Do you get a little stressed when people start talking about time management? Do your thoughts go straight to everything that needs to be done and how little time you have? Contrary to popular belief, time management isn't about waking up at four in the morning or working the fastest, hardest, or longest hours. So, what is it really about, and how do you do it? Let's break it down.
What Is Time Management?
Time management is about learning how to use your time efficiently – working smarter, not harder. To achieve effective time management at work, it’s helpful to pause and consider whether you’re spending your time on the right tasks. You might be wondering, “But how do I know if I’m focusing on the right tasks?” It’s not always easy to tell, but try flipping the question: “How do I know if I’m focusing on the wrong tasks?” If you often feel stressed at work and have no control over everything that needs to be done, it might be time to take a closer look at how you’re using your time.
7 Tips for Better Time Management
Improving your time management skills shouldn’t be a time-consuming and energy-draining task. The following tips are relatively easy to adopt, but you might need to change your mindset about time. Why not try these tips and see what results you get?
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Set Clear Goals
Be honest – can you list your goals for the next quarter? And the task you’re working on right now, which of these goals does it contribute to? A key aspect of effective time management is setting clear and specific goals directly related to your, your team’s, and your company’s objectives. When you know where you’re headed and have a clear purpose for each task, it becomes easier to stay focused. You’re also less likely to waste time on distractions that don’t directly contribute to your goals.
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Prioritize!
One of the most crucial keys to good time management is the ability to prioritize tasks, but it’s often easier said than done. You might recognize this scenario: your boss or CEO wants you to focus on Project X, a colleague wants you to tackle Project Y immediately, and you know that if you don’t start Project Z yesterday, there will be issues. So, how do you know where to start?
“If everything is urgent, nothing is urgent.”
The saying “If everything is urgent, nothing is urgent” may sound a bit ambiguous, but it’s definitely applicable to a hectic workday. If every task is marked as a high priority, the prioritization order disappears and is reset to zero. Simply put, you can't do it all at once. Anyone who tries will likely have mediocre results, unnecessary stress, and potentially even burnout.
The solution? Talk to your manager. Sit down calmly and discuss how you should prioritize your tasks. Which project needs to be completed first? Which tasks can wait a week or even longer? It’s often only after going through all your tasks this way that it becomes clear what is a priority and what isn’t.
If you still have a bunch of tasks that feel overwhelming and difficult to prioritize after talking to your boss, there are, luckily, some clever strategies you can use. Here’s a common approach to prioritizing tasks:
The Eisenhower Matrix
When using the Eisenhower Matrix, or the Urgent/Important Matrix as it’s also known, you categorize your tasks into four quadrants. These quadrants are based on urgency and importance: tasks that are both urgent and important go into the “Do First” category, those that are important but not urgent go into the “Schedule” category, tasks that are urgent but not important go into the “Delegate” category, and those that are neither urgent nor important go into the “Delete” category.
Does this sound interesting? You can read more about how the Eisenhower Matrix works. -
Stop Maxing Out Each Task—Try the Pomodoro Technique
When you’re in a flow, it’s easy to keep going and try to max out each task by skipping breaks.
But this isn’t always the most effective approach – you tire more quickly, lose focus, and the risk of making mistakes increases. A smart tip to be more efficient without wearing yourself out is to try the Pomodoro Technique. With this method, you work for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break, and after four such sessions, you take a 15-minute break. The idea is to work intensely for 25 minutes, followed by a short break, rather than working too long and losing focus, motivation, and energy. Why not set a timer and give it a try?
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One Thing at a Time!
This point bears repeating many times: Stop multitasking! We’ve long known that it’s not worth doing several things simultaneously. No task gets done correctly, the risk of mistakes increases, and it also takes more mental energy to filter through all the information. A typical example of multitasking is participating in a Zoom meeting while simultaneously replying to an email. You either don’t listen to what’s being said in the meeting, or the email suffers – you simply can’t do both things simultaneously, at least not well. If this sounds familiar, it might be time to reassess your relationship with multitasking 😉
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Time Blocking
A smart way to avoid the destructive multitasking mentioned above is time blocking, which involves organizing your workday by planning and setting aside time for specific tasks. This helps you focus better on each task by reducing the risk of distractions.
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Practice Saying No
“I’m sorry, I can’t do that right now, but thank you for thinking of me.” Many of us feel uncomfortable saying no when someone asks for help, even though we already have too much on our plate. But you can practice! Start by saying no to something small and then apply it to bigger things. Another way to say no to your boss is to say yes but simultaneously ask which other task you can remove – since your time is limited.
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Keep Track of How You Spend Your Time
Do you and your colleagues know what you’re spending your time on? An easy way to get a good overview is to track your time. With a good time-tracking system, you can see the status of the time spent on different projects and activities, monitor the numbers in real-time, and continuously set new goals, both individually and as a team. Additionally, you can easily see if the time you spend aligns with your expectations. Are hours being wasted on the wrong things? Or is there a project that’s taking too long? With a time-tracking system, you can quickly discover where the hours are slipping away and gain insights into how you could reprioritize or plan better.
Want to know more about the benefits of digital time tracking? Check this out!
Take Control of Your Hours with Flex HRM Time
Are you and your colleagues ready to take the next step toward more efficient time tracking? We’re here to help you with everything you need to know about our web-based time tracking system, Flex HRM Time – and the other components of our all-in-one solution, Flex HRM. Contact us today to discuss your challenges and our solutions!
