15 Actionable Tips to Improve Your Time Management Skills

Ever faced the horror of pilling files, slipping deadlines, and the list of projects that keeps on growing? Obviously, you must have gone through this, in and outside work. Time management as a skill may be overlooked by you at some point, but this is what you need to achieve your goals. That is why most people add ‘time management’ to their New Year resolution list. Time management, more productivity and other goals like this are vital for career advancement. So how to improve your time management skills? This blog will give you 15 practical tips to improve your time management skills effectively.

Now, what is time management? It can be considered as a process that structures, manages and adjusts an individual’s time as per the environmental conditions. There are three different categories which create a fine line between time management success and failure:

• Awareness of thinking realistically about your time

• Arrangement of goals, plans and schedules

• Adaptation which includes analysis of your time usage for different tasks

By understanding these three aspects, you can efficiently manage your time. Let’s learn about them in detail.

Importance of Time Management

Be it personal or professional life, time management is essential for everyone. We become more productive and focused when we have our time sorted. Apart from the work benefits you get from effective time management, it results in reduced stress levels and a fresh mind which increases concentration. Here are a few benefits of effective time management:

• Better work-life balance

• Lower stress and anxiety

• High productivity level

• Enhanced concentration

• Less distraction

• Higher energy

• More free time

15 Actionable Tips to Improve Time Management Skills

Most of you know that time management is important, but you often need help with ways to manage your time. In this section, let’s discuss some time management tips and practices which will help your goal:

1. Plan your day with a to-do list: Create a list of tasks you need to complete in a day, does not matter how many tasks you have in hand. Firstly, you will know how many tasks you have on your plate. Then move ahead to sort the priority of the tasks, this way you will know which tasks are more important and which can be pushed. At the end, you will have a complete to-do list based on priority. You should start each day by creating a to-do list, setting realistic goals and breaking them into manageable steps.

2. Put a time limit for each task: It is one of the most important aspects of time management. Be realistic and set deadlines for yourself to complete each task. By doing this, you can focus on completing one task at a time and stay focused on one track. Therefore, it is better to mention the deadline for each task, even for a 2-minute business call.

3. Take Breaks: Time management does not mean you only have to work all day. Taking scheduled breaks is necessary to reset and decrease the risk of burnout. Overburdening yourself can lead to a lower productivity level, so it is very important to step away from your desk for at least 10 minutes. You can do anything other than work in your break time, maybe stretching, grabbing snacks or getting a coffee.

4. Reward yourself for getting difficult tasks done: When there is a difficult or time-consuming task at hand, we tend to avoid it. However, if you keep the reward for yourself, it will give you motivation to continue. That reward can be anything from a break, snacking or doing something you enjoy.

5. Assign responsibilities: If you are in a managerial or leadership position, it is very important to delegate your work to your team. Otherwise, you might find yourself behind the schedule always. For this, you must know your team very well, based on their strength and weaknesses assign the tasks.

6. Reduce distractions: It is natural to get distracted from certain aspects of the surroundings like buzzing phones, sounds of people chatting, television or even the pile of work waiting to be completed. Create a distraction-free workspace to separate other activities from work.

7. Keep a time log: Note down how many tasks you have completed and how much time you took. This way you can understand better how much time you need to finish a particular work and plan your day in a more efficient way. Moreover, keeping a time log is great for identifying areas of improvement in time management.

8. Do not multitask: Multitasking does not always mean that you are efficient, on the contrary, it surely reduces your productivity. Many researchers say that when we switch between tasks, it results in higher stress levels and may affect our concentration on either of the tasks. Instead of this, manage your time efficiently, focus on one task at a time and then move on to the next.

9. Use technology: There are various technological tools available in the market such as to-do list creators, reminders, alarms, task organisers/management tools, timers, and many others. Apart from this, there is productivity-tracking software also to track your productivity throughout the day and stay motivated.

10. Learn to say ‘no’: This is one of the most overlooked aspects of time management. Throughout your day, you will have 10 requests, if you attend to every little thing, you will not be able to finish your work. Assess the request, and see if it affects your work or if it aligns with your priorities, then say yes or no. Learn to be assertive and confident in saying no, there is nothing wrong with that.

11. Don’t over-optimise: Don’t add extra time just because you think that a particular task will take longer. Try to predict how long will it take than others. But, do under-optimise the deadline also.

12. Don’t obsess over perfectionism: Perfectionists are usually caught up in details. Instead, get started and make progress. If you are on time, you can always improve it later.

13. Keep your work station organised: A messy working area will never give you a positive environment and motivation to work. Moreover, while working if you need something, it will be easy to find things on an organised desk, therefore, saving time.

14. Plan your week on Sunday: Heading towards the new week with a plan will bring a smooth transition for you. Otherwise, you will spend your Monday, fighting the blues and planning the upcoming days from which you already wasted one day.

15. Use the 80/20 rule: According to this rule, 80% of the result comes from 20% of our focused effort. This means that you should focus more on high-priority or impactful tasks which contribute the most to your goals. It is also known as the Pareto Principle.

10 Best Books for Time Management and Productivity

If you are an avid reader, then these time management productivity enhancement books can be helpful for you.

Wrapping Up

Be it a student, working professional or any other individual, everybody needs time management. Although, we all know its importance, we still need to improve in many ways and don’t get swayed with distractions. If you aim to improve your time management skills, adopting these actionable tips can help you.