SCS32-W3 || Real Life Problem Solving Challenge: Time Management ||

I am here for "The third week of the Real Life Problem Solving Challenge" by and as a marketing professional I can say the points raised in this contest are all close to my heart as time management, planning and ethics are the best strategies help us bring balance in everything right from the beginning and till the end of a career.

(My workstation)

My answer to your questions

How do you organize your daily schedule?

For me that's a tricky question to answer because I have used all methods to plan my day. I did it as a hybrid of a notebook and Google calendar as this combo worked best for my busy schedule as a marketing professional when I was in regular job.

But now as I am in only online projects on part time basis and of course handling marketing professional on Microsoft Team or Jira I spend a few minute every night before bed.

(I prefer workouts for free in open)

In the morning at around nine when I am done with my morning schedule including washroom, walking, breakfast I haven't given up my habit as I grab my notebook and write two things, I do a quick 5 minute noting what to do to improve and create my to-do list in casual way.

Now I take you back when I was in regular job I checked my calendar online and offline, kept notes in my reminder, and being a senior manager I had a PA who kept reminding me about my appointments but I saw to it personally that nothing goes unnoticed with a fixed time. I kept calling my clients, barring when I was on cyber detox or with family when I switched my official phone off.

As far now I keep my tasks like daily tracking I keep them in Google Calendar as all-day reminders. When I finish a task, I cross it off. Since I have nothing much to do these days yet I skip something so I arrow it to tomorrow’s list. This hybrid method gives me the focus of paper planning plus the reliability of digital reminders, which is perfect for my not so busy yet creative workflow especially since I am working on Steemit.

(My simple routine)

What is the most important activity in your day that takes up the most of your time and is also essential? With original images.

As a deputy GM in marketing, my most important activities were strategic marketing planning and execution which the most of my time and was essential to driving business growth. I spent my days Identifying and developing marketing strategy based on market characteristics, monitoring implementation of strategic plans, and developing budgets with ROI targets.

While I used to travel extensively to meet distributors and attend seminars, also handled most of them online. My core focus was bridging the gap between brand perception and stakeholder engagement, ensuring products stay satisfactory with our customers. I was responsible for strategic campaigns, guide creative teams on design and advertising, build ATL & BTL campaigns, and implement right strategies because I was responsible for marketing strategies being in a multinational cooperate company which had large competitors like Larsen & Toubro.

 

(Images from different occasions, sent to me by my coworkers)

 
This strategic role consumed a lot of my time because I was accountable for all marketing strategies across the country, offline, online, and print platforms especially product management, analyzing performance and submit reports to director with insights.

You see there was no alternative for a marketing head who was reporting directly to the director Marketing about strategic planning, distributor meetings and seminars as I wouldn't have direction from GM Marketing as he was no business of measuring my working area or on business objectives.

In fact I had no regret of staying DGM and not reaching to the top as GM level because I loved working in tactical field work and not in high-level strategic activities. When I shifted from production to marketing in the initial stage of my job, my aim was to travel the world.

(I insisted our products reach in time to keep customers happy)

What is the technique that saves you time?

Most people in my position that the technique to save time is to try handling everything himself to ensure tasks met their standards. But trust me most of them miss deadlines and find excuses to take the responsibilities.

As far as a DGM marketing I was delegating my workload with my team especially with senior most regional managers with high-level ambitions. I used to ask them arrange all seminars in their respective areas to save my time and left everything on them because I knew they could handle the job.

As far as I was concerned I used my calendar in the initial stage of my career starting 1981, since digital things came late in my case. Would you believe I started using them in late 1999 because prior to that there was no gadgets available.

Later I started organizing online with the help of my PA to avoid meetings blotted around my day, which allowed me enough time for proper focus on strategic planning and stay in contact with my country-wide distribution network which later extended to different countries .

To be frank, I selected strategically and setting expectations helped too. As a DGM I was invited to meetings where I didn't need to be there in that case I would attend online instead. I can say my old habit of planning before bed every night helped me a lot staying me strategic and organized.

Have you ever struggled with poor time management? How have you improved it?

If I say no, I didn't face problems or struggled with poor time management, that would be a lie. When I look back on my early struggles with poor time management as an area manager and that makes me feel bad. And the worst in this case was, I lost a contract in my initial career stage because I wasn't on time, and that failure taught me everything. From that day, I made it a non-negotiable habit to be on time for every meeting, every distributor call, and every seminar.

(I tried my best to reach in time: Sitting at Doha airport)

I made it a habit to reach a couple of minutes earlier and wait outside. As a senior manager I was always taken to the appointee immediacy barring the period when I was working on a project for BRO (Indian Army's Bridge and Road Project). Even at that project I seldom faced problem meeting up to Clonal rank officials but the higher officers like Brigadier and General had their protocol in pace so I had to be extra careful.

As a deputy GM marketing, I never gave anyone a chance to say "no" as I showed up early with my team, send materials ahead of time, and followed up everything with the help of our channels designed for this purpose.

By the way, my clients and distributors always trusted me because of my 50/30/20 policy which means I had fixed value of 50% for my customers, 30% for my company and 20% for myself which made my customers my customers even if I changed a company.

I set my calendar, plans and strategies in a way so I don't miss deadlines and stuck to them strictly, And yes, a customer is always happy if he gets the delivery before the actual due date, I tried my best to bring that in our system even if it was not my responsibility but that of logistic department's.

You see all these strategies and discipline made my career successful and I reached to the top ahead of some my seniors. I made mistakes but those early mistakes were my lessons, and time management set me on my professional success.

What advice would you give to others to manage their time better?

• My advice to others for better time management is simple but nothing bookish as I suggest you to start by tracking where your time actually goes. Say, you just keep a note on your own activities for a few days without being too focused and I am sure you will see some of your activities were useless.

• I suggest you should make you priorities right, note them down and follow them religiously and with dedication. You should work seriously and meet your deadlines, never letting them go stray.

• I finally suggest to set realistic deadlines and stick to them strictly, preferably delivering a few days before the actual due date. Never waste your time but spend it strategically.

Have you ever notice at what time of the day you bring the best result? I suggest identify your peak productivity time and never let it go without bringing the best result. As far I am concerned, I have moulded myself to be active any time of the day but as the age is taking over, I am gradually reducing my responsibilities and not too active during afternoons, Finally, delegate when possible, trust your team instead of trying to control everything yourself.

(My today's online lesson-I took a screenshot to hide my real ID)

In fact, I am doing the same now, I am teaching the team of marketing professionals of my former company the value of honesty, stay ethical and never indulge in any activity that ruins your career because I never stay in a company which has no values for ethics or time management.

Comment-1 @roohiasif99
Comment-2 @ninapenda

I invite sualeha, @radjasalman, and @ripon0630 to participate in this contest by @ahsansharif

• Note: Images all mine taken at different occasions.