We all want to make the most of each day. And one way to achieve this is through effective time management. By coordinating tasks and activities effectively, you’re able to get more work done in less time. Taking the time to learn how to manage your time effectively can have an overall positive effect on both your personal and professional life. Better task management leads to increase productivity, lower stress levels, and a better balance between work and home. And you avoid things like burnout, missed deadlines, and a poor quality of work. Now that we’ve gone over some of the perks of time management. Let’s look at some time management techniques that’ll help you effectively manage your time.
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Do a Time Audit
To start managing your time effectively, you’ll need to figure out how your spending time. You can do this is through an app or use a calendar to track everything. Then you can look at what tasks are taking up the most of your time and make adjustments.
Prioritize your task
Set a Time Limit
When you work on a task for too long, it becomes far too easy to procrastinate or become distracted. So it’s best to set a time limit for tasks. For example, if the task is creating a meal plan for the week, set a time limit of an hour. Then try and get as much done as possible in that hour. After an hour passes, take a break and determine if you’d like to continue with the task or come back to it later after you’ve worked on something else.
Take Breaks
After working on task after task for hours, we find it hard to focus and our productivity decreases. Instead of giving a task our full attention, our mind easily wonders off and it’s hard to get anything done. So it’s important to take breaks to avoid this. Determine what your work limit is, and schedule your breaks accordingly. For example, if you find yourself struggling to focus after two hours of work, then schedule a 10-15-minute every two hours. Take the time to go for a brief walk, have a drink of water, and get back into the work mindset.
Eliminate half-work
Block out Distractions
Tasks that usually take us around 30 minutes can take 60 minutes, or more all thanks to distractions.Β So save yourself some time by removing distractions. Put your phone on silent, go to a quiet place to work, and focus on one task at a time.
Don’t Focus on Being Perfect
When you focus on perfection, then nothing is ever good enough. You’ll keep going over the same task over and over again trying to make it perfect. And your productivity will suffer because of it. So don’t try to be perfect and focus on doing the best that you can and moving on.
How we chose to manage our time plays an important role in our overall well being. And by following just a couple of these time management techniques, you’ll be able to increase not only your productivity but your quality of work as well. Time is valuable, so don’t waste doing something that isn’t adding value to your life. What are some of your best time management tips?
Related post:Β How to Combat Burnout
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This post arrived at the perfect time. Working from home now. I appreciate you suggesting breaks! π
Thank you, it’s a new situation for a lot of people. So I thought I share some tips to help out. You can’t skip out on those breaks if you want to stay productive. π
I really liked that you brought attention to the idealism of perfection. While we like to champion the idea that ‘practice makes perfect’, it’s good to practice but not to the point you’re being hard on yourself. Everything in moderation right? Sometimes the thought of being perfect slows you down from growing and sharpening other skills because you’re too focused on perfecting a specific area too much. Hope I’m making sense because I definitely agree with your point!
Natonya | https://justnatonya.wordpress.com
Thank you, and I get what you’re saying. I’m all too guilty of trying to do things perfectly to the point it slows down progress. It’s better to think, this as good as it’s going to get and move on instead of dwelling on it and hindering progress.
You are a life saver. Working from home while parenting and teaching my son has been interesting and not as productive as I would like or am accustomed to. I had been noticing that I’m losing time, but couldn’t process how to approach it. I don’t know why I didn’t think of a time audit. Your other recommendations to block out time and avoid half work will also be greatly beneficial. I also need to remember this is new and give myself some grace as I adjust and find the best system moving forward.
Thank you and I’m glad you found the post helpful. New situations definitely take some getting used too. But with time, you’ll find something that will work for you and get back on track.
To me it is very important to set a time limit. I think that will really make a difference for my long term projects. I also need to take physical breaks and move a little, because I have grown roots on this chair:)I have been exploring the subject of productivity as well. Thank you for the advice.
I agree time limits are important and make a difference. And breaks are a must, you don’t want to spend too long glued to a chair or a computer screen.
Good timing on this! Breaks are so important, especially when working from home. Distractions like TV aren’t helpful, but some distractions like the dog I can’t say no to.
They sure are. It’s nice to get up and walk around for a little after a few hours of work. Dogs are definitely a wanted distraction.
This is a great set of guidelines for getting stuff done! I’d count myself as a pretty productive person, but I also have some terrible habits. Your section about “half-work,” blew my mind. I do that all the time! And when I don’t focus solely on the task at hand, it takes too long, and then I don’t get to the other things on my to-do list. Great post!
Thanks for stopping by. Half work is defiantly a productivity killer. It’s something I didn’t notice until I did a time audit.
I use the pomodoro timer method
That’s a great method.
I actually need to work on a lot of these. My time management sucks! lol Great post!
Thanks, I hope these tips help out and good luck.