Five Tips for Time Management Success
Time management is a crucial skill for anyone, especially if you want to work smarter and not harder.
As a sole proprietor supporting several clients, I need to be able to deliver high-quality work on time, manage client expectations, and ensure that every task is completed efficiently. It’s also important to me to attend as many meetings as my clients need to be a part of and accommodate any changes to their projects. This all forms my reputation and the ability for me to ask for references when trying to bring on new clients.
Today, I want to share five practical tips that have helped me manage my time effectively, both in my business and personal life.
1. Ruthless Prioritization
One of the most important aspects of time management is prioritizing tasks. In any business, everything can seem important, but in fact, it just can’t. If everything is “important” then it’s all equalized. At that point, how do you even begin to differentiate? The first sub-step in this tip is to recognize what is truly important and let those rise above the rest of the activities, tasks, or projects. Will the business be hurt if you don’t complete a task? Will you be impacting a larger project further down the line if you deliver something sub-par because you didn’t have enough time to do it well? Did your manager, clients, whomever you report to say that it’s critical? There are a number of criteria you can use here, so understand those well so you can quickly make decisions on what is important and what is not.
To implement ruthless prioritization, I like to use the Eisenhower Matrix, a four-quadrant tool that helps visualize tasks based on their urgency and importance:
Important and Urgent: These tasks must be done immediately.
Important but Not Urgent: Schedule these tasks to ensure they get done.
Not Important but Urgent: Delegate these tasks if possible.
Not Important and Not Urgent: Eliminate these tasks from your list.
By regularly evaluating and adjusting tasks, you’ll stay focused on what truly matters. Again, you can use this in your work life, but also in your personal life. It’s a great skill to have and after some practice to train your brain to think in this way, it becomes second nature. And, if you have anxiety about what’s on your plate, this can help alleviate some of that.
2. Build in Efficiencies
Efficiency is key to effective time management. For repetitive tasks that consume a lot of time, create templates, processes, or borrow ideas from others to streamline your workflow. Investing a bit time of time upfront to build these efficiencies into your workflow will save you time in the long run, allowing you to complete tasks faster and focus on more important activities.
The caveat to this is for manual tasks that take very little time to complete, it will likely not be worth the investment in time to create a process or workflow. The payoff in the time you invest and the time you save over the life of that activity will never be realized. For instance, if something takes me ten minutes to do every month, but it takes me an hour to automate it, it’s not worth it to me. I won’t even start to realize a gain until the sixth month.
3. Learn to Say No
Saying no is a powerful tool in time management. If a task does not fit into your prioritized list or is outside your scope, it’s okay to decline. Saying no helps you stay focused on your essential tasks and prevents you from overcommitting and delivering subpar work.
Remember, "No" is a complete sentence.
4. Find Your Focus
Identify what helps you concentrate and create an environment conducive to deep work. Whether it’s blocking out time on your calendar, using noise-canceling headphones, or finding a quiet space, ensure you have the conditions needed to focus.
Personally, I use an app that plays brown noise to block out distractions and help me concentrate. I also like to use the Focus feature on my phone so that I don’t get pinged with every notification or text during the time I sent aside to focus on my tasks.
5. Schedule Free Time
Building “free time” into your calendar is really important for creativity and mental rest. This time allows your brain to wander, think, and be creative, which is often overlooked in the hustle of completing daily tasks. Use this time to recharge and let your mind process and generate new ideas.
What you should not do during this allotted time is to use is it as a buffer. It’s not for a bathroom break or catch up on social media. It’s a time dedicated to keeping your mind healthy, happy, and help you put out your best and most creative work. Don’t let anyone encroach on it.
By implementing these five tips, you can manage your time more effectively, reduce stress, and improve your productivity. If you have any questions or additional tips on time management, I’d love to hear from you in the comments. Let’s continue the conversation and help each other succeed!
