Why Time Management is Essential:
Time management is essential for many reasons. Here are just a few of them:
You do more in less time.
You’re more productive. Time management allows you to take advantage of your most productive times so you can do your best work.
You’re less stressed. One in eight people feels that their work is never under control. Effective time management strategies make you less stressed and more in control at work and in life.
You meet deadlines more consistently.
You won’t feel stuck as often. You'll understand the priority of your tasks, so you won't be distracted by low-value tasks that add no value to your work or life.
You have more energy. Knowing your time and energy levels allows you to schedule things strategically so you don’t burn out as often.
Now that you know what time management is and why it’s so important, here’s a list of seven effective time management strategies for you to try.
Choose the ones that work best with your personality, self-motivation abilities, and how self-disciplined you are.
1. Plan your day
Studies show that spending 10–12 minutes planning your day can save you two hours each day.
The simplest way to do this is by using a to-do list. You can use a physical paper list or a digital app, but make sure to cross out or check off each item after you’ve done it to have a sense of accomplishment.
Another way is to schedule your tasks in your calendar, physical or digital.
2. Prioritize
Now that you have your to-do list, it’s time to prioritize your tasks in order of importance and urgency.
Another way is to sort tasks into three groups based on their importance — high, medium, or low. If you want to get ahead, you can do this for your daily, weekly, and even monthly tasks.
3. Limit Distractions
Distractions include text messages, phone calls, non important emails, social media, television, and even getting distracted by doing tedious tasks that can be outsourced or placed on the back burner to give priority to the tasks that deserve it.
Ways to Limit Distractions:
Put your phone on silent or do not disturb
TURN OFF NOTIFICATIONS on everything, the things that are important, will be checked when necessary. Make exceptions as needed for work.
Work in a productive space that promotes a healthy work environment
4. Avoid Multitasking
Contrary to popular belief, multitasking doesn't help you get things done quicker. In fact, the opposite is true.
Research has found that those who multitask engage in something called ‘task switching,’ which places more demands on their mind. That slows you down and makes you less efficient.
Do one thing at a time to maintain focus, and you’ll be more productive.
So start one task and finish it before doing anything else!
5. Delegate
Is there something you need to do but don’t have the time or skill for? Is there someone who can do it better than you? If so, delegate it to them.
Delegation frees up some time for you to handle tasks that truly need your input, and usually, the cost is worth it.
Of course, you should let them attend to the task without micromanaging them. That defeats the whole purpose of delegation and adds more to your plate, which is the last thing you want!
6. Use Time Management Tools
There are a lot of time management tools out there that can save you time and make you more productive. They’re roughly divided into four categories — time trackers, productivity apps, task managers, and project management tools.
Time trackers allow you to see how you spend your time, as well as the time it takes for you to complete a task. They can help you get a more accurate picture of how long something takes to do so you know for future reference.
Productivity apps limit distractions or help you break time-wasting habits. Usually, they’ll block access to unproductive things (like certain websites or apps) for a user-specified amount of time or help you start productive habits.
Task managers help you organize your time more productively and include features like to-do lists, planners, and calendars.
Project management tools take it one step further by allowing you to manage entire projects in one place. They usually come with most of the other time management tools embedded, such as time trackers and task managers.
7. Take Time to Recharge
While it's great to be productive, knowing when to take a break is vital.
Studies show that taking breaks between meetings and tasks allow the brain to reset, lowering your stress levels.
There are 7 types of rest other than sleep that are perfect for recharging:
✔️ Physical Rest: yes sleep! But also, stillness, meditation, massages, physical therapy, breathing techniques.
✔️ Mental Rest: Regular breaks through out your work day, music, silence, journaling, self affirmation, reading.
✔️ Social Rest: Nurturing authentic relationships with family, friends and co-workers, attending social outings, networking.
✔️Sensory Rest: Turning off devices and lights.
✔️ Spiritual Rest: Prayer, gratitude, fellowship, community.
✔️ Emotional Rest: Therapy, expressing emotion, setting boundaries, saying no.
Scientific strategies to supercharge your productivity:
Time blocking
Time blocking does exactly what it says — you carve out blocks of time and assign certain tasks to that spot in your schedule.
It’s a bit like being back at school, where everything is planned for you, including when and how long you take your lunch. Except for this time, you’re the one doing the planning.
It’s up to you to be disciplined as well as time how long your tasks typically take so that you’re choosing the appropriate amount of time per task.
Pomodoro Technique
Francesco Cirillo created the Pomodoro Technique and says the ideal unit of work is 25 minutes followed by a 2–5 minute break."
Pick something you want to do. Let's say you want to get some writing done. Use a timer and set it to 25 minutes. Do your writing during those 25 minutes, and when the timer beeps, set it to 2-5 minutes and take a break.
As you go along, you can play around with the timing of the tasks and the breaks. It’s a good way to schedule breaks so you don’t burn yourself out.
3. The 80/20 Rule
The 80/20 rule says that 80% of your results come from just 20% of your efforts.
Created by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, the goal of the 80/20 rule is to get you to prioritize work with the highest impact on your workday instead of time wasters.
Here’s how to do it:
Write down a list of tasks you must do on any given day, week, or month. Start with a day for now. Then look at your written tasks and determine which ones have the most significant impact.
4. Eisenhower Matrix
Dwight Eisenhowers matrix (or urgent-important matrix) separates tasks into four quadrants in order of importance and urgency.
Here’s how to do it:
In the top left box, write ‘Urgent.’ In the top right box, write ‘Not Urgent.’ Next, write ‘Important’ next to the top left box and ‘Not important’ next to the bottom left box. Then categorize all your tasks in the boxes.
Do all tasks marked as urgent and important first. Schedule a time to do tasks marked as not urgent but important. Delegate urgent and unimportant tasks, and delete tasks that aren't urgent or important.
5. Rapid Planning Method
Motivational speaker Tony Robbins created RPM to redirect your energies towards outcomes you care about the most.
First, you’ll have to determine the result you want to achieve. Then ask yourself why you want to achieve that result. Why is it so important to you? That’s the driving force behind your actions.
After that, write down a list of actions you need to take to achieve that result. Not just one or two things — everything you need to do. Everything.
Group similar tasks into smaller chunks and work on each task one chunk at a time. It’s much easier for your mind to digest and makes it easier for you to get started too.
Key Takeaways:
It can take burning out to get to the breakthrough
Create your to do list for tomorrow at the end of today so that you give yourself permission to rest now knowing that it will be there tomorrow
Reset the room so the next day you’re ready to hit the ground running with no excuses
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