Simple time management skills
Seven free tips for improving rapidly
Time Management Tip 1 - Planning the day before
Prepare for the next day at the end of the previous one. Rather than just putting down your work where you left off probably feeling tired and a bit disjointed spend 15 minutes to plan out the objectives you want to achieve the following day. If you write this down either in a diary or planning document you should now be in a position to start the next day with immediate focus.
Time management tip 2 - Plan for the unexpected
Plan for other responsibilities beyond your work tasks. Home life tasks and activities have to be planned. Partners and family can become understandably frustrated when all of your planning activities are focused on you and you career.
Time management tip 3 - Improve communication strategies
Communicate your time plans with those people who are going to be affected. You will achieve less if you haven’t brought other stakeholder into your time lines and therefore end up wasting time because they cant oblige your time plans
Time management tip 4 - Build in relaxation time
Plan time to relax. This might sound strange but many people find that their “relaxation time” is spent in a state of frustrated exhaustion where little benefit ends up being derived from this relaxation. What can happen is that you become trapped thinking erratically about work tasks as you slouch on the couch. This is actually not particularly relaxing and what you might be doing is worrying rather than resting.
Time management tip 5 - Plan for the short and long term
Plan for the medium and long term as well as day to day. Suppose for example that daily admin work tasks are taking you an inordinately large amount of time. This you know is due to a lack of computing and typing skills. Planning therefore to improve these through training would actually save a great deal of day-to-day time.
Time management tip 6 - Develop an Effective System for Recording and Focusing
Ensure that you record those objectives you have successfully achieved as well as gaining recognition. This helps with focus and also enables you to feel that essential sense of achievement that makes it easier to achieve greater personal effectiveness.
Time management tip 7 - Build in a priority planner
It’s an old classic really but eternally valid…. Prioritise! What should you be doing and what is important. A manager for example who gets trapped in all the daily detail of the department rather than developing strategies and measuring their impact and success might find their efforts do not achieve the recognition they would hope for.
