Time is money. Everyone, no matter how successful they are, has the same 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. But time is relative. It flies or drags depending on how you spend your time. To make use of your work time better, you should try some of these following tips to get immediate result:
1. Clarify your goals, roles and tasks
In real life, your roles are not always as transparent as specified in the job description. To better manage your time at work, you should clarify your responsibilities and related tasks as well as your career SMART goals if possible.
2. Make daily schedule
It takes less than 10 minutes to make a to-do list everyday. Your pre-work routine should be sorted by priority. It's simple but crucial to define a clear vision to follow. The pre-assigned tasks might be continuously adjusted due to unexpected disruptions, but you should respect your ultimate goals for the day. Writing to-do list should be turned into your habit to attain good time management in the long run.
3. Set priority
We often make ourselves busy with unlimited pending assignments. But work is a never-ending process, you can't handle all tasks within a day! The initial thing to do at the beginning of a workday is prioritize your tasks. Urgent and important tasks should be complete first.
4. Find your most productive time of the day
It's important to recognize that everyone's biological clock is not the same. And your brain couldn’t work at the same pace during 24 hours a day. Getting to know yourself well is the only way to find your most productive hours to complete the most important and complicated work.
5. Avoid multitasking
Many people think that multitasking is a great idea to do the work faster. Yet several studies have found that multitasking reduces not only your efficiency and accuracy but also your productivity by 40%! Focusing on one task at a time, step by step is the best practice to prevent yourself from being overwhelmed and getting stressed.
6. Learn to say "no"
Sometimes you have to decline to help other colleagues deal with trivial things to concentrate on your important work. When it comes to time management, your promises and commitments should be considered more carefully before making. "Words must be weighed, not counted."
7. Eliminate preventable distractions
The Internet and hi-tech devices bring various useful tools for work, but they are also the silent time thieves. Can you count how many times you check emails, Facebook, Twitter and other social networks during 8 hours of work time a day? Many studies have indicated that social media is the most popular distractor in the workplace. Besides, phone calls, unexpected guests, piles and stacks can also make you distract from your concentration. Therefore, make sure all of them are kept out of your sight when you need stick to your work completely for the best result.
8. Allow downtime between tasks
It doesn't necessary to stay focused on your to-do list the whole 8 hour blocks. Your brain and your eyes need time for relaxation between tasks. During the break, you can take some activities you enjoy or simply do some exercises. However, you should set the time limits based on the length and complexity of the task you have finished to make sure you are going on the right track.
These above tips are very simple but when combining together they can make a huge improvement on your work result and satisfaction. There's no need to follow all of them to raise your productivity, just pick some suitable techniques and find your own ways to manage your time at work better. Furthermore, keep in mind that good time management at work will help you achieve a better work-life balance.
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