If there is one unique thing that sets apart world-class leaders and businessmen are their ability to manage time better than others. Time is one such resource that is always scarce and it requires a great deal of effort to have some control over your time. often, even the best in the world get overwhelmed with less time and more work. Learning to ace your work with limited time in hand is like managing an agitated horse. It may take a lot of time to get hold of it and make it calm, but once it is done, you can ride the horse for miles without any pain or discomfort.
Regardless of your profession, whether you are a manager, a sales executive, or a software developer; better time management skill is the only thing you need to meet your goals. Now without wasting any further time, let’s get into the tips that can help you become better at time management.
1. Stop Procrastination
This is one biggest culprit responsible for wasting time and killing productivity at the workplace. Procrastination is essentially carrying out the less important tasks before a high priority task. If you are serious about pushing yourself to become better at time management, procrastination is definitely something you should give up on. To start with you can use techniques like timeboxing. It is a process of assigning a fixed time frame and order to each task. This is an easy process to commit to a task for only a specific period of time, allowing to get things done instead of wasting time.
2. Learn to say “NO”
Most people make mistakes when they overestimate their potential. They take up voluntary projects and tasks without giving heed to the fact that they already have their hands full. From a distance, it may seem good that you are taking initiatives and taking up tasks, at the same time pleasing people by not saying ‘no’. This can sometimes fall back on the person. When you overcommit, there is a higher probability that the output will be subpar, which will eventually disappoint people. Therefore, it is very important that you learn to say no people and focus better on the work you already have.
3. Create a to-do list
Before we start doing our time management exercise, it is of utmost importance that we have a list of activities that are to be done within a particular set time. The existence of this list is very important, be it on a paper stick to your fridge, on a whiteboard, or even on your mobile phone; it doesn’t matter. What is important is that the list should be present in your sight all the time. It helps you to constantly remind you of what needs to be done.
Keep the feasibility part in your head while making a list. All of the things mentioned should be do-able in a fixed time frame. Another very important thing to remember is to keep updating the list, adding a new task or project as and when it comes and removing the task once it’s complete. It is important you review and keep the list as organized as possible.
4. Fix your priorities
Now that you have a to-do list in place, the subsequent step is to give due weight-age to each task. Categories the items as per the priority. Putting the high priority task on top. This helps the person with some clarity in head and knowledge of what is to be done now, as opposed to what can wait.
It is equally important to constantly strike out the tasks which are completed. It gives you a sense of accomplishment and motivation to move further in your list. Also, it helps you keep away all the confusion. Another interesting hack is to divide your list into ranks with a set of letter or color codes.
5. Learn to delegate work
Delegating a piece of the task to someone does not mean that you are giving up control or running away. It could be your fellow teammate or subordinate. It is rather an important and healthy exercise that helps you distribute workloads to ensure the project is running smoothly. Therefore, it is pretty important to realize the capability of members and use them to your advantage.
