Time management is harder than we think and understanding how to manage it is even more complicated. But when done right, you learn that you accomplish a lot more in very little time. Working 8-12 hours a day is not the ideal scenario for you and your brain, so what can you do to manage time better and spend more time doing what you love. Here are a few tips, we hope it helps.
- Keep an eye on how you allocate time – make a list of your entire to-do list for this day and really dig into that list and find out how much time you actually need to allocate for each one of your to-do list items. Keep a record on a piece of paper to see how much time goes on each one of your projects, if you’re not old school like me, then download a time tracking app to help manage this better. The ideal scenario out of this approach is to really understand where most of your time gets invested and that way you can break it down in different tasks to make sure your work gets completed in time. You can also find out what project is dragging you the most throughout the day and perhaps find a way to do it better or get help from your team to make it happen in less time than if you did it by yourself. No matter what it is, there is always a better way to automate and do it better.
- Identify what’s more important – we all have so much to do but you have to make a first list which is your priority list and a secondary list which is the next thing to do once you finish with your first list, aka… prioritize your to-do list. It is proven that if you create a list of priorities, “the must-dos” you have automatically set some time to get things done on your priority list first than anything else and if you worry about the list of items rather than the deadlines, it is proven that you become more productive and goal-oriented. In addition to identifying your priority list, understand if the items on that list are actually of greater value to your business and what you can’t do or does not need your presence or time, well, pass it on to someone else in your team so you worry about what you consider important for the business.
- Go off the grid – as humans, we are programmed to do many things at once, some of them are done without even thinking, it’s part of our habits – we have a cue the moment we come into the office, we automatically implement a routine which we do on daily basis (i.e. check emails, get on a call, conferences, get on Quickbooks, you name it). and we wait for the reward which is getting things done on your list. But this amazing loop only gets done successfully if we get off the grid, we have constant distractions such as text messages for weekend plans, social media updates from your friends and cute little pictures from your kids, but these distractions only drag you to taking longer to get things done. Going offline, you can actually get a lot more done and enjoy these distractions towards the end of your day or even during a well-deserved break.
Focusing on what matters at that very moment, is the key to productivity and the key to a successful business. Looking to find the ideal place to stay focused and productive, visit Business E Suites for workspace options – they’re affordable, professional and with 100s of amazing features.