Time management is the process of organizing and planning how to divide your time between different activities. Good time management helps you to complete a given task in a specific time frame against challenges and tight schedules. Strong time management skills help you better your reputation and move ahead in the workplace.The highest achievers manage their time exceptionally well.You could also think of it as the art of having time to do everything that you need, without feeling stressed about it. It sounds simple, but it is much harder in practice.
What are time management skills?
Time management skills are those skills that help you use your time effectively and achieve the results you are looking for. These type of skills can help you use your time properly and complete tasks efficiently.
Organisation
Staying organised helps you to keep track of your responsibilities and priorities, like what you need to do first and when to do other pending tasks and in which order they should be executed. A proper organised list of series of tasks really helps an individual to be an Organised person and be time and task oriented. Breaking down large goals/tasks into smaller tasks enables a person to complete a larger tasks easily and efficiently on time.
Prioritisation
Prioritisation of the tasks is very important in any type of job. Prioritising your daily tasks ensures an individual that which task is more important and should be completed first and which of the tasks can be delayed. Write down every single task starting with the top priority. For illustration, you can break down your tasks as the following:
- A-level tasks: Things that will lead to major consequences if not done at time
- B-level tasks: Activities that may have a negative effect if not completed time
- C-level tasks: Activities that have no consequence if not completed at time
Set Goals
Setting Goals refers to aims and objectives or deadlines(you can say) which helps an individual to complete your tasks in a well-organised manner. Both short- and long-term goals are very important for your career.
Communication
Communication skills basically means speaking clearly, concisely, and loudly (but not too loud), while building a good rapport with your audience. Communication skills are a major component of success in life as well as job. Effective communication promotes trust and makes your plans and goals clear to people you work with. Strong communication helps you delegate more work, which lets you focus more on the important tasks that support your goals and build stronger connections in career field.
5 ESSENTIAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS
- WRITTEN COMMUNICATION. Convey ideas and information through the use of written language.
- ORAL COMMUNICATION. Convey ideas and information through the use of spoken language.
- NON-VERBAL AND VISUAL COMMUNICATION.
- ACTIVE LISTENING.
- CONTEXTUAL COMMUNICATION.
Planning
Planning refers to what steps you need to take to reach the goal, what changes and hurdles to anticipate, and how to utilise human resources and opportunities to reach the expected outcome. Planning is the core of time management. With a proper plan, prioritising your tasks accordingly can help avoid confusion and unnecessary stress. A planned work schedule helps you complete the tasks in the given time frame.
Delegation
It is an important process to manage multiple tasks satisfactorily. While managing a project, you can delegate/divide some of the tasks to your subordinates. This will help in reducing your workload so that you can focus more on important tasks, such as planning, business analysis and others.
Stress management
The purpose of stress management is to improve the everyday functioning of an employee and increase job satisfaction. It is common to feel stressed. Positively handling stress keeps you motivated and helps you complete tasks at the scheduled time against all adversities. Exercise, yoga or having snacks during breaks can help you reduce stress. In fact, including stress-relieving activities or self-care rituals into your daily schedule can positively impact your productivity on work-related tasks throughout the day.
Flexibility
Flexibility is the capacity to adjust to short-term change quickly and calmly, so that you can deal with unexpected problems or tasks effectively. It supports success. Given that flexibility affords people autonomy, freedom, and balance, people perform better. It translates into higher productivity levels, loyalty, and engaged employees. It’s vital that you maintain some flexibility in your schedule. Often, a task will take longer than you expect or your supervisor will give you a priority task you weren’t expecting. Clearly note in your daily schedule where you have space to adjust in preparation for last-minute changes.
How to improve your time management skills
Good time management requires a daily practice of prioritizing tasks and organizing them in a way that can save time while achieving more. Use the above strategies for few weeks and see if they help you. You may be surprised just how much more time you seem to have.
Some ways to improve your time management skills are given below:
- Preparing a Proper schedule and following it strictly
- Setting boundaries for oneself
- Fix deadlines
- Set long- and short-term goals
- Manage your calendar effectively
- Prioritise your assignments
