How to manage my time better? Time management can be one of the challenges for people in the workplace. Maybe that’s why individuals and organizations often have trouble managing time efficiently. This issue has always been very important and is important in all jobs. The crisis of the Coronavirus and the increase in staff telecommuting have become even more important. Time management can be considered as one of the main factors to increase job productivity. However, it does not matter if you are telecommuting or attending work, as usual, time management techniques will work for you. Some people are much busier and should definitely use these methods. All in all, no matter when or where you work, all individuals and teams need to find ways to help organize and manage their day-to-day work. This is where the right time management techniques come into play.
What is time management?
Time management does not have a difficult and complex definition, in fact, everything is clear in its name. If you have ever made an appointment with a co-worker, you have managed your time. If you have come to the conclusion that something is not worth the time and effort, you still have time management. But why is an issue so important?
Why is time management important?
A well-organized workday can help reduce stress levels and increase productivity. People feel more confident and confident when they plan and execute their tasks carefully. Timely presentation of assigned projects and tasks also helps build trust and respect from colleagues.
Time management also improves your work-life balance. This is a very valuable topic for organizations. Because employees who have a better working life are up to 10% more likely to stay in the company. In addition, good management can help people to better balance their work and personal life.
Time management and operational staff
According to a new research finding conducted in 2020, organizations neglect the use of appropriate operations managers, and this issue can greatly affect job commitment, participation, and employee productivity.
According to statistics, operations managers seem to lose about 9 weeks in a year due to poor communication. Another study found that operations managers spend about 60 percent of their time managing executive tasks and only 10 percent of their time managing time and schedules.
These findings indicate an effective disconnect between operations managers and their employees. This can also lead to serious constraints on the productivity and time management of operational staff. These problems make it impossible for them to team up, solve problems and find problems and respond to customers.
Time management and part-time jobs
The epidemic of coronation and various quarantines has led to an increase in part-time jobs. Teleworking frees up more time for people to better balance their personal and professional lives. According to a recent survey in the UK, 61% of employees believed that telecommuting could better balance their personal and professional lives.
But telecommuting and part-time jobs are not without their drawbacks. Working from home can blur the boundaries between home and work, leading to stress and burnout. “Based on research, telecommuting seems to create more complexity and responsibility for each employee,” says Dr. Petros Chamakiotis, Associate Professor of Management at ESCP Business University, Madrid.
Giving employees more freedom to organize and manage their time can be a great way to meet this challenge. From the employees’ point of view, working time flexibility is the most valuable advantage of telecommuting. Therefore, it is better to give more freedom and action to your teams and at the same time use a combination of tools to ensure that they do their job well or do not spend too much time.
How can the ability to manage time be strengthened?
Before you can improve your or your team’s time management skills, you need to recognize when there is a problem.
There are many examples of this. One of the most obvious problems is missing out on deadlines. If you are one of those people who always submit your projects late, it’s time to get ready and learn time management techniques.
Lowering job standards is another sign that you need to apply time management. If your team members are always late, late, tired, and confused, they may be under pressure.
When we are in a time constraint, our spirits change as well. Many people become impatient and aggressive. Increased feelings of stress, confusion, anxiety, and fatigue can also be examples of this.
Problem plan about time management
None of the time management problems are the same. Therefore, proper job communication can be the key to solving these problems. If a team member is having trouble managing their time, they are likely to experience one of the following:
- Their pressure and workload are so high that they can not schedule and plan all of them.
- They have trouble doing things.
- A combination of the two previous problems
If their workload is too high. It may be better to reconsider their duties and distribute them among more people. But if they have difficulty working and fulfilling responsibilities, it is best to spend time re-learning and managing time.
6 ways to strengthen time management skills
1- Prioritize and schedule
Not all of your tasks are the same. When we organize our day-to-day tasks, there are naturally smaller or less important tasks that we need to do in addition to our main daily activities. The first step in improving your time management is to prioritize your plans. Once you have decided on your main and most important activities, set your schedule based on them. Using this simple technique, you can increase your productivity.
2. Learn to say no
We all need to learn to set boundaries that will help us maintain a healthy work and personal life. While agreeing and saying “yes” to coworkers may seem tempting, it is not helpful and can reduce your productivity. This is especially true for beginners. They are not yet well acquainted with the new environment, and it is more difficult for them to disagree with other colleagues. If you plan your time well and allocate a reasonable amount of time to each of your tasks and activities, it is completely wrong to accept additional tasks and projects and you should oppose it. On the other hand, remember that you are not alone in the workplace. As you have been offered cooperation, you can also get help from someone for some of your work.
3- Wake up early in the morning
The earlier you start early in the morning, the more time you will have to manage time and plan. This way you can start your day slowly and away from stress and plan for everything. The shorter the distance to the deadlines, the more stress you will have and the less time and productivity you will have. Early morning is the best time to manage time and plan for the whole day. Doing so will probably give you enough time to deal with unexpected events and problems.
4- Be realistic
Sometimes people unnecessarily put themselves under stress and work pressure to finish work on time under any circumstances. On the other hand, the best planners are well aware that sometimes problems arise and cause work to take longer than expected. In order to stay focused on your work, you need to rest at regular intervals. Doing simple and small things during this break can be a smart technique. You can also use these breaks to talk to coworkers or ask questions about the problem. However, trying to focus on your work all day with a lot of stress is not very productive; During the day it is essential to take a few hours off from work and rest.
5 – Stop wasting time and useless activities
Some activities are inherently time-consuming. Be sure to try to identify these activities and avoid them. Unplanned workshops are one of the best examples and can take a lot of time and energy. According to research by the Doodle Institute, these meetings in the United States cost about $ 339 billion annually! When scheduling workshops, make sure you have clear instructions, discuss all the issues needed, and get the job done faster. In other words, do not get sidetracked and do not let these sessions waste your time.
6. Examine different strategies
There is no set method for managing everyone’s time. A method that works well for some people and works great may not work at all for others. Fortunately, there are several strategies and theories that you can use. You can even try each of these methods for a week and then compare the results. Some methods are suitable for personal use and others are more suitable for teamwork. However, we recommend that you use a few of these techniques and then choose one.
What is the best time management technique and strategy?
As mentioned, there are many different ways to do this. Here are some of them.
Pomodoro technique
Among the time management techniques, the Pomodoro technique is very simple. Select the task/task you want, set the timer to 24 minutes, and then get started. When 25 minutes are up, write down or mark your progress and rest for 3 to 5 minutes. Each 25-minute interval is called a Pomodoro. After 4 Pomodoro, you can rest for a longer time, about 15 to 30 minutes.
If you have finished your work before the end of these 25 minutes, use the extra time to review the work or do simpler and less important tasks. Of course, you can customize the time a bit. You may come to the conclusion that it is better for each of these time periods to be longer for you. If you make this decision, remember to extend the rest period as well.
This method is especially suitable for people whose tasks and tasks are numerous but short. For example, in each 25-minute interval, they can do one thing, take a short break, and then start another.
ALPEN time management technique
The ALPEN method helps you plan your entire workday instead of helping you do one thing at a time. This method helps people in daily and practical planning as well as setting priorities. The interesting and important point is that this method only takes 5 minutes of your time during the day. The name ALPEN actually stands for 5 main activities:
A (Activities and Tasks) – Activities and Tasks
At this point, write down everything you have to do. It does not matter how big or small these tasks are. Write them all down.
L (Length o time) – Duration
At this point, try to estimate how much time you need to do each of these things
P (Plan for Buffering) – Planning for balancing
Practical and appropriate planning must be realistic. The times you estimated in the previous step may have been very optimistic. You may have made a mistake in estimating the time. Many times, extracurricular activities are created for you. Therefore, in this next step, you should make your estimates more balanced and realistic. For example, take about 20% of your time to solve potential problems and 20% of your time to relax and talk to coworkers. In total, consider about 40% of the time as a precaution
E (Establishing Priorities)
At this stage, you will probably have a long list of tasks and schedules. It may not be possible to do all of these things, so you should prioritize them and select and select only a few. You can choose between different list options based on two criteria of importance and necessity. The following matrix can also help you make decisions:
Which tasks are both important and urgent? Do them
Which tasks are important but not urgent? Do them later
Which things are urgent but not so important? Leave them to someone else or do it yourself in between
Which tasks are neither important nor necessary? Delete them.
N (Note Taking) – taking notes
In the last step, you have to give yourself feedback. This feedback will help you realize your planning flaws or plan the remaining tasks for the next day. In fact, the smart idea is to set up ALPEN tomorrow’s time management schedule as you write notes for one day.
The ALPEN technique has its drawbacks, despite its various advantages. This method is more suitable for personal activities and it is not possible to use it for groups and teams. On the other hand, considering 40% of overtime is often more than necessary.
Pickle technique
Pickling technique is another time management technique. Imagine for a second you were able to fill a pickle jar with some rubble, some sand, and gravel. What is the best-case scenario? If you fill the container with sand first, the rubble will no longer fit in the container. It is best to place the rubble in a bowl, pour the sand over it, and finally add the sand. What does this have to do with time management? All of these are metaphors.
The pickle dish is a metaphor of time, the rubble of stones is a metaphor of the main and important works, the sands are the same small works and sand is our pastimes. Now this technique makes more sense.
Sand indicates entertainment, phone calls, chatting, listening to music, emailing, checking social media, or other activities that distract you from your main work.
Sands are the things that are less important. But it’s part of your job, and you have to do it throughout the day.
At the bottom are the rubble, which is your main, important and urgent task. With all this explanation, how does this method work?
A) Choose a few main tasks for each day
B) Choose a few smaller and less important tasks to do among the main tasks
C) Finally, add some sand (fun) to your work
Time management tools
There are a number of online tools available today to help you manage your time. Many of them also offer Jabi accessories. For example, you add people to a team in an environment, or you assign a specific task to your colleague through the same applications. These online tools are very diverse; You can choose from both simple and advanced versions.
How to manage my time better
Source: Workplace
