Learning to manage time will not bring you extra hours in a day but it will ultimately give you more time to spend on what you want to do. We spend endless hours at work trying to complete and deliver projects. We even tend to forget attending to the basic requirements in life like eating, leaving for home in time, etc. And at the end of it, we feel that there is never enough time for anything. Working like this for long does not only affect personal life but can also take a toll on one's physical and mental health. Therefore, to take care of too much, it becomes important to plan time accordingly. The tips mentioned below will sure bring in help for managing time effectively.
· Know your working style, strengths and motivators: Everybody has a preferred working style with respect to physical environment, level of interaction with others, level of responsibility etc. Similarly, there are strengths, weaknesses and motivators that are uniquely yours. Understanding these will help you in identifying your own unique working style; and a good understanding of your working style and what works for you in terms of environment, responsibilities etc helps you figure out the factors that make you more productive. When your productivity increases, the time taken to perform tasks goes down, thereby helping you effectively manage your time.
· Eliminate time wasters: Try and figure out factors that contribute towards wastage of time in your work day. These factors could be internal such as tendency to procrastinate or unwillingness to take on difficult work or external like interruptions, distractions. Make a list of these factors and work on eliminating them from your daily work life. Reducing time wasters give you more time to finish your work.
· Delegate: One of the major reasons for not being able to manage time is trying to do everything yourself. Try and trust co-workers and take help, if you think the workload is too much to handle. Delegate tasks to your subordinates and provide guidance to them to complete it. Delegating and sharing work does not only help you in saving time but also helps you in learning management basics.
· Plan your work: Try using time management tools and techniques such as calendars, electronic planners, to-do lists, time-tables etc. Use the tool that you are most comfortable with and plan your work properly. Planning helps in setting time for everything and rings a bell when things are getting out of hand. This will help you in being better organised and staying on top of the work, instead of your work dominating you.
· Create an action plan: Try and create an action plan to identify what are the things that you should control to ensure better time management. In your action plan, identify the specific time-management steps you will take and the strategies you will use to target your problem areas. Document your time management plan and try to stick to it. Take things slowly; follow the plan for a week and see if there is anything wrong with the way you have planned things. Keep improving upon the action plan and slowly, you will have that perfect plan that will help you become better at managing your time.
Analyse how you spend your time and determine where you can make changes. You obviously will take time in understanding and executing time management strategies. So, though we say that time once spent will not come back, try to exercise your learning and if you fail in doing what you wanted to, there is always tomorrow. Just focus on learning to manage your time wisely and see your productivity and happiness double in no time.
Manish Kumar
MANSA "House Of Business"
No comments:
Post a Comment