Jeweler Soft Skills Pt. 1: Time Management

Jewelers put so much time and effort into honing their skills at the bench. There’s a ton of both practical and theoretical knowledge you need just to reach an acceptable level of competence, and once you reach that level, you still have to keep practicing those skills day after day for decades to master them. Some basic skills have not changed much in thousands of years, while others seem to be radically changed by technology every decade. There are always new tricks to learn, techniques to perfect, tools to master. It’s truly a profession where you can never stop learning new things, which is why education is such a big part of AJS.

With so much effort devoted to perfecting your work at the bench, it’s easy to forget about soft skills. While those hard skills make you a jeweler, soft skills make you an indispensable employee or a successful businessperson.

In this installment, we’re going to look at one of the most important soft skills for jewelers: time management.

Why Time Management Skills Matter

Jewelers tend to wear many hats: designer, repair technician, salesperson, appraiser, inventory manager, business owner. All of these job duties take different amounts of time, and you can get so focused on one aspect of the job that the others suffer. Managing your time properly helps you charge the right fee for a service, plan your day more accurately, work without surprises, and tackle the right tasks in the right order.

It takes some time and experience to get a feel for how long different tasks should take. If you’re still learning the ropes as an apprentice or early-career jeweler, ask your mentor or supervisor how long various tasks take them, and how long they expect you to complete them. If you’re an experienced jeweler training someone else, make sure to pass this information along to your trainee.

While you would rather focus on the stuff that got you into this profession in the first place, it’s those more boring or frustrating parts of the job that keep you in business. Most jewelers would probably be happy if they could spend their whole day with customers or at the bench designing, fabricating, or repairing, but the reality is that administrative tasks can take as much of your time as the more fun and rewarding tasks. Time management skills will help you get the balance right.

Developing Time Management Skills

Observe your energy levels. If possible, do the work you are absolutely dreading first thing in the morning. Get it out of the way while you still have energy rather than let it hang over your head all day and then rush to get it done at the end of the day. For many jewelers, that work is probably administrative tasks like bookkeeping and inventory. Save the project you can’t wait to get started on as a reward for finishing a dull task: the dessert you get after eating your vegetables.

Know the value of your time. If you’re a small business owner, you might prefer doing things yourself to paying someone else to do it. But you also have to consider yourself as an employee earning an hourly rate. How much is your talent worth? Every minute you spend on tasks that can be delegated is a minute you’re not spending on something that requires your special skillset. Knowing the value of your time will help you put into perspective which tasks you can delegate and which you should do yourself.

Track time. Estimate how long you think something will take, and then time how long it takes you to actually do it. You might find a big discrepancy between the two numbers. Most people, but people with ADHD in particular, tend to grossly underestimate how long it will take them to do something and end up getting in way over their heads. To make sure your estimates are accurate, base them on the data you’ve collected on yourself, and then give yourself a little extra time.

Make lists.  When you’ve got a lot on your plate, it helps immensely to write it all down. One of the most effective kinds of lists you can make to help with time management is the Eisenhower matrix. Divide a piece of paper into quadrants (or open a spreadsheet, if you prefer). Label the columns, left to right, “Urgent” and “Not Urgent,” and label the rows, top to bottom, “Important” and “Not Important.”

• Tasks that are urgent and important: Complete them first.
• Tasks that are urgent but not important: Spend less time on them or assign it to someone else.
• Tasks that are not urgent but important: Pick a time in the future to handle it after you’ve handled your most urgent and important tasks.
• Tasks that are Not urgent and not important: Let yourself forget about them. The alternative is to leave them for when you have absolutely nothing else to do.

Often, you’ll find that very few tasks are both urgent and important, and labeling them appropriately will give you the impetus you need to get them done. You’ll also feel less pressure to do the less urgent stuff and feel less guilt for ignoring them. When you’re overwhelmed, you might find yourself doing something easy and mindless as a way to avoid a more difficult, urgent task. Organizing your tasks according to urgency and importance will help you avoid this kind of procrastination.

Review your lists every time you complete a task. Assign deadlines to tasks, and schedule a time to tackle non-urgent tasks. Move items from the “Not Urgent” list into the “Urgent” list as their deadlines approach.

Whether you use this system or not, the important thing is that you develop a system. Experiment with different ones until you find one that works for you.

Set goals. Setting goals with deadlines and measurable outcomes is something every business owner should already be doing. Setting long-term, strategic goals will give you context for the individual tasks on your plate. You’ll focus more on projects and tasks that advance your business goals and less on things that take up time but don’t really affect the bottom line.

Reduce distractions. Set aside blocks of time for particular tasks so that at the beginning of the day, you know what you’ll be tackling and when. Let coworkers know when you’re going silent for an hour or two and won’t be responding to emails or Slack messages. If you’re used to constant intrusions and distractions, you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish with two uninterrupted hours.

What It Means to Seize the Day

Time management skills are the difference between feeling constantly behind and being one step ahead. Without a plan, you’ll always stay in a reactive mode, just trying to keep your ship afloat in the storm. Finding the time management techniques that work for you puts you back in control of your day so you reach your destination no matter which way the winds blow.