What is time management?
A manager’s job is to manage time. Time management is really about understanding time. Time management involves the skills required to successfully use the time you have available in order to get the most out of it. There are three basic strategies of time management that work best for most people.
Good time management always requires an essential shift in perspective from actions to results: being effective means being busy. (Coliseum! Paradox! Even an Olympic Gold Medalist knows that training doesn’t build peak strength; the true strength lies in the preparation and execution.) Focusing on the tasks at hand and avoiding distractions will make you more effective at your tasks; therefore, you’ll be less likely to be distracted and have poor time management. Spending all your time focusing on your most important tasks will produce the most effective results in terms of efficiency, speed, and productivity.
Time management techniques designed to help you become more effective at using your time includes:
Using the Time You Have
Make sure that you’re not wasting time by being “on the go” all the time. Try to make a schedule and stick to it; if you can, try to plan out everything you’ll need to do for a certain day, week, or month, and stick to that schedule. Do as many of your tasks as possible during the day and on alternating days. Don’t let anything stop you!
Goal Setting
The biggest problem with most people when it comes to time management is that they set their goals way too small. A great time management tip for goal setting is to focus on what is important to you. If you want to achieve a major goal, you may want to set a bigger goal for yourself. By breaking large tasks down into small goals, you are ensuring that you have a good chance of completing each task before the other one ends.
Recurring Tasks
By setting recurring tasks, you are increasing your chances of having a successful time management strategy. One great thing about making a list of your recurring tasks is that you can plan how often you will perform them within the day. For example, if you have a 30-minute radio show that you like doing on the weekends, you can schedule that once per week.
Prioritizing
Another great time management technique that you should practice is prioritizing. This means that you must list out the most important tasks first and foremost, then move down in importance. For instance, if you have ten categories of projects that you are working on, you need to sort through them and choose the ones that are the most important to complete first. As you work on the projects, you will see which tasks are the most important and need to be scheduled first during your day.
Managing Workplace Tasks
The final part of having a good time management strategy is to work on managing your office tasks as well. In other words, you need to schedule out your different tasks and assign someone who is responsible for doing them. For example, if you have a staff of five, you should have a separate person for handling each of the five different projects during the same time period. You can also assign individuals with different skill sets to work on different tasks as well to keep things running smoothly.
Time management is a very important skill that can be difficult to master, but you can improve it by implementing these three basic techniques. By scheduling time for tasks, prioritizing them, and managing your office schedule, you will be able to work smarter instead of harder. Additionally, by avoiding interruptions, scheduling tasks ahead of time, and delegating work, you will be able to accomplish more in less time.
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