Time Management

Whether working in an office or at home, the chances are that there are days when you do not feel productive. It is easy for our minds to wander, or for us to put off more difficult tasks in favour of simpler ones. However, in doing so, we often create even more work for ourselves. Streamlining your productivity is an important step to success. Today, we outline a simple system for improving your time management skills.

Start By Taking Notes

To improve our time management skills, we first need to identify how we are misusing time at present. Begin by taking notes of everything you do in a day over the course of a week or two, and this means everything. Jot down the time you spend on work, chat, getting a coffee, surfing the web and even staring blankly at your screen hoping that inspiration or motivation strikes.

The goal is to lay out how you are currently using your time. Once you see how much time you waste on unproductive things, you should be motivated to do something about it.

Focus on What’s Important

You need to begin assigning a priority and an urgency to your tasks. A simple way of doing this is the Time Management Matrix.

Time Management Matrix

We want to start breaking unproductive habits, such as getting through easier but non-urgent tasks. The longer you leave an urgent task, particularly one that will require a significant time investment, the more overwhelming it seems. Although some people work more effectively to deadlines, many struggle to focus as pressure begins to afflict the mind and cloud judgement.

Plan Your Day

Some prefer to do it first thing in the morning; others prefer to do it at night. Whichever you prefer, make sure you are heading into each new work day with a clear plan that puts urgent, high-priority tasks first. You might want to create a checklist to give yourself a visual cue that you are getting through your work or to simply feel a sense of accomplishment as you tick tasks off.

One method you might consider is to use your calendar and treat each task as an appointment. You should also allow time for interruptions while making a conscious decision to keep these to a minimum.

Plan to Think

A time plan should include time to think and reflect on the task before you. Studies have shown that 20% of our thoughts contribute to 80% of our productivity. Work that performed regularly might be second nature, but you need to allow some time to have conversations or plan tasks that are less familiar.

Consider the Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is a method of maintaining focus on tasks. It is based on evidence that the human brain is only capable of peak-focus for 25-30 minutes at a time. Therefore, you would work for twenty-five minutes, take a five-minute break, and then resume what you are doing. One major benefit of this method is learning how long tasks generally take and allowing for better time management. You can start to think of tasks in the number of sessions needed, as opposed to a number of hours.

Another advantage to adopting the Pomodoro Technique is realising how much you can do in twenty-five minutes. You might be surprised! With a timer ticking down, you might even be spurred on to finish part of the task before your next break.

Phone: Off or Priority Only

One of the most useful devices on your desk is also one of the biggest distractions. Little beeps and flashing lights; mobile phones demand attention. Most modern smartphones allow you to limit notifications to priority only. This means that your boss or an important client can get through, but sales calls or non-pressing messages get silenced. Treat is as a digital Do Not Disturb sign and stop allowing your phone to intrude on your workday.

Email: Ditto

How much time do you spend reading or replying to emails that can wait? In the same way that you prioritise your workload and your phone contacts, you should prioritise your emails. If a message flashes up that is not from an important client or colleague, do not feel drawn to reading it. This might take some training and self-control, but unimportant emails are a time-stealer.

Consider Using an App

There are a variety of applications out there that can help you manage your day and collate your thoughts. Microsoft OneNote, Evernote, SimpleNote, Jotterpad, etc.

These apps have varying features, so I cannot recommend the one that works for you, but many allow you to create notes, plan your day and move tasks about to keep on top of things. Ensuring that you remain organised is key to good time management, and these applications might help.

Always Plan for Me Time

A major point of streamlining your productivity is to give yourself more personal time. You do not want to be working all the time because you want to reap the benefits of your work. Once you get organised, you will soon see that saving ten minutes here and fifteen minutes there adds up to a lot more personal time for you to enjoy with friends, family or simply by yourself.

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