Tips To Improve Your Time Management

JeffSmith discusses using time management tools and processes to increase productivity with the goal of working smarter, not harder

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Everyone has too many things to get done. There are, in any given person’s life, an almost endless amount of tasks, projects and things to do. They range from the boring (routine work tasks, mowing a lawn or doing homework) through the fun (a date, a game, playing with the kids) to the original (a challenging new project at work, a senior thesis or planning a party). No matter what, though, you can create more free time if you think carefully about managing your time.

Time management is almost no one’s favourite topic to discuss. It brings to mind schedules and lists, often triggers yawns and perhaps causes some of us to get out a buzzword bingo card or two. However, if you make it a goal to use some very basic tools and habits to manage your time, you can really change the way your day works. You can be more productive on the job and complete more tasks (using less time).

There are several facets to time management that we can investigate. The first is about actually keeping track of your working time and, just as importantly, your breaks.

MAKE BREAKS AS CRITICAL AS WORK

As the workday goes on, people generally begin to work less efficiently. Everyone has experienced the slow burn as they lose attention, become tired or simply find themselves less effective at their job the more hours they are ‘on the clock’. This can also present itself in subtle, harder-to-identify ways: slower reaction times, less creative energy and other effects that can hinder you without raising red flags. You may not be falling asleep at your desk but your body and, more importantly, your mind, is recognising the strain anyway. This tendency to work ‘harder’ by working long hours without ceasing often simply results in low productivity and people who are no longer doing quality work.