Over the years, I have observed that there are some people who have time for everything – They do their work (really well and well on time), they have time for family and friends, they have time for their interests and hobbies out of work and they also have time for themselves. What really sets apart those who have time for everything and those who never seem to have time for anything is this - effective time management. In this article, I will be listing some very effective tips for time management at work.
1) As soon as you come back from work, list down the top 5 tasks you need to finish for the day – Write it down and every time you lose focus, look back at this list – Very powerful and effective way to close the most important tasks for the day!
2) Invest the time as soon as you come into work to finish the tasks that are top on your priority list – Everything else can be done later in the day. The key reason is that your concentration, focus and energy levels tend to be the highest at the start of the day. If not, find your "zone of peak productivity" and do the most important tasks at that time. Resist the urge to respond to the latest mail in your Inbox, unless it is very critical!
3) Time Box the following activities for the day:
a. Tea / Coffee and Lunch Breaks – For e.g.: At most 30 minutes
b. General Banter with colleagues at work – For e.g.: At most 30 minutes
c. Internet Time – For e.g.: At most 15 minutes
4) Practice the “Zero Mail Hour” for at least 1 hour in the week – You will be pleasantly surprised by how much work will get done if your Mailbox is closed for 1 hour
5) For the most important things, focus on doing one thing at a time - There is magic in this! First, it gets done really well. Two, it gets done faster. Three, you actually end up having more time to do things you want to! And I don't necessarily advocate this for everything at work - I mean there are things for which you have to multi-task to get ahead, so be it!. But for things which are really important at work, focus on doing just one thing a time! And see the magic unfold.......
6) What is not important to your work or your core strength, delegate the tasks. You can do only so much all the time..
“One cannot buy, rent or hire more time. The supply of time is totally inelastic. No matter how high the demand, the supply will not go up. There is no price for it. Time is totally perishable and cannot be stored. Yesterday's time is gone forever, and will never come back. Time is always in short supply. There is no substitute for time. Everything requires time. All work takes place in, and uses up time. Yet most people take for granted this unique, irreplaceable and necessary resource.” - Peter Drucker
Time is your most precious asset. Learn to value and respect it!
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