Never seem to have enough time to it all done? You really are not alone. Whether it’s your job or your lifestyle, learning to manage your time can help you reduce your stress levels and leave you feeling more in control.
Time Management is all about managing the time you have and using it well in the busy world we live in. It’s using your time effectively, being productive, and accomplishing your daily goals.
Learning to know the difference between being ‘busy’ and being ‘productive’ can help. When you are busy, you can be preoccupied with your long to-do list, changing from one task to another and not really getting anywhere. When you are productive, you have a plan in place and you are totally focused.
Why is time management important?
Time management helps you keep control of your day and prevent you from losing sight of your goals. It can help you focus on essential tasks and avoid time-consuming distractions. Poor time management can also lead to stress and cause an imbalance in your work-life balance.
From a business point of view, time management is important because it can help you stay in control of your business and therefore deliver a better service or product. Having enough time means that you won’t be rushing to meet a deadline thus putting more effort and thought into what you do. Rushing often produces poor results.
How can you improve your time management?
There are a few ways you can go about making improvements to how you manage your time.
Prioritisation This is the art of giving a level of importance to tasks ensuring the higher ones are done before the less important ones.
Planning Being able to develop a schedule for your tasks is essential. Don’t waste time in your business by doing all the small things. Start with the big and often hardest things that will make a significant impact on your business.
Goal setting Setting a series of realistic and achievable goals gives you something to work towards. Once you achieve a goal you will feel inspired to do more.
Start your jobs early If you have the chance then starting a task before it’s scheduled to begin can help change your mindset. It sends a positive message to your brain that you are ahead of the game and you are in control.
Do not always say yes! You want to make a good impression so in your mind saying yes to everything thrown at you helps make a positive impression. However, taking on too many responsibilities can make developing a schedule that accommodates all of your tasks very challenging. Set a limit to the amount of work you take on.
Take a break! Plan time in your day to walk away from it all, even for just 5 minutes. Schedule this in your planner and it is more likely to happen.
Clockify is a time tracking software. It can track timesheets and time and will log how long you spend on each project or task. It can work on your phone or computer and even better, it's free with an unlimited number of users.
Apps to help you improve your time management
Below is a small selection of the many time-saving apps that are out there. We have given you a variety that can help you in many ways.
Evernote - best for note taking
Evernote can help you create notes, scan images, take voice notes, attach docs and also capture clips from the internet. PHEW!! It's great for someone on the go and helps to capture your ideas and to-do lists. This is perfect as it means you do not have to keep stopping to make notes and can stay focused on the job at hand.
Dropbox - best for cloud storage and file sharing
Dropbox is a simple yet very effective file storage and sharing service. You can manage and access all your files in one place also allowing others access. Save time by trying to upload large documents and trying to send it via email. You simply share the folder with others. Documents can be password protected for those that are security conscious.
Rescue time - Best for measuring and tracking productivity
Rescue Time is a time-tracking app. It records how and where you spend your time online. It will look at what apps and websites you use and how often you are visiting as well as the time spent on each. It really is a great way to look at where you spend your time during your day. It can help you to create new habits and be more productive.
Todoist - Best for keeping your tasks organised and achieving your goals,
Todoist can help you by adding your daily habits and reoccurring deadlines and tasks so you don’t have to add them one by one. It’s colour coded to make it super easy to read and track. The calendar allows you to view it by day, week or month.
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