Ways To Better Manage Your Time
When you manage your time well, you’re able to stay on top of tasks. So not only do you get more done, you feel less stress and overwhelm.
The tips below are designed to save you time, money and energy. In the long run, they’ll also help you be more efficient in your 8daily activities.
1. Respect your need for rest by getting 7-9 hours of sleep each day.
Cutting out sleep to have more fun or get more work done is a shortsighted strategy. While you can temporarily pull this off to a degree, it is a destructive habit. Being tired all day means you will not be able to make effective use of your time, no matter how organized you feel.
2. Do a weekly review of the past 7 days.
Learning how to do a weekly review is one of the best time management habits you can develop. The Weekly Review is a concept created by David Allen, author of the classic productivity book “Getting Things Done.” Review the past and current week on your calendar. Look for loose ends, meetings and other matters that need further attention. Then prioritize accordingly and delegate where possible.
3. Focus on a single task at a time (i.e. no multitasking).
Multitasking is a wasteful way to work. You achieve more when you choose one activity at a time.
4. Separate strategic and “brain dead” tasks.
High-value strategic tasks are what companies and clients pay for -- coming up with new product ideas, ways to reduce cost and other improvements. However, it is difficult to deliver creative insights all day long. There is such a thing as the law of diminishing returns. Once you reach a natural breaking point on your strategic tasks, take care of the “brain dead” tasks (e.g., unloading the dishwasher, mowing the lawn, or shopping for groceries). Brain dead tasks require your presence, but not as much of your creative abilities.
NOTE: A good project management tool for larger tasks is Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). Learn more about it at http://www. workbreakdownstructure.com/.
5. Accomplish large projects by breaking them down into smaller tasks.
The ability to accomplish large projects is one of the most important time management hacks. For example, if you are assigned to organize a corporate conference in six months, the effort may feel impossible. Get started by writing a deployment task plan, seek advice from people who have accomplished similar projects, and then work on the deployment tasks, one at a time.
6. Set a number of priority tasks per day to ensure success.
At the beginning of the day, it is easy to come up with a to-do list with dozens of items. Unfortunately, unplanned phone calls, requests from the boss and others tasks quickly overturn the best plans. Instead, simply choose a number of important tasks per day to ensure success. The priority list can be fixed to three a day depending on complexity. In other words, the set number should facilitate success.
7. Use your values to make decisions about your time.
Are your actions in alignment with your stated values? If family is your top priority, you probably shouldn’t work 80 hours a week. Of course, there’s no right or wrong answer here, I’m just encouraging you to organize your time so it supports what is most important to you. Discovering your values is challenging if you have never given thought to this area before.
8. Admit mistakes quickly and move on.
Pride is a great thing, but it can also take down dreams and empires. Covering up mistakes wastes everyone’s time, including your own. You can achieve much more in life when you admit to your mistakes, solve the problem and move on. Most people are willing to forgive mistakes, especially if you are honest and work hard at preventing the mistake from occurring again. Remember, mistakes are just learning opportunities. So don’t be too hard on yourself.