Achieving effective time management

A lot of us end the day wishing we had more hours to carry out tasks. From top executives at an organisation, to employees, entrepreneurs, and personal assistants. Until we understand time management, we will always face the challenge of “no time” for anything. To also have the best work life integration, we must learn how to manage our time effectively and efficiently.

Time management includes a variety of skills that will help you manage your time well. Some of the most important time management skills include:

Prioritisation

Assessing each of your responsibilities for priority is key in being a good time manager. There are many ways to prioritise what you need to accomplish. You might decide to complete fast, simple items followed by longer, more involved ones. Alternatively, you might prioritise your tasks starting with the most time-sensitive, or a combination of both. By organising a list of easier tasks first, you can get the smaller stuff out of the way and give more of your attention and effort to the bigger projects. Also, by doing this, you won’t have to worry about those smaller tasks that could end up getting in the way of the ones that really matter to you and your organisation. Let’s say you have a list of twenty tasks that you have to get done in a given day. If you can eliminate five quickly, it won’t seem as bad and it can be very motivating to accomplish several items in a short period of time. It’s intimidating having so many tasks sometimes, so eliminating the easier tasks first can take away much of the stress that the length of the to-do list caused in the first place.

Goal setting

Setting goals is the first step to becoming a good time manager. Goal setting allows you to clearly understand your end goal and what exactly you need to prioritise to accomplish it. Setting both short and long-term goals can lead to success in your career.

Sometimes it’s hard to know where to start when you have a major project to complete as a goal. To confront this, you should take that project and break it down into a few smaller tasks that you can do without much stress. You can also batch similar tasks together. For instance, if you have to work with a client and write a blog post on the same topic, they can be batched together and counted as one item.

Start creating your to-do list for tomorrow, today.

Before you go home from work, the last thing you should be doing is to create a list of things you need to do for tomorrow. This way, when you head into work tomorrow, you are ready to go! This is usually not a lot of work because you can just take your list of things you didn’t accomplish today and prioritize them for tomorrow. By doing this, you are setting yourself up for success for the next day, which takes stress off and gives you something to strive for.

I use my iPhone calendar to run my life, I put everything in there. If there’s someone I know I should call in two months, I’ll mark it down to send them an email then. If I have a speaking engagement or a potential client I must follow up with, I’ll mark it down. This makes life much easier and you end up not forgetting anything, making you more efficient. Another trick I do is to set two reminders for every event; one that occurs a day before and the other that happens fifteen minutes before. This way, I never miss anything important.

Ignore distractions as best as you can by organisation

There are so many things that can get you off-track. You could get phone calls or instant messages; your co-worker might bother you or you might have Facebook open. You need to ignore as many distractions as possible so you can stay focused on completing your to-do list. A simple way to do this is to block off a half hour each day when you can just focus on the distractions and nothing else. The more you distract yourself, the harder it will be to complete your goals and the more stress you will end up having. Staying organised can help you maintain a clear picture of what you need to complete and when. Being well-organised might mean maintaining an up-to-date calendar, being able to locate certain documents easily, having a tidy environment and taking detailed, diligent notes.

Try not to multitask and delegate if you can

I fall into this trap all of the time and most people my age do as well. We try to do multiple projects at once and end up not getting anything done at all. Research shows that multi-tasking decreases productivity. If you focus on each individual task separately, you will be more effective in all that you do.

Being a good time manager means only completing work that will help you and your company accomplish goals. While this skill is most often done by managers, you can also practice delegating tasks if you are managing a project. While it can often be difficult to say “no” when someone asks you to do something at work, it is important to practice having boundaries to manage your time well and ultimately accomplish your goals.

Planning and Communication

A fundamental part of time management is planning. Being efficient in planning out your day, meetings and how you will accomplish things will help you stick to your schedule.

Developing strong communication skills can allow you to make your plans and goals clear to people you work with. It also allows you to delegate, which lets you focus on completing the most important, relevant tasks that align with your goals.

Stress management

When practicing good time management, you should also be attentive to your mental health. Handling stress in a positive way can help you stay motivated and perform well when going through your schedule. You might do this by including small breaks throughout your day, or by rewarding yourself in small ways as you accomplish tasks

Try these tips and let me know how if they have helped you. Do you already follow these tips? How has it been? Do you have increased productivity?

At La Pax Life Project, a 360 human development company we have products and services for organisations, top executives and Families. We have templates to help you stay Organised, work hourly tracker, our Parent Organiaer book and many valuable resources to help you ease stress and live productively.

We offer tailored Trainings, Life Coaching, Consulting and Project Management services.

We are just one call away. You can reach us on [email protected] or call/WhatsApp 08033455364, 08172379659 to book a session today. Until next time, stay organised, safe, healthy, and productive.