82% of the people don’t have proper time management.Lack of time management skills will yield inaccurate deliveries due to hurry.These often cause stress,tension and errors in work.

Ineffective time management makes people lose focus,productivity and the decisions made in a hurry may not yield good results.

Many Professionals are busy and they face many challenges in managing their time.Some of them are:

• Procrastination
• Multi-tasking
• Lack of self-discipline
• Doing hard work instead of smart work
• Lack of communication
• Not prioritizing work

In this blog , we are going to discuss the effective time management strategies that can be followed by professionals to increase productivity and revenue for the organization.

1.Importance of Time management

• Productivity: 

Working hard the whole day without increase in productivity is vain.Efforts without productivity is equal to not doing any work.

So Time Management is very important to show an increase in the number of tasks you do and the impact and positive outcomes the tasks bring to the organization.

• Stress: 

Almost every working professional has stress from work in the office. This can affect the mind and body.Our priority should always be health.

A stress free workplace can be created only by managing time in the right way.

• Work – Life Balance: 

Work life balance is important for every working professional.Home is a peaceful place dedicated for family.Turning into a stressful place by carrying work to home makes life unpleasant.

Work must be completed at the office and when you leave the office you should be free from pending and urgent work so that you can go home and spend time with family.

This will help to maintain a good relationship personally and professionally.

• Career advancements: 

To grow professionally and reach the next level in your career you have to manage a lot of tasks/projects and challenges at work.

Time Management plays an important role shaping your career and helping you reach great heights.

2.Identify your Time-wasting Habits

People who are new to the work environment often have problems.They follow long processes to finish work and fail to complete it.A self assessment would help here.

• Self-Assessment:

A self-assessment is important because it lets you know where you waste your time and how to manage it in the upcoming days.

• The tendency to say NO: 

Professional should develop a tendency to say NO.When you are already working on a priority task it is important not to accept other tasks from other team members because it will only pile up your workload.

• Social Media:

Social Media often makes people lose focus.Avoid using social media during work hours.

Unless it is important to use social media for work purposes, do not waste time using it.

Instead you could think of strategies to improve your project or business and note down points to make it effective.

• E-Mails: 

Checking unnecessary emails and replying to them can waste your time.Unless checking E-mails is necessary or required from any client,do not waste time on excessive Emails.

• Multi-tasking:

Sometimes even multitasking becomes a waste of time.Juggling between multiple tasks and not completing any of them will only result in waste of time,stress and pending work.

Your mind might be tired of doing multiple tasks but the real truth behind it is you work hard but your productivity is zero if you cannot complete any of the assigned tasks.

3.Time management Techniques for professionals

Eisenhower Matrix: 

This is also known as the Time Management matrix or the “urgent-important box”.This is a tool that helps us to prioritize our tasks and manage time effectively to complete them.

• It has 4 quadrants-Important and urgent,Not important but urgent,important and not urgent and not important and not urgent.
• Important and urgent-These are tasks that have to be done immediately.

For example: A client project has a deadline at 6 pm. You need to push aside all other tasks that have time and prioritize the client project that has a deadline.

• Important and Not urgent: These Tasks are important but they don’t have a target deadline.These can be scheduled to be done later.

For example: You have a client meeting a day later and you have to get the documents needed for the meeting done.You can schedule it for the next day so you don’t have to stress on it today and work on other projects that need immediate attention.

• Not important but urgent: Things that are urgent but do not require a specific talent or skills to complete it come under this quadrant.These can be delegated to a team member.

For example: A blog has to be written for a client’s website. This can be done by any team member.It does not require a specific person to do it.

• Not important and not urgent: These are distractions that refrain us from focusing on what is actually needed.These can be social media,watching videos ,eating junk food or talking to a friend during office hours.

So this Do it,Schedule it, Delegate it and Delete it Matrix can help you prioritize your tasks and lets you identify your distractions and help to stay away from those.

Pomodoro Technique for focus

This technique is important when you need more focus on what you are doing.You could be working on marketing strategy for a client or you could be working on a presentation for a prospect.Anything that needs deep focus can be done using thai technique.

• Choose a task that needs attention.keep a timer for 25 min on your phone and start focusing on the task.When the timer goes off take a 5 min break.Then continue again.After you complete your task ,take a longer break for 20 min and then start your new task in the same pattern.

Benefits: This helps you to focus on your important tasks without interruption.Also You will not be stressed because the 5 min break that you take every 25 min of work will help you refresh and regain your focus and ideate effectively.

Time Blocking and Scheduling

Time blocking is a technique where you divide different parts of your day to complete various tasks.

This helps you to become more productive and perform without wasting any part of your day.

Benefits:

• Time blocking and scheduling helps you to avoid procrastination.
• Your day will be organized with tasks and breaks so that you don’t burn out.
• All your important tasks are completed when your mind is clear and your body is full of energy.
• You don’t have to rush at the EOD to achieve deadlines.
• More productivity,more revenue
• Career growth and job satisfaction.

4.Set Realistic Goals and Deadlines

• SMART goals: Your goals and deadlines should be realistic.Plan only the things that you will be able to complete within a time bound.Your goals should be specific,measurable,achievable,relevant and time bound.
• Break down large Goals: When the goals are large ,you can break them down into achievable and manageable.Many small tasks can be completed quicker than one large task.
• Setting boundaries: Setting boundaries and time limits can help you balance your professional as well as your personal life.

5.Technology for Time Management:

• Productivity apps: Many productivity apps that help you to schedule and organize your tasks is available in the market.Use one of them to remind you and organize the most important tasks and schedule the other tasks accordingly so at the end of the day you are well aware of what has been completed and what is left for the next day and plan your day accordingly.

• For example: Notion,Trello,Asana

• Automating repetitive tasks: Some repetitive tasks that need to be done regularly can be automated.For example, mails can be scheduled, templates can be used for reports and reminders can be set to complete or start new tasks.
• Analytics tool: Using analytics tools to monitor time spent and try ways of improving and managing time effectively.

6. Tips for maintaining work life balance:

• Set boundaries between work and personal life: It is important to set boundaries and maintain a work-life balance.This will ensure smoother relationships at work and at home.
• Prioritize self care and breaks: It is good to work hard but it is also good to take breaks to refresh your body and mind.Tired mind cannot ideate or complete a task quickly.Fresh and energized mind can give you innovative ideas and energy to complete work.
• Learning to say NO: It is important to learn to say no to tasks that are not important and not urgent.Sometimes we tend to accept a lot of work and then struggle to complete it.This will lead to ineffective time management and stress.Knowing to say NO at the right time is important for a peaceful work environment.

Conclusion:

Time Management is an effective tool that helps you scale your business and if you are a professional it will help you advance in your career.

Breaking down large tasks and dividing them into achievable small tasks can help accomplish more.

You could use one or more strategies discussed above to manage your time and identify the best working strategy for you.

At Eclatmax, We design the training programs in a way that is useful for all levels and roles in an organization.Our Time Management programs can help you whether you are an entrepreneur or a business owner or a professional to increase productivity and growth.