Any project’s biggest enemy is time and it’s no different in the events industry; that’s why we’re sharing our 8 Time Management Secrets for Event Planners in the hope that it will help you better manage your events.
Anyone who expects event-planning success should also expect hard work and long hours. If you always seem to have more work than working hours, though, you may be due for a refresher course in time management. The eight ideas that follow can’t give you more time, but they can help you make the most of what you’ve got.
1. Place a Time Limit on Meetings. If you or others on your team tend to dread meetings, maybe it’s because they drag on too much and accomplish too little. Knowing your meeting lasts only an hour or less should help keep things moving. Before each meeting, decide on a limited number of topics to discuss and a limited time period for discussing them.
2. Set Deadlines and Beat Them. When you’ve got a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it, deadlines can help you to stay on schedule. Prioritize your tasks, and then draw up a schedule for completing them. Don’t make the mistake of waiting to start on a task just because the deadline seems far away. Chances are, something will come up to fill the extra time you think you have.
3. Take Advantage of Your Peak Time. To be most efficient at the jobs you like least, tackle them at the time of day when you feel most productive. Pay attention to your moods and work output throughout the day to find out when you’re most productive, and save your worst jobs for when you’re at your best.
4. Don’t Overload on Overtime. If your workweek consistently exceeds a reasonable number of hours (even more than the extended hours that most event planners work), ask yourself why. Identify the tasks that take up the most time and look for ways to complete them more efficiently. Also, compare the number of hours you’re working to what you’re actually getting done. A too-small return on your time investment indicates a problem.
5. Do Some Delegating. Don’t feel guilty about delegating responsibility—if you take on a job that someone else could handle more effectively, you’re not making the best use of your resources.
6. It’s Okay to Say No. When it comes to time management, many of us are our own worst enemy. You’ll never have enough time to finish your work if you’re always biting off more than you can chew. When others ask you to take on extra work or tasks, they are putting a monkey on your back. If you agree to take on too many jobs for others, you are soon carrying an impossible load of monkeys and accomplishing nothing.
7. Put It in Writing. To remember phone numbers, important dates or anything else, write them down or put them in your phone. Freeing your mind of clutter helps you think more clearly, and concentration is key to productivity.
8. Cultivate Helpful Relationships. Create and keep lasting relationships that result in people gladly working to assist you, and this can be one of your most powerful time management strategies.
Ultimately, it’s all about balance. If you are going to be an effective time manager, you need to balance the driving forces with the limiting forces in your life.
Live within the zone between these two pressures so that you can be your most effective all the time.
One of our favorite secret weapons for better time management is renowned author and efficiency expert, Dr. Steven R. Covey’s Time Management Grid. In the example below you’ll see that each quadrant represents a different level of urgency and importance for the basic activities that make up your day.
Utilizing this grid and the tips above will make for a more efficient and successful event planning business. If you’d like to learn more about how to improve your time management skills, download a FREE copy of my best-selling book, Going Live: Insider Secrets to Corporate Event Production today.
