If time management is a struggle for you, you’re not alone. According to a survey by Salary.com, the average worker wastes 2.09 hours in each eight-hour workday.
Do you need to be more productive with your day? Here are eight tips from our staffing agencies in Dallas, TX to help you become a time management pro.
Keep emails short and write fewer of them. Set a designated time (or two) during the day to check emails, and if responding to or deleting an email will take less than two minutes, do so right away.
At the beginning of the day, take a few moments to review your to-do list for the day. Midday, take a break from your computer, get up and go for a brief walk to clear your mind and refocus.
If there’s something you need to remember, write it down so you won’t lie awake at night trying to remember something you’ve forgotten. Each day, make a to-do list of one to three items that must be completed that day, and don’t let those items carry over to tomorrow’s list. Be realistic with what you can accomplish in a day and delegate what you can to others.
Complete the most complex tasks first thing in the morning (after you’ve had breakfast and coffee), and then the rest of the day should feel like smooth sailing. Saving your hardest tasks for later in the day will only lead to more procrastination.
Towards the end of the day, shift your focus to small tasks that can be completed before the day’s end. Be sure you’ve followed through on anything you promised colleagues so you don’t leave anyone hanging. The last 10 minutes of your workday should be used to complete simple tasks, and plan your to-do list for the next day.
Not all meetings are unproductive, but let’s face it; many of us spend hours a week sitting in meetings discussing items that easily could have been settled in an email or with a phone call. Protect your time and avoid meetings that are unnecessary. As for the meetings you schedule and lead, brevity should be your friend, so make a point to avoid the small talk and get right to it to make the most of your time and others’.
Trying to complete more than one task at once causes you to lose your focus and productivity. Rather than switching back and forth between projects, work on one at a time for at least an hour before moving on to something else.
A cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind. Take 15 minutes every day to file or trash paperwork that has piled up on your desk. Make a practice of “touch it once,” take care any necessary actions right away and move on.
Take a few minutes at the end of every workday to reflect on what you’ve accomplished. What went well? What went wrong? How can you do things differently and be more efficient tomorrow? This is the secret to improving your productivity and efficiency day by day.
As an employer who manages not only projects but also people, time management is especially important. With these tips, you can decrease wasted time and improve your productivity during the day.
If your company is looking for the right employees to get the job done, contact Staff Force today. Our staffing agencies in Dallas, TX are your allies, ready to find the right fit for your company.