The pressure to be productive and meet deadlines is constantly looming over every office worker. We’re under a never-ending stream of demands from managers, colleagues, and clients alike. According to research, the majority of us tend to be overwhelmed by the number of tasks we have on hand at any given time.
We’re also generally terrible at prioritizing and managing our time effectively. To stay super organized, efficient, and productive throughout the day, you need to master time management. Fortunately, it doesn’t take long to improve your habits—and once you do, your days will start looking a lot less like an endless blur of activities. Here are some practical tips for optimizing your day:
Keep a daily to-do list
Listing tasks in advance is the best way to get yourself on track. You can start by creating a list of your daily tasks and prioritizing them by importance. Once you have your priority list, use it to help you prioritize the remaining tasks for the day. Next, keep a separate list of all the major events that will happen during the day.
Put these at the top of your schedule so that they don’t slip through the cracks. And finally, plan ahead! It’s easy to lose sight of upcoming deadlines or important meetings if you don’t give them an appropriate amount of thought and preparation time.
Stay up to date on emails and conversations
A major cause of stress is the mental burden that comes with juggling too many tasks. You’ve probably been told at some point in your life to prioritize and eliminate distractions, but following through on this advice can be tough. One of the best ways to stay up to date on emails and conversations is by using a service like Hootsuite or Buffer.
These services allow you to schedule posts and updates for social media feeds so that you can focus on more important tasks for longer periods of time.
Set specific times for working and downtime
The most common reason that people stay busy instead of making progress is that they don’t set specific times for working and downtime. By setting specific times for working, you can eliminate distractions and focus on your task at hand.
For example, if you have to take a call at 9 am, turn off your computer before 9 am, and use the designated time for work. When the time is up for work, stop working and give yourself some downtime. This includes things like checking emails or responding to messages on social media.
It might seem counterintuitive, but by giving yourself downtime after every 45 minutes of work, you’ll notice that you’re more productive in the long run.
Don’t multitask in the workplace
One of the biggest time wasters for adults is multitasking. It drains both time and mental energy, which are two things you don’t want to waste when all your focus should be on your work. Multitasking means switching from one task to another—not doing them in parallel, but at the same time.
This can lead to a lot of mistakes and confusion, not to mention you’ll likely feel like you’ve accomplished nothing by the end of the day. If you must multitask, limit it to one or two tasks at most and make sure they’re focused on something that contributes to the company’s mission.
Assign tasks to specific people
If you’re a manager, delegate tasks to your employees. If you don’t have employees, you can do this yourself. This way, you know the work is getting done and no one gets overloaded.
Use a task management platform like Trello or Basecamp
The biggest challenge for most people with time management is keeping track of everything. By using a task management platform like Trello or Basecamp, you’ll be able to efficiently organize your tasks and easily access them from any device.
Estimate how long each task will take you
A simple way to make sure you don’t get bogged down by tasks that take longer than you anticipated is to estimate how long each task will take. If you’re going to be working on a project that won’t be completed in an hour or two, break it up into smaller steps and set time frames for each step. This will help ensure that you don’t overlook any details.
Conclusion
Time management is the practice of using one’s time effectively, particularly with respect to meeting deadlines, and making sure that one’s time is spent in a purposeful manner. You may not have control over how others spend their time, but you can control how you manage your time.
Set realistic goals for the day, prioritize tasks, and be disciplined. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Use time management tools to keep yourself on schedule and on task.