Funny how a little tightening of the business climate suddenly increases the demand for improvement of business skills.

Unfortunately it is a bit like deciding to learn how to swim after the boat has already begun to sink.

And just like learning to swim, quite a number of business skills' improvements take time, both to learn as well as to successfully implement.

But fortunately for all those entrepreneurial managers who find themselves facing the prospect of drowning, there is a life preserver — a skill that can be quickly learned, quickly implemented, and can set the stage for other improvements to take place.

Grabbing hold of time management for some is the only hope they have for survival.

One fact of entrepreneurial management life is that there is always more to do than there is time. And as companies, careers and families grow, the quantity of activities that can fill timeslots dramatically increase in proportion to the number of time slots. From overstressed business owners to their harried spouses to their multitasking offspring, the magic quest is not one of gaining more time, but rather in better use of what we have.

Recognizing that “better” may mean different things to different folks, we want to define “better” to mean “in direct support of expressed goals.” Nothing terribly confusing here except the part about “expressed goals.”

This is the whole key to effective time management. It is not the quantity of activities that you do that are important; it is the quantity of activities in pursuit of your goals that really matter. “Expressed” means that you have simply moved the goal from the netherworld of your sometimes dim awareness and written it down on a piece of paper. You will have taken it from an abstraction to something concrete, elevated it from a “probably something I ought to do” to something “I'm going to do.”

Once this exercise is completed, the rest is pretty simple. If the activity that you are performing or planning to perform does not contribute to the attainment of your goals, simply don’t do it.

While some folks might be disappointed in being turned down when they ask you for a favor, keep in mind that you are changing your habit for a reason. Your old way wasn’t working and now change with noticeable improvement is no longer an option, it is a requirement.

How others handle your rejection is largely a matter of how you present it. Something along the line of “I’d like to help but this time is just not good for me,” honestly conveys your decision and also doesn't offend the person doing the asking. And turning them down is certainly better than accepting responsibility and then doing a poor job of fulfilling their request.

As simple as this process appears, a couple of caveats that bear remembering. Perhaps the most important is that if everything is a top priority then nothing is a top priority. The second is that pragmatic people review their priorities on a regular basis and are prepared to be flexible should the need arise. Keep these two ideas in mind and see if you don’t find yourself managing your schedule rather than your schedule managing you.

John F. Riddell Jr., director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Growth-Hamilton County, writes each Tuesday about entrepreneurs and their impact on companies and the marketplace. Submit comments to his attention by writing to Business Editor John Vass Jr., Chattanooga Times Free Press, P.O. Box 1447, Chattanooga, TN 37401-1447, or by e-mailing him at business@timesfreepress.com

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