Mastering Time Management
Valuing your, and your teams time
Whether we think about it in a monetary prospect or not, time is valuable to us. If you put it into perspective, how much time do we exhaust on trying to actually manage time?
Although this may seem counter-intuitive to spend time in learning how to master time management, the benefits you reap are tremendous. When you start to take charge of your time management you can put it on autopilot; momentum builds, and you can fly through tasks quickly.
5 tips for effective time management
Here are five tips we think will help you excel in time management:
Have a To-Do-List
It’s difficult to visualize overwhelming amounts of tasks, as author David Allen said, “Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.” So having all the tasks you need to complete written down allows you to paint a picture of what needs to be completed.
This lets you track your progress, not only does this let you see what’s left to be done but enables you to break larger tasks into smaller fragments allowing you to stay on top
Segment Your Time
Plan your activity’s before your day unfolds, this enables you to get a good overview of what’s to come. This way you can easily allocate your time to appropriate tasks, spending less time procrastinating.
Allocate time for yourself during the day where you can complete tasks which are non-negotiable, such as emails, meetings, and calls. Segmenting your time this way will allow you to dedicate the rest of your day to focus on completing your other tasks.
80/20 Rule of Time Management
The Pareto Principle or typically known as the 80/20 rule, explains to us that we shouldn’t be exhausting ourselves trying to complete 80% of our tasks but rather focusing on completing 20% of those tasks that account for more value.
In other words, this means that two of those items will turn out to be worth as much or more than the other eight things put together. Prioritizing your workload this way allows you to be able to focus on smaller fragments of your workload.
Focus on One Thing at a Time
One bite at a time, don’t overwhelm yourself. Taking on too many tasks can make your work out of focus. Even if your plate is full of different jobs, focusing on one thing at a time allows you to simplify that workload making your projects manageable.
It’s simple, you can’t wear more than one hat at a time, narrow your focus and concentrate on one task, not only will you be able to get more done but you’ll get more done and feel more accomplished.
Take Breaks
Like vision and scent, these human senses tend to fade the longer you’re exposed to them, the same goes for working for long periods of time with minimal breaks.
The ideal productivity schedule is said to be 52 consecutive minutes following a 17-minute break, spend this time working with a purpose.Taking breaks this way is seen to be to optimum working schedule.
