Do you often find yourself running behind deadlines at work?

Do you feel you lose control over your work more often than not?

Do you feel stressed because of not being able to manage your time effectively?

If your reply to one or more of the above-mentioned questions is “yes” then you need to get your act together.

In today’s extremely competitive workplace environment, only smart professionals can survive and thrive.

Jotting down daily to-do tasks in our diaries and manual time entries to record the amount of time taken to complete tasks have become a thing of the past, literally.

From working full-time from regular office spaces a couple of years ago to remote work and then hybrid work, we need to work on our time Management skills to stay productive and engaged.

So, let’s move ahead and know more about what time management is, why it’s important, and how you can ace your time Management Skills in a simple and effective way.

Here we go!

What Is Time Management?

Time management means organizing your time in such a way that you can use it more smartly to be more productive at work. Smart time management is a process where you determine how much time you will dedicate to different activities in a day so that your most important work gets completed in time without taking unnecessary stress.

When you organize and prioritize your tasks, you do not end up chasing looming deadlines and compromising the quality of your work.

Let me give you an example of time management.

I have a scheduled meeting with my project manager tomorrow morning at 11. After the meeting, I will start working on a high-priority project and delegate low-priority tasks to subordinates. I will take short breaks of 10 minutes each after every 45 minutes to unplug, unwind, and relax.

In other words, when you know what you have to work on and when, it is called time management.

Why does time management matter? Read on to know more about it.

Why Time Management Matters Big Time?

Is there anything more important than time management in today’s hectic, often overwhelming work schedules? Why do some pros are more successful than others and have more time to do things than others?

Yes, it all boils down to an individual’s skills and core competencies, but smart time management is one common trait that all successful people have. Isn’t it better to start your day with a clear plan as compared to working randomly on different things that are of little or no significance?

Let’s understand why time management is important for every individual, especially working pros who are expected to be efficient day in and day out.

• Smart time management can help you achieve a fine work-life balance, so you can dedicate quality time to work as well as your near and dear ones. Employees with good work-life balance are 10% more likely to stick with their current organization.
• Good time management improves your productivity as you don’t have to spend time on figuring out what to do next. You can start working on important tasks and have a clear idea of how long each task will take. This helps you avoid procrastination and making last minute arrangements at work.
• Good time management not only improves your productivity but quality of work too. When you’re in a hurry to complete work, it’s normal to make more mistakes as compared to a situation where you have adequate time and pay close attention to what you are doing.
• Nothing is more important than your well-being. It’s easy to feel stressed-out and anxious when you have piled-up unfinished tasks at work as well as personal life. As a result, you work overtime regularly to finish things, which can lead to a potential burnout. However, efficient utilization of time results in finishing important tasks first, which means you don’t have to take unnecessary stress as you struggle to meet deadlines.
• Confident, motivated people are more efficient at work. When you manage your time smartly, you consistently meet deadlines, which further boosts your moral and self-confidence. Good time management skills are also noticed and appreciated by your colleagues and senior management in the workplace, which is a healthy sign for your professional career.

Time management struggles? We’ve got your back. Click here to learn more.

5 Highly Effective Time Management Tips You Must Try

I have listed five of the best time management strategies that have yielded excellent results for me. When implemented the right way, there’s no reason why you cannot achieve your goal of being a smart time manager who always gets things done on time and enjoys a healthy work-life balance.

1. Analyze how you are spending your time currently. Before you get started with improving your time management skills, you have to understand how you are currently spending your time daily at work. Something’s wrong, that’s why you need to fix it! This time audit will help you figure out areas of time-wastage, so you can work on them.

You can break down this audit into the following simple steps:

• Track your daily activities
• Record the time you spent on different activities (tasks, checking emails, taking breaks, conversations, etc.)
• Analyze the accumulated data to study how much time you spend where. You may find certain areas that are draining your time. For example, if you are checking your social media accounts too often then it’s taking a significant chunk of your valuable time at work.
• Prioritize your tasks in such a way that urgent, high-priority tasks are started first because they provide the greatest returns.

2. Create a daily schedule (and follow it earnestly). This activity is absolutely critical to undertake if you want to manage your time effectively. Now, you can create your daily schedule on your notepad or use a reliable scheduling calendar to schedule and organize all your events, tasks, and milestones at one place.

I would recommend you to go with latter for a simple reason that it is more accurate and you can access your schedule from anywhere, on any device. Also, there are less chances of you missing your recurring tasks and events as automatic reminders make sure you don’t miss a thing.

Do not start your day at work if you have not created a to-do list beforehand. Before you leave your work, you can create a list of high-priority tasks for the next day. This step allows you to get started with the work as soon as you get to the office the next day.

When you know what you have to do at work the following day, you won’t have to spend your valuable time jumping between tasks when you do not have any concrete plan for the day.

3. Eliminate Distractions. Distractions, big or small, cut into your productivity. Here are some eye-opening statistics to validate this statement.

• According to a new poll by Udemy and Toluna, 80 percent of people report being distracted by chatty coworkers.
• In the same study, 70 percent of respondents reported office noise as the second most cited workplace disturbance.

Now, the thing is that these two distractions are just the tip of the iceberg. There are various other distractions that both regular office goers and remote workers have to deal with. Some other common distractions are: social media usage, checking phones frequently for texts, kids and pets, watercooler conversations, unnecessarily long meetings, checking emails, internet browsing, background noises, clutter around the workstation, etc.

And how to minimize them, or better still, take them out of the picture completely? Here are a few valuable tips.

• Use noise-canceling headphones
• Close your office door (if there’s one)
• Block online distractions
• Turn off your mobile internet during the work
• Organize, declutter your workspace
• Do not multitask
• Take short breaks

4. Set time estimates for tasks. When working on any task, you need to set yourself a target of completing it within a specified time. By setting time estimates for different tasks, you will be more driven to complete the work as having a target creates a sense of urgency. Also, when you’re able to complete the task within the set time estimate, you will feel a sense of accomplishment that will boost your self-confidence.

If the time taken to complete a particular task takes longer than the estimated time, you can work out on things you can do to perform the similar task in less time.

You can also implement the Pomodoro Technique in which you work in 25-minute chunks, followed by five-minute breaks. After completing four 25-minute work sessions, you can take a longer break of 15–20 minutes. This technique helps you break down complex tasks into smaller, actionable steps besides giving you adequate time to relax during breaks.

5. Know when you’re at your productive best. At what time are you at your productive best? Is it during the morning shift, post-lunch, or you’re one of those creatures who thrive at night? Determine the most productive time for you in a day and you can take your time management skills a notch higher.

Early risers who wake up as soon as the alarm goes off are likely to hit their productivity peak in the early parts of the day. Then there are those who take their time to get warmed up and get into the groove as the day progresses. Such people are usually at their productive best in the later half of the day.

Night creatures work when most people are not! These people relax during the day and get their act together at night. Night time is quite peaceful and there are fewer distractions, so they can pay undivided attention to their work.

Get more done in less time with these 17 online time management tools.

Conclusion

Time will continue to move at its pace, we cannot control it. At the same time, every person has 24 hours in a day. Now, it’s up to you how you manage your time smartly in a way that you don’t feel overwhelmed at work and continue to be a productive force. At the same time, your well-being and personal life should not take a blow because of poor work-life balance.

The good news is that there’s a solution to every problem. I sincerely believe that once you want to fix the problem and make honest efforts in this direction, you’ll be able to achieve your goal sooner or later.

I hope these tried and tested time management tips will help you make the most of your time, thus helping you to be a successful and efficient professional in your particular industry. Good luck!

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Read More:

1. How to Cultivate Better Employee Morale & Prevent Burnout
2. Creating a Positive Workplace: Strategies for Building Trust & Respect
3. The Power Of Delegation: How to Simplify Your Work Process [TIPS FOR MANAGERS]

5 Highly Effective Tips For Excellent Time Management was originally published in ProofHub Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.