Have you started feeling the need to get more organized and productive? Are you spending your time performing different activities, but most tasks remain unaccomplished at the end of the day?
These issues are a clear indication that you need to invest time into proper time management. Let us look at things you can do to effectively manage your time and utilize it in the right manner.
Six Valuable Time Management Tips
Group Similar Tasks
A useful time management strategy is to group similar tasks. We are aware of the fact that to complete varied tasks we require different mindset and thinking. When tasks are grouped together, you will not have to meaninglessly hop from a certain task to another.
For instance, a certain time of the day can be set aside for answering important phone calls and emails, instead of doing the same all throughout the day. Such grouping of tasks will assist you in prioritizing work and complete everything in a well structured manner. Moreover, while working on similar tasks, your mind is more focused and as such, tasks are completed within far less time.
Focus on Time Tracking
If you are serious about managing your time in a better manner, then you need to be aware where and how you are spending your time. Thus, it will be necessary to track your time either through use of some time tracking tool or manually.
Time tracking and the resultant effective use of time will make you more organized, productive, and focused. Few of the aspects you should track include hours you are working on a specific task, activities you perform, total number of projects that are handled within a given period of time.
Take Breaks
You may think it would be counterproductive, but regular short breaks foster better time management. For instance, if there are two people working on specific tasks. The first person is working 7-10 hours continuously while the other person takes breaks at regular intervals.
It is quite likely that the second person will be able to manage his or her time more effectively. Thus, it is clear that small breaks tend to improve our productivity further and help us complete our work in a much better manner.
Set Up Smart Goals
Desired time management results can be achieved when proper goals are set at the onset. A well-published goal-setting method is known as SMART goals. Here, the concept is simple, any SMART goal you write should have the next criteria in place.
The goals you create should be meaningful and at the same time be a real reflection of what you want to accomplish. It will be necessary to create goals that provide you with a sense of direction as well as motivate you to achieve them. SMART goals refer to:
- Specific – You need to properly define desired outcomes, that are to be achieved.
- Measurable – The goal should be such that it allows you to easily measure progression.
- Achievable – The goal you set should be such that it can be achieved using available resources.
- Relevant – The goal should be part of a bigger picture and you need to have clarity about why achieving the goal will be important.
- Time-bound – There should be a proper deadline for the time frame within which the goal must be achieved.
Use the Eisenhower Matrix
After SMART goals have been set, the next task would be to break them up into actionable and concrete tasks. The next step would consist of prioritizing them. This is where Eisenhower Matrix becomes so helpful since it is one of the most well-known frameworks that is used to prioritize tasks. In this matrix, the tasks are arranged in any of the 4 quadrants.
- Important + Urgent (Do first)
- Important + Not Urgent (Schedule)
- Not Important + Urgent (Delegate)
- Not Urgent + Not Important (Eliminate)
As per the matrix, a task should be considered urgent when it is necessary to react to the same, such as a phone call, email, etc., and when a task is of time-sensitive nature with strict deadlines. However, important tasks are those which help in the achievement of long-term goals and highlight tasks that you want to do in your life.
The bulk of your time should be spent in the quadrant which is for urgent + important tasks. However, there would be important tasks that are not urgent, such as learning, sports, creating, interacting with people, etc. and these tasks should be scheduled. You need to ensure that you do them on regular basis. Rest other tasks should be delegated or removed.
Follow 80-20 Rule
As per 80-20 rule, 80 percent of the output comes from 20 percent of the inputs. Thus, you will have to find out those activities which form part of that 20 percent input from your end.
For instance, let us assume that you have a business and you are always looking for new clients. As such, you are spending thirty minutes daily to send emails to prospective clients while spending one hour on maintaining social media accounts of your business and messaging people on social media.
If you notice that only one client came on board from social media platforms while you gained five clients from email outreach then it will be a clear sign that you will have to spend more time on sending emails to achieve better time management, which actually provides desired results.
To understand the 20% of the activities you need to focus on, what you will have to do is perform a time audit. This way you will be able to know the activities that are having the most positive impact on your work.
Wrapping It Up
Thus, we can say that time management is not a herculean task and by using the right strategies you will be able to effectively manage your time. If you want more tips on how to manage your time then you must visit the Calepin Writers Blog. At Calepin you will find interesting and intriguing articles on the topic of time management, that will surely guide you in the right direction.