Can you imagine all the things we can learn about ourselves if we were all honest with 100% of the time?
We could make a number of positive changes if we just admitted to ourselves what we struggled with! We’d probably be surprised by how many of us share the same struggles.
We may know how to manage our projects and teams, but the one thing we fail to acknowledge is the lack of time management.
Some of us have always been poor with time management, usually the adults who were always running late to school as kids or who could never seem to turn our homework in on time.
Time management is the key to successful project management.
If you don’t know how much time you must spend in completing one task, how will you deliver projects on time?
Whatever the case may be, most of us can honestly say that we struggle with managing our time. Why you struggle to finish tasks on time or get to work by 8 am, it doesn’t really matter.
What matters is how you manage your time at the end of the day and deliver your work without missing the deadline. Since time management and productivity go hand in hand, you can certainly improve your quality of life since being more productive leaves you with more time to rest and focus on other tasks too.
In case you feel lost on how to bring yourself back on track, then read on these tips on time management that help you answer the ever-lasting question: “how to manage your time efficiently.”
Productivity Hack: 10 Tips for Time Management to Remember
“How to manage your time?”
Isn’t this an ever-lasting question that is really irritating?
What’s the right answer?
Is there a right answer?
It gets all the more irritating if you can’t manage your time at work. So, in this blog post, we cover 10 time management tips for work that you must follow to meet deadlines effortlessly.
1. Take on Tasks One at a Time
One of the reasons that you might be struggling to manage your time is simply because you have too much on your plate.
If you take on more work than you have time for, you may feel like you aren’t able to manage your time when the truth is that there isn’t enough time for you to do everything on your to-do list!
This is why it’s crucial that you learn to say no.
At work, it can be tempting to say yes every time you’re asked to help out. However, you need to be honest with yourself and with your abilities.
Tips on Time Management:
Avoid taking on more than you can handle. Once you cut down on the number of tasks you have to do, you’ll be amazed how easier it gets to manage your time.
2. Prioritize Mental and Physical Health
A crucial factor in managing your time is to make sure you’re in good health, both mentally and physically. If you aren’t feeling well physically, chances are it’ll take you longer to do your work because you’re focusing on how you feel.
To avoid frequent health issues, make sure you eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly. Exercise has been proven to give you more energy, which is also a result of eating healthy. Make sure you get enough protein, don’t eat too many fats and stay away from processed foods as much as possible.
A healthy diet increases your brain activity and makes you less groggy. This, in turn, helps you manage time by improving your performance levels at work.
Tips on Time Management:
Don’t forget to take care of your mental health, too! Get enough sleep every night, seven to eight hours, and treat yourself every once in a while. You can’t manage time if you don’t have the mental or physical energy to do your tasks. Also, take regular breaks throughout the day to stay mentally fresh. You can eat a healthy snack or play a quick game of solitaire. By recharging, you’ll be more productive throughout the day.
3. Start Working on a Task as Soon as You Have It
Procrastination is a dangerous habit.
And many can relate to this habit. It is also one of the leading reasons why most people aren’t able to manage their time well.
Tips on Time Management:
Nip procrastination in the bud by starting to work on a task or project as soon as it’s given to you. Even if you don’t finish it right away, the fact that you’ve already started will encourage you to finish the task on time because it won’t seem as big and scary.
4. Eliminate Distractions
If you wonder why you struggle to manage your time, distractions can be the culprit!’’’
Imagine you’re working on a task, and another requirement comes up that’s urgent. So, you’d need to complete the emergency task first.
Does that make you forget what you were working on?
Does it affect your previous workload?
Do you deliver your tasks on time and with quality?
If your answer is no, you need to ensure you don’t get distracted so easily.
Tips on Time Management:
Focus when you’re working on eliminating all distractions around you, such as the television and social media. Shut your televisions and log out of your social media accounts. It could help you avoid procrastination while working your way through the tasks at hand.
5. Make a Priority List
It is important you learn the art of organizing your tasks to manage your time better. To move on with this strategy make a thorough to-do list. Order each task by priority.
Making a priority list is very important.
Projects can have “n” number of tasks, but how do you know which is urgent and needs to be delivered first?
How do you know which task depends on the other unless you set priorities?
Tips on Time Management:
When you know what you have to do and when it can be easier to focus. You can use a simple project management software to accomplish the goal. It can help you organize your tasks by priority.
6. Focus on One Thing at a Time
Many people are poor at time management because when they look at everything that they have to do, they get overwhelmed.
If this happens to you, don’t worry! It’s quite common. To avoid feeling overwhelmed and from steering away from work altogether, focus on one task at a time.
Tips on Time Management:
It can be difficult to ignore the other things on your to-do list, but when you focus on one task at a time, you can put all of your energy into finishing it. Later, you can easily move on to the next task sooner.
7. Accept That Perfection Doesn’t Exist
Many people are perfectionists. While it may seem like a good thing, it can often lead to poor time management because perfectionists won’t submit a task or project until they’re 100% happy with it.
Tips on Time Management:
The truth is that perfection doesn’t exist! Instead of trying to finish your job perfectly, make sure that it is done well and with minimal errors. Finishing your task well and on time is better than finishing it late and “perfect.”
8. Focus on the Solution, Not the Problem
“Oh no! This isn’t what the client was expecting! I had defined your goals clearly, why is this so bland?”
Haven’t we all heard the wrath of an angry boss whose expectations were not met with the work we delivered?
But, what if instead of something like the above statement, your boss came up to you and said:
“Hey, I just looked at your submission. It isn’t quite what I expected. Why don’t we sit together and go through the requirement again and hope to learn from our mistakes?”
Isn’t that a way better to deal with such situations?
Tips on Time Management:
Become solution-oriented rather than problem-oriented. When you focus on the problem, it will just grow bigger. It can lead to procrastination due to fear or anxiety about the magnitude of the task at hand. However, if you focus on the solution, you can progress through the task much quicker because you’re focusing on the end-goal and trying to see the bigger picture.
9. Break down Large Projects into Smaller Tasks
Large projects can seem intimidating.
You may have multiple tasks, with so many goals that you don’t know where to start.
You make a plan and somehow manage to create a timeline that you hope you can meet.
But, is that really how you should go about this?
Tips on Time Management:
Rather than avoiding the project because of how complex it may be, break down large projects into smaller tasks. That way, you can complete the project in an organized manner and tick it off of your to-do list sooner rather than later. Organization and prioritization always help to improve your time management skills.
10. Set Deadlines and Stick to Them
Lastly, learn to set deadlines for tasks, stick to them and meet the deadlines. If you don’t have a specific day and time that a task should be finished, you’ll wait until the last minute to start.
However, if you know that a certain task needs to be finished by tomorrow morning, you’ll likely start working right away.
Tips on Time Management:
Set deadlines and receiving regular reminders for them, you can incorporate the use of a project management software.
How to Manage Your Time? Turn to ProProfs Project!
So, if you have poor time management skills, don’t worry- you’re not alone.
Many people face the same situation every day! But it doesn’t mean you have no scope for improvement here.
You can refer to one of the tips that are given in the list above. They will surely help you learn how to manage your time and boost your productivity easily. Also, your skills will improve exponentially in no time.
Now that you have insight into time management, let’s cover a few FAQs that many people ask regarding the same topic.
Q1. What is the best way to manage your time?
The ideal way to manage your time is to be organized. Once you know what you have to do and when you have to do it, it becomes easy for you to manage your time and meet deadlines effortlessly.
Q2. How do you solve time management problems?
There are multiple ways you can solve time management problems, some of them include setting priorities, defining start and end goals, time blocking, developing a routine, and organizing your data.
Q3. What happens when you don’t manage your time?
The most common outcomes of poor time management is procrastination. “When will I complete this? When will I get the time? I’m way past the deadline. What’ll happen next?” All this just makes it harder for you to get back on track. So, avoid such a situation, and if you do end up here – don’t procrastinate. Focus on the solution.
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