8 Time Management Tips
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Struggling with time management in the workplace as pressure increases?
Steven Covey said that, "we can't manage time, we can only manage ourselves." Read on for essential time management techniques.
1. Get strategic
The main reason that we waste time at work is because we get bogged down in short-term, non essential tasks. When we think and act strategically, we have more control and end up saving time. What does working strategically mean? Here are two useful definitions:
“Strategy is a long term plan for success”
“Being strategic is doing what is most important to achieve set objectives”
So in order to work more strategically and improve our time management we need to focus on what is most important. This sounds simple but it is easy to look busy doing unimportant things.
2. Create your vision
The first step in defining what is most important to achieve at work or in your personal life is to create a clear vision of what you want in the long term. If you run your own business this could include, growth and expansion. If you work for an employer, you need to know what the long-term vision of your organisation is and whether this fits with your long-term goals. If you are creating a vision for your own career, this could include promotion or improving work/life balance.
3. Set SMART goals
Once you have created an inspirational vision of where you want to be in 1-5 years' time, you need to set SMART goals which contribute towards the realization of your vision. Here is a reminder of the SMART acronym:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Rewarding
Time-bound
A small business could have a general goal to grow; this is not specific, can't be measured and there are no set time limits to achieve this within. This business would have a greater chance of growing if they set a SMART goal, such as:
“To grow our business by increasing our client base by 10% within 2 years”
4. Chunk goals down
A goal such as “To grow our business by increasing our client base by 10% within 2 years” could seem like a daunting task to tackle all in one go. “Chunking” involves breaking down a large goal into smaller more manageable tasks such as:
The above tasks can be chunked down further into shorter term goals such as:
5. Prioritise, prioritise, prioritise
In order to focus on what is most important you need to constantly prioritise. Once you have created your vision and SMART goals towards achieving it, you need to only do tasks which fulfil this vision and goals. For example, if you are asked to attend a meeting which is outside of your remit and will not help you to achieve one of your goals, then you should decline the invitation to attend. Remember that the biggest time waster is doing things which are unimportant.
6. Take a time audit
If you feel overwhelmed and time poor, take an audit of a typical week and list all the tasks which you have achieved and worked on. This includes time spent on telephone calls and emails. Against each task on your list, be honest about whether it is important (contributing to your long-term goals) or unimportant (not contributing to your long-term goals). There are times when we asked by someone else to get involved in a non-important task but we need to limit our time spent on unimportant work.
7. Say no
The best Time Managers are not afraid of saying "no" since they are continuously focusing on what is important to them. This includes saying no to unnecessary meetings, phone calls and not answering irrelevant emails. The more times that you say no to unimportant tasks, the less people will ask, until they get the message that you prefer to work strategically.
8. Manage your inbox
We all complain about the number of emails in our inboxes but how many of them are truly "important". Take control of your inbox and unsubscribe from "unimportant" newsletters and circulars and challenge if you need to be copied in on certain emails. One of the biggest time wasters can be answering every email as it arrives in our inbox rather than prioritizing which are the most important emails and answering them in that order. Avoid red-flagging or leaving emails to a later date if answering them will help you achieve one of your SMART goals.So the best time management tips are to get strategic, set SMART goals, prioritise and say no to people who waste your time.