How to Improve Time Management Skills

Tips to Improve Time Management

Everyone has tasks left undone. You’ve been meaning to plant a garden but haven’t gotten around to it. You were supposed to make a call, but something came up and you didn’t. At work, you feel like you’re constantly playing catch up but can’t seem to stop checking social media sites on your phone. The difference between feeling overwhelmed and accomplishing your goals is time management.

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There are so many tricks and tips for improving how you manage your time, but before any of those can be implemented, there are three key skills to consider that can make time management a success:

• Awareness. Understand that time is a finite resource for you. Think critically and realistically about how you use your time.
• Organization. Effectively use your time by arranging your day around your plans, goals, and to-do list. This is the skillset that most people are familiar with, thanks to task management software and apps designed to help you create schedules.
• Adaptability. Adjust how you use your time when confronted with changing priorities or interruptions.

While it can be easy to download an app and use software to try and stay on task, being aware and adaptable are key to time management.

Build Understand of Your Current Time Management

Talk to your friends, family, coworkers, and managers about how you work and how you presently manage your time. These outside opinions may help to paint a more accurate picture of how you work and how you complete tasks. You may feel that you are getting a lot done, but your coworkers may perceive the opposite. This feedback can help you establish a baseline so that you can measure improvements over time.

Discover When You are Most Productive

Break your typical day into a few large time slots, rather than 24 individual hours. Rank these slots from most productive to least productive over the course of a week. When you are at your most productive, you are performing at your best and doing an optimal job of managing your time. Consider when these moments happen and use this new map to help you schedule important tasks.

Track Your Time Differently

Instead of counting down to deadlines, change how you think of them. Where you once would have stressed out, thinking “I only have two hours left!” try thinking about how long you’ve actually spent working on a task with a clear deadline. If you had eight hours to complete something but only actually worked for three of those hours, you might realize that you cheated yourself out of valuable time.

Another tactic is to look back after you’ve completed a project and compare how long you thought it would take with how long it actually took.

Learn How to Organize Your Time

Once you understand how you currently manage your time, you can change how you structure tasks and plans to take advantage of your abilities. Whether you’re making the distinction between a priority and something that’s made your daily task list, knowing how you work can set you up for success, personally and professionally.

Identify Important Tasks

When you’re identifying all the things you must do, don’t just list tasks and meetings. Add activities and personal obligations. Additionally, make the distinction between tasks that require immediate action and those with significant long-term consequences. If a task lands on your plate that is both important and urgent, it should be prioritized. Calendar apps can be helpful for managing deadlines and appointments, as well as balancing your work with your personal life.

One important task that is frequently overlooked is self-care. Schedule time for yourself to ensure that you’re able to take care of your most important wants and needs.

Keep Goals Realistic

Setting lofty goals can be motivating for some, but if you find yourself struggling to get where you want to be, consider the scope. Start with small goals that lead to larger ones. If your goal is to always avoid your phone during the workday, you likely won’t be able to accomplish that on the first day. Instead, set an attainable goal of not using your phone for one workday and build on that success.

Adjust Your Time Management Skills

Being adaptable when life throws you a curveball is key to staying productive. If you’re too rigid, you won’t be able to manage when things don’t go your way. Instead, build skills that help you react and adapt when your schedule goes out the window.

Delegate

Don’t take on more than you’re able to do and don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it. You may feel that asking for help to complete a task is a sign of weakness, but instead it allows you to be more flexible and focus your efforts on other things. Being able to delegate tasks to others who may be better suited to them will free up time for you.

Sprint

When things feel overwhelming, focus on one task for a half hour and do as much as you are personally able. Not only will this help you avoid procrastination, but you might also be surprised at how much you’re able to get done. During this time, don’t try to multitask, as it will keep you from working efficiently and is not recommended when trying to improve your time management skills.

Don’t Overschedule Yourself

Many people use planners, apps, and calendars—like the one found in Microsoft Outlook—to manage their time. By giving yourself a buffer between tasks, you’ll be able to pivot if something big comes up. It’s important to note that this time buffer should not take the place of your personal time. Taking care of yourself is critical, and triple booking yourself will only lead to stress and a breakdown of productivity. If you are able to not schedule tasks and activities on top of each other, you’ll find that it’s beneficial for your task management.

While knowing how to stay on task is important, these tips to improve time management can help you understand where to focus your energy and how to stay flexible in the face of a busy week.