More than anything else, our ability to manage our time will determine our success or failure. It’s a super simple concept: the better we manage our time, the more we will accomplish.
So I’ve put a modern twist on this age-old problem and put together my most effective time management tips that you can start using right now.
Although ‘Time Management’ is such an outdated phrase, it reminds me of corporate courses, stuffy training rooms with a bunch of suits, it’s so relevant to our working day, today. The fact is that the principle remains the same. Managing our time is so important to achieving what we want in life. Don’t we all want to get more done in less time with much less stress?
“In a world where we are constantly connected, buried under apps, emails, social media and are overloaded with information. It’s an old, outdated system, developed years ago when life was quite different.”
– Graham Allcott
Read more about the Productivity Ninja on this post or check out his book - well worth a read.
Time is the most indispensable and irreplaceable resource of accomplishment and your most precious asset. I’m here to put a very modern spin on an age old subject that we all struggle with from time to time.
The better you can organise and control your time, the better you will feel moment to moment, the more energy you’ll have, the better you will sleep, and the more you will get done. Remember when you run your own business time management is just life management. Good time management and personal productivity begins by valuing your time.
Good time management is essential to maximising our health and personal effectiveness and can be a major determinant of our inner peace, harmony & mental well-being.
A feeling of being ‘out of control’ of our time is a major source of stress and anxiety. I’m speaking from the heart here! So here we go, the list of my top 12 time management tips; pick one that resonates with you and start applying it today.
01 - Make A Written Plan
There is a rule that every minute spent planning, saves 10 mins in execution.
The time you take to think on paper about something you need to accomplish before you begin the work will give you a return of personal energy of 1,000 percent!
02 - Write a to-do list
The most powerful tool of all is a simple to-do list. This will serve as a blueprint for your day.
The best time to make a list is the night before so your subconscious can work on your list while you are asleep. Often when you wake, you’ll have ideas to help you achieve some of the most important tasks on your list. The best people at time management, think on paper and work from a daily task list.
03 - Get your priorities right
Review your to-do list or workload each day and select the top 20% of tasks that will make the greatest contribution to moving your business forward. I can guarantee you that there will be 2 things on your list that will be worth more than all the others put together.
Don’t major on the minor tasks. Get the biggie’s done first!
04 - Delegate to others
Use the 70% rule.
If someone else can do a particular task 70% as well as you, this job is a prime candidate for delegating.
Don't underestimate the power of this one amongst the other 11 time management tips.
05 - Practice single-handling
Single-handling is most of the most important of all time management tips, techniques and life management principles. Once you start something, stay on it until it’s 100% complete.
Each time you put down a task and turn to something else, you lose momentum. You come back to it, and it requires extra time to review and pick up where you left off.
When you make this a habit your productivity will double almost over-night!
Robert Hall International estimates that as much as 50% of working time is spent doing ‘Activities that are nice to do’ and which make no contribution to our business at all!
06 - Stay on track
Ask yourself ‘What is the most valuable use of my time right now?’
Asking yourself this question drives you to focus on your highest value task or activity. When you organise your time around the answer to this question, you’ll be surprised at just how much more productive you become, and how quickly.
07 - Overcome procrastination (Part 1)
It has been said that “procrastination is the thief of time”
Intentionally decide which tasks you are going to put off. Look at your list of work for the day and chose the items that you are not going to do until you have completed the tasks that are so much more important. When you develop the skill to start with your most important tasks, however big or scary, you’ll feel so much better and be surprised at all the wonderful opportunities that will come your way.
08 - Overcome procrastination (Part 2)
‘Do it now”
These are some of the most powerful words you can use to increase your productivity. Whenever you find yourself procrastinating on an important task, repeat to yourself with energy and enthusiasm – Do it now!
09 - Time Blocking
You will require unbroken blocks of time for maximum accomplishment. Unbroken time means better quality of work and completed in a quicker time frame.
As an example, you need approx. 60-90 mins to accomplish anything worthwhile as it can take 30 mins just to get your mind into a complex task. Once you are into the task you can concentrate single-mindedly, at a high level of awareness and creativity.
10 - Don’t mix creative and admin
You can’t mix creative with functional admin style tasks. You can’t really do operational tasks and think creatively.
Admin requires fast, short-term thinking whilst creativity requires slower thought, planning and application.
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11 - Batch your tasks
When you complete a series of similar or identical tasks all in a row, the learning curve allows you to reduce the time required to complete each one by as much as 80% by the time you complete your 5th identical task, how easy is that!?
12 - Organise your workspace
Organisation increases productivity.
Many people believe that they work more effectively in a messy environment with a cluttered desk. Yet every study that has ever been done shows that once the desk and environment has been cleaned up your productivity doubles or even triples, usually overnight!
Working in a messy space or a clutter desk leads to constant distraction plus you spend more time looking for stuff! Working at a clean desk and organised workspace is one of the greatest time management tips I can give you.
Peter Drucker has observed that effective people always have a clean desk. Everything except the one thing they are working on is put away which means they can focus with greater clarity, get more done of a higher quality and in a shorter amount of time. Result!
Final Notes on Time Management Tips
So, there is no excuse now, just take one of these time management tips and try it, you never know you might find yourself more productive and saving yourself valuable time.
