Whether you’re tired of ending up having to work late at the office, angling for a promotion, or just want to increase your sales or productivity, learning to manage your time better is an incredibly valuable skill.
Here Are Some Of Our Top Tips For Managing Your Time Like A Boss!
#1. Get Your Least Favorite Things Out of the Way First
If you suffer from procrastination, it’s most likely the tasks you enjoy the least that keep getting put off to the last minute.
But by doing so, and having them constantly niggling at your subconscious, you might well be doing yourself a disservice.
If you tackle them first thing in the morning and get them out of the way however, you’ve got all the more enjoyable tasks to look forward to!
#2. Learn How to Prioritize
Devise a system that works for you. Some people like to give each task an urgency tag – such as ‘urgent and important’ ‘important but not urgent’ or ‘nice to do’, etc.
Another option is to copy all your tasks into a spreadsheet and assign them a numerical urgency rating – such as from 1 to 5 or 1 to 10 – and then simply sort them so all the most urgent tasks are at the top – creating an instant, ordered, and prioritized to-do list!
Some people prefer to use their calendar to add reminders to accomplish certain tasks by a certain time of day or use apps or software to help them. It doesn’t matter how you do it, as long as the system works for you personally.
What you don’t want is no system at all, where you just try and tackle things as they come up – this is the perfect recipe for time wasting!
#3. Get Comfortable with Delegating
Trying to get another person to take over a task you normally do yourself can be difficult for a number of reasons. Often you feel like it’s taking more time to teach them how to do it correctly than it would just to do it yourself!
Remember that investing the time now, even it feels inefficient, really is going to save you time in the long run.
If you feel guilty about delegating, then bear in mind that you’re passing on a valuable skill to the coworker in question.
#4. Use Tech to Your Advantage
There are so many useful platforms for small businesses and entrepreneurs out there, so leave the tasks that would take up too much of your time to the experts.
Whether it’s finding a freelance web developer to help you make the finishing touches to your website, or partnering with a law firm where you can get legal advice online, free up your time for the jobs only you can do right.
#5. Let go of Perfection
If you’ve got perfectionist tendencies, tasks that should be taking up the minority of your time can suddenly stretch into day-long undertakings!
It can be helpful to use those tendencies in a sneaky way to remind yourself that not getting a task done on time affects all your other work negatively.
It takes practice, but learning to appreciate the big picture, zoom out of the details and delegate non-critical tasks to junior employees can make your performance as a whole that much better.
Learn to catch yourself when you’re getting bogged down in details, breathe, and see the bigger picture.
#6. Make Time for Breaks
Stress and poor eating habits can have a really detrimental effect on your performance, so it’s worth making time for you too. If you forget your lunch at home, don’t use it as an excuse to work through your lunch break!
Choose a healthy option and order food online and take time to yourself to regroup and clear your head.
Each time you accomplish a task, reward yourself with a chance to stretch your legs or grab a cup of your favorite beverage. You’ll be able to tackle the next task all the better for doing so!
#7. Focus on Doing One Thing at a Time
Today’s culture encourages everyone to try and multitask – but the truth is humans in general just aren’t actually very good at this!
Email and phone notifications are a nightmare when you’re trying to get something else done – so make sure these are off and focus your energies on the task at hand.
Minimize distractions, whether that means turning the radio off, asking the receptionist to take messages for the next hour, or simply closing your office door. Not only will you get through tasks faster, but you’ll do a better job at them too.
Also Read | 6 Super Steps to an Exciting and More Productive Morning
#8. Organize Yourself for the Following Day
Make sure the last thing you do at the office before you leave is put together a to-do list for tomorrow.
Having your work for the next day clearly outlined and prioritized means you can ‘leave work at work’ that much better and can even mean getting a better night’s sleep!
#9. Baby Steps are Okay
Remember that like any good habit, managing your time well is a skill that takes practice and repetition. Be patient with yourself, identify your biggest problem areas, and take them on one at a time.
Life is never clear-cut, and there are going to be days when it just isn’t possible to accomplish everything you want to – and that’s okay too!
