Time management is critical to business and personal success. It is essentially the process of planning how to use the time you have most efficiently. There are lots of benefits to being better at time management, from reducing the stress you feel on a daily basis to producing better work and having more time to focus on creative projects. Improved time management can also be a factor in self-confidence. So how do you master it?
Start with a time management audit
How do you currently spend your time and how efficient are you? Before you begin looking at upgrading your time management skills it’s important to review how you currently manage your time and where the real challenges are.
Create a schedule for yourself every day
One option for mastering time management is a detailed daily schedule that breaks your time down into realistic individual chunks. When you’re focusing on each of these make sure that you’re giving it your full attention to avoid wasting any of that valuable time on distractions.
Revise the way you approach your To Do list
It’s really helpful to organise all your tasks into a list but if this becomes too big or overwhelming then you may simply never start. So, make sure your list is clear about which tasks need to be done right now and which can be tackled later. Be decisive about delegation so that your list doesn’t feel overwhelming and don’t be afraid to delete tasks from the list if they are not critical to your goals.
Start with the most difficult task
Many of us have become master procrastinators and this often happens as a result of anxiety over those tasks that are the biggest or the most difficult. One strategy for pushing through this is to start with the tasks that you want to do the least. Afterr that everything else will seem relatively easy.
Group similar tasks together
You can group tasks by function or by objective, for example. Doing this will mean you can eliminate more tasks from your list in one go and don’t have to move repeatedly from one type of action to another.
Remember that you will take whatever time you allocate
It’s essential to set yourself deadlines and ensure that they are reasonable. Humans usually use the time that is available so if you set yourself an hour you’ll take an hour but if you allocate half a day then that task will take a lot longer. Work expands to fill the time allocated to complete it.
Get really good at saying no
Taking on too much simply because you don’t feel able to say no is one of the prime reasons why we end up with poor time management. So, learn to set boundaries and say no to anything that is outside your limits.
Mastering time management isn’t difficult but it can take commitment to working with your strengths and trying a new approach to efficiency, going forward. Find out more by booking onto our Time Management training course...