Mastering time management at work can be a game-changer. It's about more than just ticking off tasks; it's about maximizing productivity and achieving goals. Here are ten tips to help you take control of your time and excel in your professional life.
Time management at work
Many of us feel as if we must somehow have fewer hours in the day than Einstein did
- There are ways to reclaim those seemingly elusive lost hours of the day
- It’s all about personal time management-manage your time instead of letting it manage you
Avoid the urge to multitask
Focus on the task at hand and block out all distractions
- Don’t get overwhelmed by a to-do list that is a mile long
- Breathe in, breathe out, and take it one task at a time, it will only take a while
Build in buffers
When you finish a task, give yourself time to breathe.
Get organized
Create a filing system for documents
- Unsubscribe from emails you don’t need
- Things like this will make it easier to find what you need, and save you time and effort in the long run
- Do this once, but you’ll reap the benefits forever
Prioritize wisely
Organize your to-do list based on the importance of a task rather than its urgency
- Important and urgent: These tasks have important deadlines with high urgency-complete them right away
- important but not urgent
- These items are important but don’t require immediate action and should involve long-term development strategizing
- Urgent but not important
- Eliminate tasks that don’t contribute to your output or are of little value
Eliminate distractions
Social media, web browsing, co-workers, text messages, instant messaging-the distractions at work can be limitless
- Shut your door to limit interruptions
- Turn off messaging notifications
- Leave your personal phone calls for lunch
- Take baby steps
- Identify your top two distractions and focus on conquering those for two weeks
Group similar tasks together
Don’t try to complete all of one task at once
Assign time limits to tasks
Use your time log to get an estimate for how long an activity will take you
- Once you’ve spent the designated amount of time on that task, cross it off your to-do list and move on to the next important activity.
How to optimize personal time management
Figure out how you’re currently spending your time
- Log your time by tracking daily activities to determine how much you can feasibly accomplish
- Identify timesucks
- Focus on activities that provide the greatest returns
- Use this audit to determine the time of day when you are most productive
Create a daily schedule
and stick with it
- Create a list of the most pressing tasks for the next day
- This will keep you on track and prevent you from wasting time trying to do things that aren’t on the to-do list
- If you can’t do it the day before, write out your list first thing in the morning.
Learn to say no
Only you truly know what you have time for, so if you need to decline a request in order to focus on more important tasks, don’t hesitate to do so.
- Delegate tasks if you can’t say no, and don’t be afraid to pass on those that don’t yield value.
