20 Quick Time Management Tips
to Super Boost Your Productivity
Are you usually punctual or late? Do you
finish things within the time you stipulate? Do you hand in your reports/work
on time? Are you able to accomplish what you want to do before deadlines? Are
you a good time manager?
If your answer is “no” to any of the
questions above, that means you’re not managing your time as well as you want.
Here are 20 time management tips to help you manage time better:
1.
Create a daily plan
Plan your day before it unfolds. Do it in the
morning or even better, the night before you sleep. The plan gives you a good
overview of how the day will pan out. That way, you don’t get caught off guard.
Your job for the day is to stick to the plan as best as possible.
2.
Peg a time limit to each task
Be clear that you need to finish X task by
10am, Y task by 3pm, and Z item by 5:30pm. This prevents your work from
dragging on and eating into time reserved for other activities.
3.
Use a calendar
Having a calendar is the most fundamental
step to managing your daily activities. If you use outlook or lotus notes,
calendar come as part of your mailing software.
Google Calendar is
great – I use it. It’s even better if you can sync it to your mobile phone and
other hardwares you use – that way, you can access your schedule no matter
where you are.
4.
Use an organizer
An organizer helps you to be on top of
everything in your life. It’s your central tool to organize information, to-do
lists, projects, and other miscellaneous items.
Check out these Top 15 Time Management Apps and Tools and
pick the ones that fit your needs.
5.
Know your deadlines
When do you need to finish your tasks? Mark
the deadlines out clearly in your calendar and organizer so you know when you
need to finish them.
6.
Learn to say “No”
Don’t take on more than you can handle. For
the distractions that come in when you’re doing other things, give a firm no.
Or defer it to a later period.
Leo Babauta, the founder of Zen Habits
has some great insights on how to say no.
7.
Target to be early
When you target to be on time, you’ll either
be on time or late. Most of the times you’ll be late. However, if you target to
be early, you’ll most likely be on time.
For appointments, strive to be early. For your
deadlines, submit them earlier than required.
8.
Time box your activities
This means restricting your work to X amount
of time. Why time boxing is good for you?
9.
Have a clock visibly placed before you
Sometimes we are so engrossed in our work
that we lose track of time. Having a huge clock in front of you will keep you
aware of the time at the moment.
10.
Set reminders 15 minutes before
Most calendars have a reminder function. If
you have an important meeting to attend, set that alarm 15 minutes before.
11.
Focus
Are you multi-tasking so much that you’re just
not getting anything done? If so, focus on just one key task at one time. Multitasking is bad for you.
Close off all the applications you aren’t
using. Close off the tabs in your browser that are taking away your attention.
Focus solely on what you’re doing. You’ll be more efficient that way.
12.
Block out distractions
What’s distracting you in your work? Instant
messages? Phone ringing? Text messages popping in?
I hardly ever use chat nowadays. The only
times when I log on is when I’m not intending to do any work. Otherwise it gets
very distracting.
When I’m doing important work, I also switch
off my phone. Calls during this time are recorded and I contact them afterward
if it’s something important. This helps me concentrate better.
13.
Track your time spent
Egg Timer is
a simple online countdown timer. You key in the amount of time you want it to
track (example: “30 minutes”, “1 hour”) and it’ll count down in the background.
When the time is up,the timer will beep. Great way to be aware of your time
spent.
14. .
Don’t fuss about unimportant details
You’re never get everything done in exactly
the way you want. Trying to do so is being ineffective.
15.
Prioritize
Since you can’t do everything, learn to
prioritize the important and let go of the rest.
Apply the 80/20 principle which
is a key principle in prioritization. You can also take up this technique to
prioritize everything on your plate.
16.
Delegate
If there are things that can be better done
by others or things that are not so important, consider delegating. This takes
a load off and you can focus on the important tasks.
When you delegate some of your work, you free
up your time and achieve more.
17.
Batch similar tasks together
For related work, batch them together.
For example, my work can be categorized into
these core groups:
1. writing
(articles, my upcoming book)
2. coaching
3. workshop
development
4. business
development
5. administrative
I batch all the related tasks together so
there’s synergy. If I need to make calls, I allocate a time slot to make all my
calls. It really streamlines the process.
18.
Eliminate your time wasters
What takes your time away your work?
Facebook? Twitter? Email checking? Stop checking them so often.
One thing you can do is make it hard to check
them – remove them from your browser quick links / bookmarks and stuff them in
a hard to access bookmarks folder. Replace your browser bookmarks with
important work-related sites.
While you’ll still checking FB/Twitter no
doubt, you’ll find it’s a lower frequency than before.
19.
Cut off when you need to
The number one reason why things overrun is
because you don’t cut off when you have to.
Don’t be afraid to intercept in meetings or
draw a line to cut-off. Otherwise, there’s never going to be an end and you’ll
just eat into the time for later.
20.
Leave buffer time in-between
Don’t pack everything closely together. Leave
a 5-10 minute buffer time in between each tasks. This helps you wrap up the
previous task and start off on the next one.
Celestine Chua
https://www.lifehack.org/articles/featured/20-quick-tips-for-better-time-management.html
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