How does your time management rate?

Good time management is essential for IFAs juggling client meetings with paperwork and training.

With that in mind, we took this great tool from time management coach and author (of Time Management For Dummies) Clare Evans, who specialises in working with IFAs to help them grow their business and work more efficiently.

Simply answer each question below with a number between 1 and 5, where 1 means "I disagree completely" and 5 means "I agree completely".

Add up your answers and see how you score. If you want to find out how to get more done and improve your business get free email feedback on your results, get the full Time Audit here or on Clare Evans' website.

Questions

SCHEDULE
1 You often work at weekends
2 You often work late to get things done
3 You spend a lot of time travelling/commuting
4 You're behind with your accounts
5 You are always late for meetings
6 You don't manage to complete all your tasks each day
7 You have several diaries and calendars
8 You never spend time planning each day
9 You never spend time planning the month
10 You often miss deadlines

PLAN
11 You often underestimate how long a task will take
12 You rarely have time for self-development
13 You are always working on urgent tasks
14 You don't find it easy to get started on new projects
15 You don't use action or to-do lists every day
16 You don't use the time you have productively
17 You find yourself rushing from one task to the next
18 You get to the end of the day and wonder what you've achieved
19 You leave things to the last minute
20 You're working long hours just to make ends meet

PRIORITISE
21 You feel other people make too many demands on your time
22 You find you are always saying yes to people/things
23 You find you're trying to tackle too much at once
24 You don't have enough money to do the things you want to do
25 You often find more important things do when you have a big project to start
26 You often try to do everything yourself
27 You're not able to prioritise your tasks each day
28 You waste time waiting for other people/meetings
29 You always find you have too much to do
30 You don't always know where to start

CONTROL
31 You are always juggling several tasks at once
32 You are easily distracted
33 You don't feel in control of your time
34 You don't have anyone else to delegate tasks to
35 You don't have your email organised
36 You don't work flexibily
37 You often get interrupted by emails, phone calls or other people
38 You spend all your time reacting to problems as they come in
39 Your meetings often overrun
40 You can't always deal with problems as they arise

ENVIRONMENT
41 You aren't able to find what you need
42 You aren't able to separate your work from your home life
43 You are overwhelmed by paperwork
44 You find your working environment stressful
45 You don't have a separate office space in which to work
46 Your office is disorganised and messy
47 You spend too much time on domestic/family chores
48 You waste a lot of time looking for things
49 Your paperwork is unfiled and all over the place
50 Your physical environment is cluttered and uncomfortable

GOALS
51 You are unclear about what you need to do
52 You don't have your goals written down
53 You don't have any long-term goals
54 You don't know what your core values are
55 You rarely have time to review your goals
56 You don't reward yourself for the goals you achieve
57 You don't set yourself goals each week
58 You rarely track your progress against your goals
59 You don't have time to grow your business
60 You're not happy with your career/business

ORGANISE
61 You often avoid or put off more difficult tasks
62 You often feel overwhelmed
63 You are always dealing with things that come up unexpectedly
64 You don't have the tools/skills you need to do your work
65 You find it difficult to tackle big tasks
66 You have a backlog of emails to deal with
67 You often forget things
68 You have a backlog of filing
69 You spend most of your time dealing with emails
70 You waste a lot of your time

HEALTH
71 You don't often get a good night's sleep
72 You need to lose some weight
73 You are in poor health
74 You don't eat a healthy diet
75 You rarely find time to relax
76 You are often low on energy
77 You often feel stressed
78 You rarely find time to exercise
79 You rarely treat yourself
80 You rely on tea and coffee to keep you going

BALANCE
81 You find it hard to switch off at the end of the day
82 You have a poor relationship with your partner
83 You have a limited social life
84 You have a bad work/life balance
85 You don't have time for your hobbies/interests
86 You never take time for holidays
87 You don't see friends and family often
88 You don't take many breaks during the day
89 You want to spend less time working
90 You would like to have more time for yourself

MOTIVATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY
91 You don't have a mentor or coach
92 You could benefit from more focus
93 You do not have someone you can share ideas with
94 You need to be challenged
95 You have trouble prioritising tasks
96 You would benefit from some accountability
97 You don't feel supported
98 You would like to have a sounding board
99 Your business isn't where you want it to be
100 You find it hard to stay motivated

Results

If you scored 100-199:

Your time management skills are excellent! If there are some areas that still need improvement (where you scored 4-5) or if you are working hard but not achieving what you want, get in touch.

If you scored 200-299:

You could do with improving certain areas and aspects of your time management. Identify the main areas of concern and write down two or three new habits that you would like to create.

If you scored 300-399:

Take a good look at what is causing you most concern and the impact it has on both your business and personal life. You need to take urgent action to improve your skills and start working more productively and efficiently.

If you scored 400-500:

You need to take control as a matter of priority! You are probably feeling overwhelmed, stressed out, disorganised and out of control. Your business will not be as profitable as it could be if you are lacking focus.