I know you are pressed for time. I believe the best time management involves stress management. But then again, these tips can still help you be more productive with the hours you do have to work. They come from the company Toggl, maker of (of course) a time-tracking app for companies to use with their employees.
- Make it a habit to track how you spend your time. Try tracking everything you do for a week, and then learn from it.
- Compare your time estimates to the time you spent working on a task. Use results for better prediction and planning ahead.
- Tracking your bad habits will help you become aware of how much time they’re taking away from you.
- Block out your day by the hour or even half-hour and assign tasks to each block for better systematization.
- Never schedule yourself 100%—leave some space for new ideas.
- Schedule time for interruptions. Plan to be interrupted to avoid unwanted distractions.
- Block out any distractions; restrain yourself from email and social media to stay focused.
- When you’re tight with time and under pressure, just ignore email completely.
- Focus on one thing at a time. Humans aren’t great multi-taskers.
- Define priorities; assign focus.
- List the three things that must get done daily on your whiteboard and don’t leave until you’ve accomplished them.
- Remember: Anything is possible, but not everything is needed.
- Define your top five weekly priorities at the beginning of every week, then decide the percentage of focus each should get.
- Track your time to see how you’ve managed.
- Always allow some downtime between tasks to take a moment for yourself. Restart after you’re feeling productive again.
- Time spent taking a break is not slacking—it’s recharging.
- Don’t forget to take a break for at least 10 minutes every two hours. Even willpower needs recharging.
- Stretch for five minutes every hour. Your body likes its blood flowing.
- If a task takes you more than 20 minutes to get started with, switch tasks not to waste your time. If a task takes two minutes or less to complete, do it straight away.
- Start your workday with planning and scheduling. Don’t start working until you’ve completed the plan.
- Every 10 minutes you spend on planning saves you an hour in execution.
- Long commute? Figure out which tasks you can do during (but don’t text and drive).
- Turn your key tasks into habits.
- Keep your things tidy, because there’s no bigger time killer than a lost pen.
- Want to get a meeting done quicker? Share the agenda in advance.
- Set a strict time limit for meetings—this saves time and boosts efficiency.
- Learn to say no—don’t take on any tasks that might disrupt your schedule.
- Batch related tasks to increase your efficiency.
- Separate brainless and strategic tasks.
- Finally, keep in mind that work is the best way to get working; start with smaller tasks to get the ball rolling.