A Day in the Life

You arrive at the office at about 8:00 and are greeted with a pile of work orders that are left over from yesterday, and the day before. As you sip your coffee you start looking through the email that came in late yesterday and very early today. Three more jobs were just added to the pile. Before you even finish your coffee, two more calls have come in with requests for work that HAVE to be done today. To top it all off; you have three meetings scheduled for this afternoon.

Sound familiar? This is a day in the life of a telecom manager. Not only is there more work than you can possibly get done, but for one reason or another, each job is a "top priority." How do you get it all done? How do you manage to work effectively without feeling constantly stressed out? How do you manage to avoid feeling like you were busy all day, but you got nothing done?

The first step in organizing your day is to recognize how you need to work. Most telecom professionals spend quite a bit of time putting out fires. If this is the kind of environment you work in, you can't fill your planner with items for every time slot. Instead, leave several hours a day open to do exactly what your job requires - crisis management. This way you won't feel frustrated by all the things on your schedule that you didn't get to. You need to be realistic about how you need to work, and plan around that reality.

Another important issue is how you prefer to work. Some people like to work undisturbed for an hour or more. Others prefer to go from one task to another to break up the monotony. Think about how you work best and plan around that schedule. There are those that are morning people, and those that are not. If you have more energy in the morning, plan your creative work then, when you are likely to be more successful at it. This way, you can use your slower time for mundane tasks that don't require a lot of brain power. While you are working at your best, don't be drawn into every crisis that comes up. Simply schedule it for later in the day. Again, you need to be realistic about how you work and plan around that.

You also need to consider what you like to do. People are most successful at things they enjoy doing. If you are like most telecom managers and simply do not have the time to get to everything, delegate. Delegate the jobs you don't like. There may be someone in the office who likes the tasks you don't. Maybe someone else is much better at them than you are. Take the time to teach them how to do the jobs you don't want to do, and free yourself for the things you do best.

Beyond decisions about the daily tasks at hand, you need to consider both personal and professional goals. Long term goals are the first ones you need to determine. Maybe you are working towards a degree, or some certification. You might be working toward a promotion, or to eventually work at home. Whatever your goal is, that must take top priority. When you are considering what you might have time to do, think of your goal and what will help you reach it. If you have tasks to do that might help you ultimately reach your goal, make sure you do them. Progress toward attainment of your personal goals will add to a feeling of fulfillment and self-satisfaction.

It all boils down to knowing your job and what it requires, knowing yourself, and your personal preferences, and knowing your goals. Keeping these three things in mind will help get through your busiest days feeling like you accomplished what you set out to do.