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1. Understand Time Management Is A Myth
As confusing as this might sound, time is always a constant. There is no way of getting more hours in a day. The only actionable thing you can do is learn how to make the best use of the 24 hours there is in a day. This means we need to learn how to manage ourselves and not time itself. It’s only after realizing this that you’ll be able to plan yourself better.
2. Identify Ways You Might Be Wasting Time
Every one of us has been a victim of time wastage at some point. Spending more time than necessary on something qualifies as time wastage. You thus want to identify habits and areas you might be spending too much time on and look for a way to quit the habit. This can be anything from spending time on social media, reading email, surfing the internet, making personal calls, or texting at the expense of getting work done. According to a survey done by salary.com, at least 2% of respondents waste 4 hours or more per day, with 31% of these wasting at least 30 minutes every day.
One of the best ways to identify areas and ways you might be wasting time is to track your daily activities. This will give you an idea of how much time you spend on specific tasks and if you need to improve.
3. Come Up With Time Management Goals
Making a few (or significant) changes to your habits can help reduce, if not eliminate, time wastage. One way to do this is to create time management goals, then work towards them. A good example of a time management goal is to decide not to take/make personal calls/text while at work for at least one week. Strive to achieve this goal to see if your productivity will have improved.
4. Work Towards The Set Time Management Goals
This is an extension of point number three. It’s one thing to set time management goals and another to accomplish the same. Whatever goal you have set, strive to make it happen. This is especially important if looking to beat procrastination and/or improve productivity. Be sure to track these goals as well.
5. Take Advantage Of Time Management Tools
Tracking every aspect of your day and work manually can be tiring, especially time spent on specific tasks. Time management tools, such as a planner, software program, or app like Track Time 24, can help make your work much more manageable. Most software programs, such as Outlook, will allow you to schedule tasks and even set reminders. These tools will thus come in handy for both event/task planning and time management.
6. Set A Performance Benchmark
You want to be ruthless on this one. Start every day by categorizing and prioritizing tasks that need to be done. If there are 20 tasks to be done, identify and prioritize urgent ones that ought to be done quickly and ensure you achieve at least 80% of the benchmark.
7. Learn To Outsource Or Delegate
Most employers find delegating tasks a challenge. Many will opt to handle most (if not all) of the functions themselves and only outsource or delegate non-important tasks. You however need to learn to delegate or even outsource tasks, especially if time-strained. Whether running a small business or an established enterprise, delegating tasks can help save/free up precious time to handle critical responsibilities.
I agree that taking an advantage from time management apps is a good idea. I especially like kanbantool.com , it’s a great tool that I’m always eager to recommend. It’s easy to use yet effective. It even has a time tracking feature. Try it, the trial period is free so you don’t risk anything.
Great tips, Sonny! We all have the same number of hours available to us in a day, but some people are able to accomplish more in 24 hours than everyone else.