The following message was posted by Francie Ward, CEO of Idea Cafe, on 6/14/2006:

"Not enough hours in your day?

You know the old saw - time is money! Here's where you'll find
time-saving tips and tricks to help you make the most of your
valuable working hours.

For starters, here's our first batch of Time-Saving Ideas
from Idea Cafe's Running Your Business section:


Get That Paperwork Off Your Desk

Only handle incoming mail once; act on it right away, file it, or
trash it. Don't let it hang around haunting you! Piled-up mail can
be a time consuming distraction.

Use The Time In Your Car
to listen to professional development audio.

Activate The Spam Filters
in your e-mail to save your going through all the spam and
manually deleting it. You may have to create rules for this,
depending on what e-mail program you use. It's worth it in the
long run to learn this feature.

Schedule Your Phone Time
Phone calls can be a distraction from your tasks. Decide what
hours of the day you'll let the phone ring through, and what
hours it should roll over to voice mail or your answering
machine.


Automate As Many Tasks As You Can
If your business involves constructing or making things, look
for shortcuts such as prefabricated parts or doing the repetitive,
time-consuming tasks while you watch television in the
evenings.

Now, what Time-Saving Tips & Tricks do you use? Please
add them below. Remember, the best tip each week wins the
super Idea Cafe T-Shirt!

Cheers,

Francie Ward

Idea Cafe CEO Chief Entrepreneurial Officer

"Time Saving Tips"
Posted by Mattie Lawson on 07:38:05 6/26/2006
1. Reduce Wasteful Resource-Intensive Meetings
Statistics show half the time spent in meetings is waste. This means half of meeting time failed to accomplish what was intended and/or the meeting was attended by the wrong people or people who were not prepared for the meeting. This applies to informal face-to-face meetings as well as huge affairs. Before setting up a meeting, make sure it will be a good use of time for everyone.
2. Calculate the Cost of Wasted Time
When you understand how much wasted time costs the business, fixing it quickly becomes a high priority. To calculate the cost of wasted time, apply a "rule of thumb" for the cost of a minute of an average employee's time. Include benefits and perks in the calculation (usually equal to an employee's pay). Multiply this amount by the time spent on any particular activity that fails to perform as required for you or your customers. Double this cost if the person could have used the time to do something productive for you.

3. Plan to Do it Right the First Time
Save time by treating the activity you are doing as if it were valuable to you. When you value something, you take the time to do it right the first time. This means planning in advance to reduce surprises and eliminate variation in your handling processes. Consider disaster planning, training/skills, perceptions, tools, delays, and other details that aren't necessarily part of your product or service but could impact your success.

Mattie Lawson
www.getmoretime4you.com