How can you improve time management skills now that we are bringing work to home currently? It’s a common question these days as we move into a new era. Firstly, lets tackle some of the basics and then look at how we can set boundaries at home.
Top 10 time management tools and techniques;
1. Ever heard of Eat the Frog? This was a book written by Brian Tracy, the basic concept being that you do the biggest ugliest task first thing in the day. Why? you might ask. Well once you’ve done that you feel such a sense of satisfaction that you breeze through the rest. Why would you want to sit through the day with a black cloud hanging over your head? Of course, often we see a task as HUGE but then once we sit calmy and methodically run through it, it can often feel ‘not so bad after all’.
2. One of the most valuable tips I have learnt is that you should plan. There are two times to plan. Firstly, I always have a rough plan laid out for the week ahead. On a Friday afternoon look at the week ahead and lay out the priorities for each day on a planner, adding anything that is hanging over from the current week. Secondly, at the end of each workday I look over the following day and make sure I know what my key priorities, tasks and meetings are. These should be laid out in a list and then highlighted as you go through.
3. HIGHLIGHT! Oh yes, highlighting gets its own number. There is such a sense of achievement when you highlight or tick of your list of duties. It spurs you on to keep ticking. So gets those highlighters and get scribbling.
4. Cut the crap. Once you have planned your schedule and priorities make sure you cut out anything that doesn’t benefit you.
5. Silence the apps. One of the biggest time wasters is notifications on your phone. The beep or the red dot calls you to get dragged into a vortex of messages and topics that you weren’t even thinking about. I recommend scheduling a time in the day to go into your apps or group messages and answer them. If you don’t silence the notifications, you could easily fall down the rabbit hole for an hour in your day getting involved in something that adds no value to your day. Of course, you want to chat with friends or family or get back to that colleague but do it a time that does not interfere with your key priorities.
6. Outsource. What are you doing that could easily be outsourced? For example, get the shopping delivered, hire a cleaner, negotiate with your partner or housemate on who does what and divide equally.
7. Automate. What can you automate? For example, I must send my clients a questionnaire and coaching agreement. These are now automatically sent when they book an appointment. Before I was having to remember to send an email and attach the links and documents. What can you automate so that you can cut time and thinking?
8. Take breaks. We all know that hero that thinks if they sit at their desk all day and night they will be recognised as the best worker. Taking a break refreshes your energy, gives you clarity and is better for you physically. Make sure you take regular breaks, stand up and stretch or even take a quick walk at lunch. You are way more productive when you have had good sleep, exercise and have been fed with nutritious foods. I have seen myself do more in three hours than a whole day when I am organised and at my healthiest.
9. Email etiquette. How you manage your email time can depend on what your job is however there are two extremes that I have seen. Th person who is a slave to the mail and sits all day glued to the inbox and not actually producing what they need to be doing or making the call they need to make. On the other end I have seen that person who has thousands or unanswered unfiled emails! Arggggh. My advice is to take an hour in the morning and end of day to clear, answer and file emails in folders. Also, make sure you unsubscribe to any annoying email subscriptions you no ,longer need.
10. Work with your body clock. This is a great one that people often don’t look at. Get to know yourself and how you operate best. For me I know that I am best getting my admin done in the morning and I perform lot’s of tasks up to lunch. Could I sit down and start writing an article at 3 in the afternoon? No way! This would be time when I need to go and take a stretch and have some time out. So, be kind to yourself.
How to manage working at home
1. Set up a clear space in your home. I understand that not everyone has the luxury of a home office and have been suddenly catapulted in to working at home. Even if its corner of your bedroom, delegate a space and keep it organised.
2. Set boundaries with family members. Make sure everyone is clear about when they can talk to you as you don’t want to be in ‘flow’ doing a task and suddenly this gets broken by a family member taking you away.
3. Make sure you set times to be away from the desk. Go for a walk, have lunch away from the desk too.
4. Set a specific start and finish time for the day and set a ritual for opening and closing the day. For example, at the end of my work day I always take a shower and change my clothes.
5. Don’t be tempted to meet friends or do things you wouldn’t normally do in work time. Sometimes this can be a way of procrastinating. It takes you away from getting something done. Unless it is part of your lunch – but think carefully. You don’t want to spend your lunch talking about someone’s problems.
Read more about working at home
How to manage time at home and work
A lot like the above points make sure you set boundaries and a rough weekly schedule so that the two don’t start merging.
How can time management help you?
Having efficient time management helps with the following;
1. You work more efficiently
2. Are more productive
3. Feel healthier
4. Have better relationships
5. Achieve more
6. Work smarter not harder
7. Have more energy
8. Less stress – find out more about managing stress and anxiety
9. Sleep better
10. Better work life balance
Consequences of bad time management
If you don’t manage time efficiently you can really feel like you are in a fog. Tasks can build up which results in being bogged down in administration and feeling a sense of being out of control. Your energy levels can drop and stress levels rise which doesn’t help anyone. Being time efficient effectively can change your life!! SO get managing .
