Who Needs Better Time Management Skills?
A lot of people think that they have a lot of time in their hands so they go on doing things according to what they see is fit, but at the end of the day, they realize that they have run out of time and there is nothing they can do to salvage things. You always hear this being said over and over again: “Too much to do, too little time”, and you wonder how it could be because everybody gets twenty-fours in a day and if others can be highly productive given this amount of time, why can’t you?
As difficult as it may be to hear, you and I are masters at letting valuable moments slip through our fingers and disappearing forever.
In today’s fast-paced world, time management is more important than ever. Here are some tips to improve your management of your time.
Learn to use your email program’s filter system: Set up a priority email folder and have all of the emails from your most important clients and contacts routed to it automatically so you don’t have to wade through a mountain of email manually to get to them.
Tackle the task you dislike the most first: Putting this task to the bottom of your to-do list will lead to a lot of wasted time fretting about it. If you get this task out of the way as quickly as possible you will feel such relief that the other tasks on your list will be a breeze.
Allow time in your day for the unexpected: If you give yourself a task list that takes up every second of your day, an unexpected event will throw a complete spanner in the works. But if you allow time for the unexpected, when it occurs you’ll be able to cope.
Try to reduce the number of meetings you attend to the absolute minimum: Excessive meetings can be the biggest business time wasters. Try to only attend essential meetings to avoid this drain on your time and energy.
One thing at a time: One of the greatest ways to lose time is trying to do everything at once. Stay focused on one task at a time until it’s completed. Then go on to the next. You’ll be shocked at what you can accomplish.
Keep organized: There are many ways to get things done, but not being able to find anything isn’t the most effective way. Not being able to find things creates an overhead of wasted time. That’s not to say that clutter is a disadvantage in all circumstances. Research indicates that in creative efforts a messy desk is beneficial as the mess of papers maps out the thoughts and ideas of the creator. Writers, musicians, artists may all benefit. However in a more professional environment a tidy workplace is absolutely an essential. It will help create the right positive feeling of professionalism that can keep things running smoothly. Make sure everything has a place, and it goes back to that place when those using it are done with it. Personal belongings should be taken care of and not left to make a mess of the workspace. Such things have to be worked around. The seconds lost here and there soon build up.
Stick to the plan: No matter what happens, you have to try to stick to the plan. Plans are there because they have been calculated exactly so that you do not run out of time and do not have to rush on anything. Make sure to stick to the plan because you will find that everything will be so much easier if you are following something, rather than when you are going aimlessly.
Spend Some Time Alone: Being alone helps you calm your thoughts. You are so amassed with ideas from work, from problems at home, that you find it very difficult to concentrate on a task at hand. Even if you take that sleeping pill to suppress your brain’s activity, you will still find yourself all cluttered with ideas the next morning. You must have that time to sit down, be with your thoughts, and master them so they will not interfere with you when you need to have your wits about you.
Keep your Office Organized: Have a system that can remind you of tasks at hand. One reason why a time table is disrupted is because a single minute task was forgotten. You can have that string-in-the-finger method to remind you of what needs to be done and in what order. You can have that corkboard mounted on your wall, but do not stack it with so many post-its. Post-its are for those minor changes that have to done immediately. Print out a to-do list and mount that instead on your cork board. Program your PDA to alert you of a meeting 30 minutes before the stipulated time in intervals of 5-10 minutes. And do not constantly rely on your PDA. Make it a point to have a written reminder of an important event in your daily planner. You can even buy those big calendars that you can put on your desk so you can plan your schedule ahead. Do not delay anything that you have to do. No matter how unpleasant a task is, get it done as soon as you can so you don’t have to worry about it or do crunch time when it’s all due for completion.
Time is gold: Yes, every second counts and you have to always keep this in mind. Every moment that passes is time that is wasted if you are not doing anything worthwhile. You cannot turn back time and if you understand how important time really is, you will realize that you should not throw it away just like that.
Switch tasks when you get stumped and cannot come up with the right solution to a problem: This makes your mind relax and stop concentrating on the problem. Somehow the mind, however, continues to work on the problem. When you go back to the problem, relaxed and refreshed, the mind jumps back in and the solution is usually revealed. Putting off a decision sometimes is the best path if you are not sure you do not have the right solution.
See if you can make routine tasks automatic: Do you have letters that need to be sent many times to clients? Do you have questions that are asked over and over again? Are there special situations that are resolved in the same way many times? Try to think through your business and the time being spent and put a series of autoresponder messages together that you can send when necessary. This will free you up tremendously for time to spend on tasks that are more creative and challenging.
Dealing With Workplace Stress: Disorganization is one of the biggest causes of stress in the workplace. One of the biggest of these problems often includes poor time management. When time is not managed properly tasks do not get completed properly therefore a person becomes stressed due to having to rush to get assignments completed when do. In order to prevent this it is important to learn ways to manage your time wisely. Keeping priorities in order is difficult for some people. For this reason it is suggested that you write down the tasks that you need to complete each day. When doing this you should always start with the most important or the ones which need to be completed first. Having a schedule can also help you to prevent taking on tasks which you don’t have the time to complete.
Learn Delegation and Share The Responsibility: To get that report done, are you totally responsible for all the data it needs to finish it? Surely you are a member of a team that is responsible for the project, and each member has the assigned task of gathering a specified type of data. You do not have to worry about how they will come up with their input. That’s their problem, not yours. What you need to do is give them the deadline, and if all fails, you report this to your supervisor when he or she asks why the report is not getting done. Always give your supervisor a daily progress report so no one would be constantly breathing at your neck to disrupt your work schedule. Never be the one to do all the work done. Constantly doing so will only hinder your work and create chaos in your plans
Always doing something without stopping can cause wear and tear even on the most sophisticated machine. If machines need to rest, why not you? You certainly need to have some time to soothe that frayed up nerves of yours or risk having a major burnout – or a nervous breakdown. Always being exposed lives you sensitive and highly reactive to minute changes that you cannot control. Alone time helps you channel your energy to refresh yourself and give you the strength to face whatever life throws at you the best way possible.
As difficult as it may be to hear, you and I are masters at letting valuable moments slip through our fingers and disappearing forever. How many times have you heard yourself say “I’ll get to it in a minute”? Or “don’t worry, we’ve got plenty of time”? How about when you’re at work and you’ve got a project to get done by the end of the day? By the time you’ve gotten your coffee, said good morning to your co-workers, checked your email, refilled your coffee, and finally settled down to business — it’s really too close to lunch to start anything serious.
There is no such thing as having too little time, especially if you know how to use time well. Time management has led many people to the acme of their dreams and it could take you to yours. Remember these suggestions and soon time management becomes a much simpler process, and projects become a more fluid and enjoyable thing to work with.
Learning Time management in the workplace is actually not difficult. It may take time but once you’ve mastered the necessary skills of time management, you will feel less pressured and be able to work better.