Mastering time management at work.

Staffs having a pictorial moment after an in-house training in August 2021 at head office.

We’ve all experienced the woes of time management at work. You wake up hopeful and optimistic not only will you meet all your deadlines. Then life happens. You leave late, you hit traffic, and you arrive at your desk already frustrated with the world. The good news is that there are ways to reclaim those seemingly elusive lost hours of the day. It’s all about personal time management manage your time instead of letting it manage you. Worry less Check out some tips to help manage time.

Figure out how you’re currently spending your time. If you’re going to optimize your personal time management, you first need to figure out where the time is going. Try diligently logging your time for a week by tracking your daily activities. This audit will help you: Determine how much you can feasibly accomplish in a day, identify time consuming activities and focus on what provides the greatest returns. 

Prioritize wisely. As you organize your to-do list, prioritization is key for successful time management at work. Start by eliminating tasks that you shouldn’t be performing in the first place. Then identify the three or four most important tasks and do those first—that way, you make sure you finish the essentials. Evaluate your to-do list and make sure you organized it based on the importance of a task rather than its urgency.

Get organized. For effective time management, this tip needs to actually go on your to-do list. If you have piles of papers scattered all over your desk, finding the one you actually need will be like finding a needle. Little things make a big difference. Create a filing system for documents you only have to do it once, but you get the benefits forever.

Create a daily schedule—and stick with it. This step is absolutely crucial for learning how to manage time at work. Don’t even attempt to start your day without an organized to-do list. Before you leave work for the day, create a list of the most pressing tasks for the next day. This step allows you to get going as soon as you get to the office.

Avoid the urge to multitask. This is one of the simplest time management tips for work, yet it can be one of the hardest to follow. Focus on the task at hand and block out all distractions. It can be tempting to multitask, but you’re just shooting yourself in the foot when you attempt to do so. You lose time and decrease productivity when switching from one task to another.

Eliminate distractions. Social media, web browsing, co-workers, text messages, instant messaging the distractions at work can be limitless. A key to personal time management is being proactive about getting rid of them. Take baby steps. Identify your top two distractions and focus on conquering those for two weeks.

EXCELLENT NEVER IS ENOUGH