4 Smart Time Management Tips

Here are a few tips to get you started:

1. Find your “golden window” – Decide when you’re most productive in the day – are you an early bird, a night owl or somewhere in between?
– Managing your time is all about getting into your natural rhythm and understanding how you function best.
– Schedule your most important tasks for your more productive times throughout the day, and spend your least productive hours undertaking jobs that don’t require as much energy or brain power.

2. Get Organised – Whether you use a big whiteboard, a diary, an online planner or even a piece of blank paper, start by planning out your days for the week ahead:
– Creating a brain dump with all the things you need to accomplish.
– Rank them from most urgent and important highlight these to least and plug them into your schedule in that order.
– Don’t forget to set some time aside for breaks or catch-up windows in case you get distracted by unexpected issues or tasks that may crop up.
– Cross things out as they are completed, and take 10 minutes at the end of each day to have a look at what your focus will be tomorrow

3. Quit Multi-tasking – We all like to think we can keep multiple balls in the air when juggling lots of things at once, however, your brain can only handle doing one thing at a time.
– So, if you try to do more, you’ll only end up constantly switching your focus and taking even more time to complete both tasks.
– Focus your attention on one task at a time. When it’s complete, then you can move on to the next thing.

4. Recognise and Reduce Distractions – We’re all prone to getting sidetracked from our goals, and the first key is to figure out what distracts you – is it notifications popping up on your phone, multiple tabs open on your computer, workmates talking around you?
– Once you’ve spotted the things that are repeatedly stealing your attention, you can take steps to eliminate them until you accomplish your task.
– Pop your phone in a drawer or face down on silent, close every tab except the one you need for your work task, or put on headphones if you’re tempted to spend time chatting.

Putting good time management systems in place will enable you to “work smarter, not harder”, and free up more time to achieve a better work/life balance (not to mention reduce the stress and anxiety that comes with being disorganised).

If you or your team need a helping hand to set up a time management plan, and prioritising tasks, please reach out for a chat (it may just be the most effective use of 30 minutes you spend this week)