Improving your time management skills helps maintain work-life integration. Finishing your tasks during work hours lets you fulfill personal responsibilities and interests during your downtime.
Like most employees, there likely are ways to improve your time management skills. These suggestions can help.
Choose among these four ideas to improve your time management skills:
1. Prioritize Your Tasks
Determine which tasks must be accomplished each day and when you will complete them:
- Write down your tasks for the week.
- Include the deadline for each task and the amount of time needed for completion.
- Determine which tasks must be finished on each day of the week.
- List each task in order of importance.
- Schedule a time to complete each task.
- Include regular 10- to 15-minute breaks and an hour for lunch each day.
- Complete each task as scheduled.
- Check off each completed task.
- Move any unfinished tasks to the next day.
- Celebrate your daily accomplishments.
2. Complete One Task at a Time
Finish each task according to your schedule. Then, move on to the next task on your list.
The brain can focus on one activity at a time. Transitioning between tasks takes time to adjust to the new task.
Therefore, trying to complete multiple tasks at once leads to increased errors and low-quality work. As a result, more time is spent on correcting the errors to improve the work quality.
3. Take Regular Breaks
Leave your desk every few hours for a 10- to 15-minute break. Include an hour for lunch.
Consider going for a walk, practicing mindfulness, or meditating. Or, read a book, listen to music, or talk with colleagues and coworkers who are on break.
Letting your brain rest helps reduce stress. You should come back ready to focus, engage, and produce.
4. Minimize Distractions
Take steps to reduce the number of distractions that can impact your productivity:
- Let others know you need uninterrupted time to focus on your work.
- Close your office door.
- Turn off the notifications for your email and mobile devices.
- Sign out of any non-work accounts.
- Focus on your scheduled tasks.
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