All of us have skills we need to improve in, and time management is certainly one of them. Being able to manage your time efficiently is necessary to get things done in the office, to become more organized at home, and to be more productive in your job.
I like to think of time management as a collection of activities. There are certain skills that all of us have, but different people apply them in different ways. Some people have an aversion to working in a structured way and get easily distracted, while others can work for hours without getting bored. You need to know yourself well to figure out what works best for you.
Here are some tips to help you manage your time more effectively and make the most of it.
1. Remove Distractions
This is a challenge for some people, but you need to learn how to eliminate distractions. If you work from home, then you have to learn to block certain things out. You should know what are the things that get in the way of the work you need to do.
Here are some examples of things that I have learned over the years to block out:
No social media during work hours. I have a policy of not checking social media sites for work related matters at all. This is great for productivity.
No phone calls during work hours. This is similar to social media, but it’s not quite as bad. The problem with phone calls is that you have to take them. You can’t simply ignore them.
No personal emails and texts during work hours. The same as no social media, but on a personal level. Personal emails can be very distracting.
Other distractions include mindlessly watching television shows or playing on your phone or tablet. If you know you’re doing this, then you need to remove the temptation to do it.
2. Get Up Early
One of the most common mistakes that I see people make is that they get up at the same time every morning. They go to work, they get stressed out for a while, and they’re not productive.
If you get up early, you have more time in the morning to get things done. It’s important to get up at the same time every day, so that you’re still on the same circadian rhythm.
I generally get up around 5 a.m. and I’m at my desk by 9. If I’m going to get anything done in the morning, then I need to be there by 9, so that I don’t waste time. It’s important that you’re on the same circadian rhythm as your coworkers.
3. Take Breaks
You need to take breaks every now and then. This is something that many people neglect, but it’s extremely important. You don’t want to overwork yourself. You need to take a break to allow yourself to relax and recover.
I suggest 30 minutes to an hour every hour or so. It will help you stay focused and productive. You don’t want to be working all the time. You need to make sure that you’re rested so that you can go back to work with a fresh mind.
In addition, it’s good to take short breaks throughout the day to clear your mind. You’ll feel refreshed when you return to the task at hand.
4. Make a Plan
Planning is an important skill to develop if you want to be more effective in your time management. This is especially true if you’re working from home or from an office.
If you’re at a desk, then you can easily see what’s happening. You can see how much time you’re spending on a particular task and on what. But if you’re working from home, this is much harder.
You have to plan your day in advance, and you have to keep track of how much time you’re spending on different tasks. This is another way to work more efficiently.
5. Use Calendars
Calendars are great for keeping track of what you need to do in the future. If you have a monthly calendar, then you can see what you need to do for the next month. You can plan your calendar to cover the entire year, or you can pick and choose certain months.
You can create different columns for different types of events. You can use different colors to indicate the different priorities for each task.
You can use a weekly calendar to see what you have coming up. You can use a daily calendar to see what you need to do for the next day.
If you have a smartphone, then you can use any Calendar app for this purpose. I use Google calendar & Task for my task management.
6. Stop Multitasking
This is a skill that many people ignore, but it’s important to learn to stop multitasking. Multitasking is generally considered to be a bad habit that you need to break.
If you’re working from home, then you need to stop doing things on your phone while you’re on the computer. If you’re at an office, you need to cut out all distractions when you’re working.
If you’re doing more than one task at a time, then you’re wasting time. It’s important to be aware of what you’re doing and to focus on one thing at a time.
7. Focus on the Task at Hand
Most of us are not great at concentration. We need to learn how to focus on the task at hand. We need to learn how to remain focused and concentrated throughout our day.
There’s nothing wrong with having a plan, but you need to be able to go back to your task at hand without getting distracted. Focusing on a task is the most important skill you can develop.
8. Learn to Manage Your Time
Most people have a strong aversion to managing their time. I was the same way when I started. I didn’t like being told what to do and when to do it.
However, I’ve learned over the years that it’s an important skill to learn. You need to learn to control your time if you want to be more productive.
You don’t want to be constantly running behind schedule. You need to learn to plan ahead to make sure that you’re not running late. You need to be able to tell what you have to do before you begin working on a task.
9. Learn How to Prioritize
You need to learn how to prioritize the tasks that you need to do. This is particularly important if you’re working from home. You need to learn how to prioritize your tasks to make sure that you don’t get overwhelmed.
You need to learn how to prioritize the different tasks that you need to work on. You need to learn how to determine what’s most important, and what you can postpone.
You need to learn how to assign tasks to different people in your team, so that you can be sure that everything gets done on time. You also need to learn how to delegate tasks to your coworkers.
10. Learn How to Say No
I find this to be one of the most difficult skills to learn. You need to learn how to say no. You don’t have to say no all the time, but you need to be able to say no when you need to.
If you’re giving your time to someone else, then you need to learn how to refuse their requests. You need to learn to say no, but you need to be able to do it politely and respectfully.