Developing effective time management strategies ensures that you will be efficient and productive. These strategies will help you with managing your valuable time during your job search and help you make a great impression when you start a new job.
Great time management skills are valuable to an employer as they will help you plan and prioritise tasks, set goals, and follow work processes efficiently.
Here are our top ten time management tips.
Tip 1: Use the 80/20 rule
This is that 80% of your output only comes from 20% of your efforts. This comes from the economist Pareto who noticed that 20% of the peas pods in his garden produced 80% of the peas. Applying this concept to time management, you may find that you only have 20% of your time when you are most productive. Consider completing a time audit to identify why and give you insights about how you could change things so the other 80% becomes productive too.
Tip 2: Have a to-do list
You can do this for each task, each day, or each week. Writing down a list is a great way to clear your mind so you can focus. If we try to keep things in our head, we can end up forgetting them. Don’t forget to look at your list and tick things off as you complete them. To-do lists can help you measure your productivity and boost your motivation, especially when you see it shorten as you tick tasks off.
Tip 3: Set priorities
You won’t be able to do everything on your to-do list at once. Look at your list of tasks and decide if they are urgent or not urgent and important or not important. Make sure you do the urgent and important tasks first and consider removing the non-urgent and non-important tasks from your list. This is the “Eisenhower principle” of prioritising tasks and it can be helpful to draw up a decision matrix of four quadrants to allocate your tasks to; this will help you focus on your essential tasks.
Tip 4: Reduce, reduce, reduce
You can reduce the number of meetings you have by identifying whether certain topics could be discussed via email instead of in a meeting. If you do need to have a meeting, then reduce the length of the meeting. Consider 15- and 45-minute meetings rather than 30- and 60- minute ones to give you some time back in your day. If you always have a full day of meetings, then even just shortening your meeting by 5 minutes will give you a buffer time between them to refocus. You could also reduce the time you have available for meetings each week by blocking out time in your calendar for other tasks and only allowing meetings to be scheduled for a limited time each day.
Tip 4: Use the 4D system
Do, delay, delegate, and delete. If a certain task is quick, then do it now. If it’s not urgent then delay it to another time when you have more time to deal with it. If you have a high priority task and you don’t have the time or expertise to do it, then delegate to someone else. And finally, delete any unnecessary tasks from your to-do list or unproductive meetings from your calendar.
Tip 6: Use software tools
There are many different types of software tools that you can use to help you plan your time, prioritise your tasks, and understand how you use your time. These include calendars, to-do lists, time trackers, productivity tools, project management tools, and a plethora of smart phone apps that assert they are real time savers that help you focus and claim back your valuable time. Software tools can help you visualise your daily schedule, create to-do lists, and can assist you to understand when you are most productive and tasks that could be time wasters in your day.
Tip 7: Multi-task wisely (when possible)
One of the essential principles of time management is to not multitask, but it’s not always possible, so make sure you multitask wisely. The issue with multitasking is that you can waste time refocusing when you swap between the tasks. But the right type of multitasking can benefit you. You may have listened to a podcast while you are on your daily commute, but have you considered a walking meeting? If you have more challenging tasks to complete then try to avoid multitasking, close your email, turn off notifications, and block out time in your calendar so people know not to disturb you.
Tip 8: Use time blocking and batching
This involves creating time blocks in your calendar for specific tasks. This helps you eliminate half-work, that is when you are switching between different tasks, and you can’t focus fully on one task. For the hardest task on your to-do list that requires you focus choose a time you have the highest energy levels as this is probably your most productive time.
Time batching will help you think about what blocks of time you need. This is when you batch similar tasks together; for example responding to emails, and block out the best time each day to respond. Remember to block out personal time for your lunch, breaks, and exercise too. By blocking out time in this way you could limit the amount of time you spend on tasks that might be wasting your time.
Tip 9: Set SMART goals
Developing SMART goals means that you will think about what you want to achieve and then develop your tasks around these goals. This means your goals will be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. This can help you manage your time as you are focused on an achievable outcome. You can set both short- or long-term goals as SMART goals. Setting long-term goals will help you think about the big picture, and then you can break this down to short-term goals and the different tasks you need to complete for each goal.
Tip 10: Learn to say no
If you have a lot of things to do and you know you can’t take on any more tasks, then it’s okay to say no. Be polite about it, explain why you are unable to do the task, and you could suggest someone else who could do it instead. The worst thing you can do is say yes and then not complete any tasks because you are overwhelmed. Other people may think you have spare time, but when you say no you are giving yourself time to complete other tasks on your to-do list. You can also give yourself a bit of free time and give yourself time to unwind and reflect.
To learn more about these strategies get started with Employable Me.
Sources:
Forbes: Top 10 ways to say no and save time
Forbes: How To Use The 4 Ds Of Effective Time Management
Harvard Business Review: Make time for work that matters
Harvard Business Review: Track your time for 30 days. What you learn might surprise you.
