How to better manage time at work: 12 tips (and what to avoid)
Let's take a look at several recommendations and guidelines on how to better manage time at work.
It has happened to all of us that we have a lot of work to do and it seems that there are not enough hours to finish it. "Buff, I don't have time..." we say to ourselves but, let's face it, we all have the same 7 days with 24 hours each. The problem is not that there is no time, it's that we plan it wrong.
How to better manage time at work is a question all of us hard-pressed workers have asked ourselves, and we'll look at strategies for managing time at work. and below we are going to see strategies to achieve it, as well as how to prevent our hours from vanishing as smoothly as the grains in an hourglass.
How to better manage time at work and perform better
Our weeks have 7 days and each of them has 24 hours, not one more and not one less. Time is the same for everyone in terms of quantity, but not in its use. Some manage to do all the tasks they have to do without lacking time to devote to their leisure and family, while others finish their obligations very late... Why?Why? What is it that differentiates one from the other? The key to all this lies in how differently we manage our working time.
In the society in which we live it is essential to manage time, since at the slightest lack of it we start to overload ourselves, feel stress and notice how everything we wanted to do has to be canceled.
Work obligations are ahead of our hobbies, family, friends and other pleasurable activities, which means that the more time we take to do our work, the less we are going to enjoy our leisure time. Poor time management frustrates us and makes us feel like we are wasting our lives.
How to manage time better at work is something that many people want to do but few manage to do. There is no incomprehensible mystery, it is simply a matter of learning how to organize oneself.. Of course, unforeseen events can always occur, but most of the hours we see passing by is time that, if well used, will allow us to finish our work tasks as soon as possible.
Ways to manage time better
Here are some tips and strategies to get the most out of your time at work, so that you have more time for those pleasurable activities you want to do once you have finished your work obligations.
1. Use an agenda
Agendas allow us to manage time in the medium and long term by putting important dates and keeping them well in mind. Whether in digital or physical format, the important thing is that we have one to organize tasks and plan well when we have to deliver the reports or meet our deadlines.. We should always have it at hand, to write down all our commitments and consult it frequently. Do not rely on our memory because, as much as we believe it is infallible, it is not.
2. Allocate a specific time to tasks
If we work without rest and continuously, sooner or later physical and mental fatigue will appear, which will prevent us from performing adequately. It is therefore necessary to assign a specific time to each activity and leave some free time between tasks, even if it is very short. This may seem contradictory, but taking into account that after 50 minutes it is difficult to stay focused, a short break can recharge us and keep us working satisfactorily.
The ideal is to put in our schedule when we start to do each of the tasks we have been assigned and when we should take a short break.. We can base ourselves on the Pomodoro method, working 25 minutes (1 pomodoro) or 50 (2 pomodoros) and then take a 5-minute break between periods. This way we will be able to advance without feeling exhausted, carrying out the functions that we have to develop properly.
3. Set goals
It is highly recommended to set daily, weekly and even monthly goals. This strategy is a very good option to perform short jobs correctly, besides it motivates us to see how much we are achieving. These goals must be ambitious, but also realistic and achievable because, otherwise, if we do not achieve them, we will see that we are not achieving them.Otherwise, when we see that we are not achieving them, we will become demotivated. The objectives to be set should be short, medium and long term.
4. Prioritize tasks
Not all tasks are equally important. We must start with the most important ones, the highest priorities. It doesn't matter the order in which we prioritize things, the important thing is that we do it since finishing the most important things before will mean that before we will have free time..
Small or non-urgent things can wait to be solved. In relation to this it is essential to know what our best performance hours are, those in which we concentrate best, so that we can do the tasks that require more resources with the greatest possible efficiency and without errors. The less important is better to leave it in the moments in which our performance is not very high, usually after lunch or at night.usually after lunch or at the end of the working day.
5. Start with the least pleasant
Many times we leave what we least want to do for the end and that is a big mistake. The best thing we can do is to do as soon as possible what we feel bad about because, in this way, we will get rid of it before and we will be able to enjoy the rest of the day. If we get rid of what stresses us first, the rest of the things to do will be easier to do.
6. Divide time into blocks
A very good strategy to take advantage of and manage time efficiently is to divide the workday into blocks. If we have to do complex tasks, which at first glance make us not want to start them, we can always break them down into simpler tasks, organized in such a way that each small step is a step forward. By converting complex tasks into several simpler ones, we can optimize resources, save time and organize our time better..
7. Give yourself rewards
Although we should not overdo it, we can reward ourselves for doing the tasks. We can give ourselves small rewards such as, for example, having a chocolate bar when we finish a report, reading a book we like for half an hour, watching a video that interests us... These small rewards will encourage and motivate us to do and finish the tasks that we have to do..
8. Organize a good working environment
The place where we work is very important, more than we think. As much as possible, we should work in a place with a good desk, a comfortable chair, good lighting and without many distractions.. We can give it a personal touch to make it cozy but always making sure it is tidy and well organized. A desk full of paperwork, with office tools in total disarray, is an environment that prevents us from concentrating on our tasks.
9. Set limits
Spending several hours in a row doing the same thing, without even getting up from the chair to stretch your legs a little, is very bad for our health and productivity. Working longer hours does not mean we will do things better. If we see that a task is costing us too much or that we are easily distracted, let's give ourselves some time, either by changing tasks for a while or directly resting. It is not that we are abandoning what we were doing, it is that we needed to leave it on stand-by for a while..
10. Avoid multitasking
But just as it is okay to leave a task half done for a while, we should not think that we are going to work well if we jump from task to task constantly. Concentrating is something that takes time, so we cannot dedicate ourselves to alternately doing two tasks at the same time, since the only thing we will achieve is to get tired very quickly and take twice as long to do them. Multitasking is the worst enemy of efficient time management. time management. Performance is much better when we focus on a single task.
11. Do not be afraid to say no
It is essential to learn to say no when we can't do something because we already have too much work to do.. Sometimes our coworkers try to put their obligations on us, or even our boss abuses his situation and gives us tasks that are impossible for us to finish today without sacrificing part of our free time. Sometimes this can be accepted, but it is always going too far. If we see that we are being asked to do too much, we should not be afraid to say no.
12. Delegating to third parties
Sometimes we may feel that the situation is beyond us, especially if we have been given many tasks, more than we expected. It is important to avoid stress and delegate some of our tasks to a colleague or subordinate, without abusing trust or going overboard or giving them a task for which they have not been hired. The point is not to put someone else to do what we should be doing, but to to send out activities that are difficult for us to do completely on our own..
What takes up our time: mistakes and distractions at work
Now that we have seen 12 tips for learning to manage time better at work, it is time to look at what takes up our time. There are several errors and distractions that hinder our good performance at work, time thieves that, if detected, will help us to manage our working day in the best way possible.
1. Interruptions
It is clear that interruptions are what most spoil our time organization. As soon as something interrupts us, our concentration fades away, making us need a few precious minutes to be able to concentrate on what we were doing again.We need a few precious minutes to be able to concentrate on what we were doing again. The longer it takes us to regain our concentration, the longer it takes us to become productive again and, also, we run certain risks of making more mistakes.
2. Mobile phone
The telephone takes up a lot of our time. Whether it's to gossip about the last thing someone has posted on Instagram, what our friends are writing to us on Whatsapp or a call from a family member, the cell phone distracts us and prevents us from being efficient and of course, the longer it takes us to get things done.
A good idea is to turn off your cell phoneHowever, given that we live in a hyper-connected society and that we are very dependent on it, the best thing we can do is to remove it from our field of vision so that we only remember it when we see it. It is also very important to leave it in silence and to tell our family and friends that if it is not to warn us of a real emergency, they should not call us.
3. Postponing tasks
Putting off unpleasant or complex tasks is the worst thing we can do because the more time passes the less we will want to do them. because the more time passes the less we will want to do them and the more it will cost us to do them well when we decide to do them. The best thing to do, as we mentioned before, is to do them right at the first moment of the day because that way we get rid of the bad feeling as soon as possible.
Summary
If we want to better manage our time at work, it is essential that we know what we have to do, structure the tasks in small activities that are easy and quick to do, and start with the least pleasant. It is very important to keep in mind at what times of the day we are most productive and put the simplest and least important activities at those times when it is hardest for us to concentrate, such as after lunch or at the end of the workday.
Distractions, especially interruptions and cell phones, are what do the most damage to our time management because the more times we lose concentration the less productive we will be.. It is essential to work in a comfortable room, where we are isolated from any non-urgent distractions and we are clear about when it is the most appropriate time to use our cell phones. Nuestros seres queridos deben saber de qué hora a qué hora trabajamos, diciéndoles que en ese horario no deberían llamarnos a no ser que sea para algo muy importante.
Referencias bibliográficas:
- Allen, D. (2001). Getting things done: the Art of Stress-Free Productivity. New York: Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-88906-8.
- Fiore, N.A. (2006). The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt- Free Play. New York: Penguin Group. ISBN 978-1-58542-552-5.
- Le Blanc, R. (2008). Achieving Objectives Made Easy! Practical goal setting tools & proven time management techniques. Maarheeze: Cranendonck Coaching. ISBN 978-90-79397-03-7.
(Updated at Apr 14 / 2024)