

•Prioritize: Don't get sidelined by interruptions. If you're working on the last-minute details of a report for a meeting that starts in 30 minutes, don't accept a drop-in visitor's request to "ask you something really quick."

•Control Self-Interruption: Many times you interrupt yourself. You're sitting at your desk when all of a sudden, your brain starts talking to you. "Oh, I need to tell Chris this," it says, and you pick up the phone or dash off an email to "blurt" out whatever you were thinking about before you forget. Instead, get yourself a three-ring binder, some loose-leaf paper and A-Z tabs. Create a sheet of paper for each person with whom you communicate frequently. When your brain reminds you of something, simply turn to that person's communication log. Jot down the thought or idea and go back to what you were doing. When that person's log has several thoughts saved up, call the person and set up a meeting or phone conference.

译者：Leon Zhang，数字营销宝典 DigiMarketing.cn | 作者：Matt Krumrie | 原文：http://career-advice.monster.com/workplace-productivity/management/Time-Management-for-Managers/home.aspx