How To Establish Time Management In The Work Place
Time management is crucial when doing any planning while managing a team as there is always a never ending list of duties that need to be accomplished.
Most of the time, this list comes with hundreds of smaller tasks and strict deadlines to meet while trying to stay focused on the big picture.
You an use our time management tips below for fitting these demands within the allotted schedule.
What is Time Management?
Time management is the ability to use your hours, minutes, and seconds in the most effective manner possible and feel sane again.
There are common obstacles that can impede this, but there are easy ways around them.
Having a time management game plan before you start your work will help you get more done while decreasing your workload and saving time.
Sounds amazing right??
These steps are so simple you will question why you never thought of doing them before.
Prioritize Your Tasks
Before starting your day, the week, a month or even the event itself, give yourself time to create a comprehensive listing of the projects that need tackling and devise a system whereby you can determine how urgent each one is. Put them in order from the least to the greatest, and you will have a template by which you can easily see which is the most vital.
To save even more time, there is a variety of free online resources that provide already created templates and excel sheets for tasks. All you have to do is fill it in, follow it and it'll give you a clear head!
Complete Important Tasks First
Once you have your errands and to-dos arranged, work on resolving the issues that are the most essential first. Identify which things are mostly just busy work that does not produce a good return on investment and strive to eliminate them or move them farther down the list. By taking on the most essential chores at once, you set the tone for a productive day.
One way to do this, is to look at your tracked tasks and their assigned deadlines. This will give you a better idea of what you need to complete first according to their importance and due date.
Avoid Procrastination
It is not unusual for peo
ple to put off what seems most unpleasant, but saving it for later does not solve the original problem. Instead, divide larger issues into smaller pieces, as this will allow you to check things off the list without feeling overwhelmed.
The book “Eat That Frog” is a great example of getting the hardest part of your day done first instead of putting it off.
The author Brian Tracy says the “…key to reaching high levels of performance and productivity is to develop the lifelong habit of tackling your major task first thing each morning. You must develop the routine of “eating that frog” before you do anything else and without taking too much time to think about it.”
Try out this advice, and your day might just get a little easier!
Checker Plus for Google Calendar is an easy online tool you can add to your search engine. This creates a personalized Google calendar page you can use without every opening it. Receive event notifications pop-ups, countdowns, email reminders, and more to keep you on track and give you that extra reminder when you think about slacking.
Top features:
- Easy to add events
- Integrations
- Voice notifications for extra encouragement
- Pop-up calendars
- Rescheduling options
Prepare for Deadlines
There is no need to be caught by surprise by looming time restrictions, especially when you know about them in advance. If you are working with a team or by yourself, an orderly approach is to pair each task with a deadline/due date. One helpful place to assign jobs and due date reminders is Asana.
This tool goes beyond your average to-do list and helps you and your team stay on track to get work done in time. With Asana you can also manage work all in one place, add notes, assign team members, complete tasks, get deadline reminders, leave tags, comments and more!
This service starts at just $10 a month for teams that need to create project plans with confidence! Asana is just one of the variety of online tools out there that can help pair the most qualified people with the assignments to which they are most likely to be successful, saving on valuable time.
Top Features:
- Reviews milestones and achievements
- Tracks your progress
- Project dashboards are available for a quick overview
- Synced to your email for notifications and team communication
- Can assign anyone to a task
- Assigns deadlines and sends notifications when it is near
Plan Your Weekly Schedule
Allot your human resources and upcoming calendar like you would a household budget. Allow for margins so you can handle any unexpected contingencies that may arise and establish a routine that has been proven to be most efficient.
In an office setting, one way to enforce a weekly schedule is to start your week off with a team meeting, in person or over a chat tool. By doing this, you can establish what everyone is and should be working on. This way, everyone is on the same page and knows what is expected at the end of the week.
Dispense with Perfectionism
Some people think perfectionism is a positive trait to have, but that is because they often confuse it with a dedication to excellence. True perfectionism most often paralyzes operations because nothing is ever good enough for the perfection setter. It creates anxiety and puts undue pressure on staff, crippling efforts to excel and wastes time.
Yes, everything should be correctly presented or organized, but perfection is overrated and your team will save more time by not criticizing every detail of their work.
Encourage hard work, dedication, and most importantly mistakes, so your team isn’t afraid to try. By doing so you are growing a stronger office space in the end, and saving time on minor details that only you notice.
