Have you ever found yourself loaded with tons of tasks that you thought it was impossible to finish all of them? Perhaps you secretly asked for another two extra hours for your day. Well, don’t worry because we’ve all been through that. But what we’ve recently discovered is that extra hours aren’t what we actually need but effective time management to get things done. If this thought has never crossed your mind, then it’s about time you learned more about it to help you get more things done in less time.
What is time management?
Time management, according to MindTools, is the process of planning and organising how one can divide his time between specific activities. When time is managed properly, you can work smarter and get more things done in less time. Failure to manage time can often result in unproductiveness, inefficiency, and stress.
We often find other people getting so many things done, and we often think how they do it. Simple. They have time management techniques that allow them to shift their focus from activities to results. If you want to know some of these techniques, do read on.
Effective time management techniques
1. Remove smaller decisions to make
People who have a lot of decisions to make all day everyday tend to experience decision fatigue. This refers to the deteriorating quality of decisions one makes after having to make tons of decisions in a day. It’s important to note that removing one or two small decisions to make frees up mental space, allowing you to make better decisions. Did you ever wonder why CEOs and politicians usually have almost the same suit or color of clothes every day? That’s because they don’t want to be burdened with thinking about what they have to wear each day.
2. Learn to prioritise
Time management is about prioritising tasks. Without it, you’ll end up doing first the least important assignments and leaving aside the more important ones. You need to decide which ones are the most important for you morally, personally, or even on a professional or business level. This is even truer if you are a mum who has to juggle family and worklife.
3. Deal with procrastination
It’s easy to see how much work needs to get done, but actually starting to get these tasks done is easier said than done. While it’s tempting to watch TV all day and eat a bag of chips on the couch, you still need to get your tasks done at the end of the day.
So, deal with procrastination. Instead of spending all day sitting down and being unproductive, why not start work and take rests in between? That would be more effective. Also, think about the sense of fulfillment you will feel after a long day’s work, and plan a reward for yourself to take a beach vacation after a specific project is done.
4. Schedule your tasks and plan each day ahead of time
Planning and scheduling are important parts of time management. Before you start your week, consider all the things that need to get done within that period. Then, move on to planning what you will do each day and stick to that schedule. This way, you won’t feel too harassed, and you’ll even be able to finish way ahead of schedule.
5. Learn to delegate
Leaders don’t do everything themselves. They delegate. If you have a team that works with you, you can start delegating tasks to get things done. Delegating doesn’t mean passing on tasks to other people to get rid of your work. It just means you want to get everyone involved and make the team more productive.
6. Set deadlines
Most people fail when it comes to time management because they don’t set deadlines. Without deadlines, you tend to procrastinate more and end up accomplishing nothing. But if you set deadlines, you’ll have a guide and motivation to finish your work on time.
Time management is an important skill that people often neglect. So, if you want to improve and be more productive, do the steps above and you will never go wrong.
