How many times this week have your heard “there just isn’t enough time in the day” or “I can’t get to everything I need to in a day”? I think everyone would gladly take more time in the day to do things either at work or home or maybe just to sleep!
Well I don’t think hours will be added to the day any time soon so the only other option is to manage time better in a quest to get it all done. And to get it all done well! I am not going to recommend multi-tasking as research shows that people don’t really do things well when they are working on several things at one time. (If you must multi-task check out our earlier post on how to do it right.)
Lump your like tasks together. This will minimize the time lost from going back and forth from making phone calls to writing a proposal to meeting with teammates to reviewing the documents your boss left on your chair the night before.
I have combed through several articles to find the best tips from both Celestine Chua, founder of Personal Excellence shares 20 Quick Tips For Better Time Management and Entrepreneur.com.
Have a plan – everyday
Don’t start the day buried under a list of things to do. Start with a plan on what you are going to accomplish for the day and even schedule the items in your calendar to keep you on track. I actually try and plan out the next day before I close the laptop on the day before – it makes me feel less panicked about what faces me in the morning.
Just say NO
Most of us take on more than we can manage between our work responsibilities and our home commitments making it no surprise that we can’t get everything done in the day. Start to be more selective with the tasks and activities that are optional like joining the social committee at the office or organizing the neighbourhood block party.
Do Not Disturb
When you have work that needs to get done do not be afraid to put up a sign on your door or in your cubicle that says Do NOT Disturb. There is no shame in wanting uninterrupted time! I advised a member of my team to us their Out of Office alert on their email when they had their heads down and were busy with something. That way if there was an emergency whomever is looking for them knew to call them and email could be ignored.
Lump like tasks together
Lump your like tasks together. This will minimize the time lost from going back and forth from making phone calls to writing a proposal to meeting with teammates to reviewing the documents your boss left on your chair the night before. You will be faster at each task and also reduce wasted time!
This last one might be painful but totally necessary!
Turn off and Tune out of the distractions
Admit it, social media is a huge distraction that eats up precious minutes if not hours in your day. How many times have logged in to your profiles to message a former colleague, share a cute cat video, or RT 140 characters of brilliance from @RobertDowneyJr? What would seem like small diversion from work takes time – you leave what you’re working on check your half dozen profiles and messenger apps and then have to get back to what you were doing. Leave time for these distractions on your lunch or in a designated time slot – resist the urge to check them every hour.
Give these a try and see how much time you get back in your day. Have some other great time management tips – please share in the comments space below.