Rules for Successful Time Management One of the best soft skills to have in your arsenal is good time management. Being very productive while keeping the stress level down is a worthy goal and will get you noticed throughout the organization. So we are going to discuss four things you can do to improve your time management. 1- Set Goals In order to get things done you must establish what you are going to do. Most of your responsibilities are outlined in your job description but they may just be generalities. The first step in setting your goals is writing down EVERYTHING you need to get done. Some tasks will be repeated everyday, week or month, and some will be one-shot activities. So make sure you list everything you need to accomplish. 2- Set Priorities Your goals need to be ranked in a priority list. If you don’t do this you may end up wasting a lot of time. Your boss will often be the one that will give you your priorities. He or she may be aware of things that you are not aware of, so prioritize your list with your boss’s priorities. There may be some scenarios where you have to do priority #8 before you can finish priority #2. Once you have a set priority list, work on it until the priorities change - and they will change so be willing to reprioritize when it’s needed. Some people put their priority list on a white board in front of their desk to always remind them what to work on. 3- Manage Interruptions Interruptions can be your biggest problem. I know some people who will put a sign on their door or cubicle stating; ”Working on deadline, emergency interruptions only!” Now, you cannot do this all the time but when you need a couple of continuous hours to finish that report or specification, the sign may help. You must also let your phone go to voicemail and put off checking texts, tweets or email. You can, however, take a break every hour or so to catch up with your social media. You can even occasionally ask your manager for permission to work at home when preparing a difficult project. If you do this, be sure you use the time to get your project done. No goofing off or sleeping in! 4- Control Procrastination The toughest part of time management is breaking the habit of procrastination. Sometimes you are not in the mood to do a particular project or you just let those emails and internet journeys take you away from what you should be doing. There may be some phone calls or emails that are needed to be taken care of first thing but, after putting out those fires, get right back to your priority list. By setting goals and priorities, managing interruptions and controlling procrastination, you too can improve your time management. You’ll get more done and relieve some of the stress that comes from being unproductive! Jim Stedt is a partner at the “Business SoftSkills Company” located in Santa Ana, California. They provide job readiness and workforce success videos for education, business, prisons and individual use. Training is available online, on DVD, or through an affiliate program. These products are the most complete and concise soft skills training packages now available for the price of an average college textbook.
Related Articles -
Time management, Soft skills, productivity,
|