4 Secrets to Managing Time in the Workplace

Knowing how to manage your time at work is important to get more done in a shorter space of time. One of the biggest challenges of the modern workplace is coping with the feeling that there are not enough hours in the day. This can lead to stress, burnout, and having to put in extra hours to get the job done.

Managing time effectively in the workplace requires having clearly defined goals, avoiding procrastination, and knowing how to delegate tasks properly. So, rather than worrying about how to get extra hours in the day, let’s look at some ways to use your time wisely in the office.

What is Time Management?

Time management is a way of organising your available hours to get your work done effectively. Good time management methods allow you to focus your attention and efforts on a specific task. This helps to avoid the tendency to become very busy with lots of small jobs at the same time.

Many people say that effective time management allows you to work smarter, not harder.

4 Ways to Manage Your Time in the Workplace

1. Get your priorities right

The first step to managing your time effectively during your workday is to examine your priorities. Every day there are a number of tasks that need to be done and each of them varies in importance and urgency.

To help identify your priorities, it’s important to write down a list of tasks to be done. For larger projects, you may need to break it down into more manageable tasks. After you have your ‘to-do’ list, sort tasks into categories of urgency and importance. You will quickly find out that all tasks fall into 1 of 4 categories:

• Urgent tasks that are important
• Tasks that are important but have no urgency
• Urgent tasks that are not important
• Tasks with no urgency or importance

Once you have a clear vision of what needs to be done and when it needs to be done, you are well on your way to managing your time effectively.

2. Avoid procrastination

Procrastination is one of the greatest time thieves in the office and will result in an inefficient use of your time.

One way to manage your time wisely and avoid procrastination is to get an early start to the day. Most people work more effectively in the mornings (if they get at least 7-8 hours sleep) and can get more done.

Getting important and urgent jobs done should be of top priority at the start of each day. Getting the hardest and most important tasks done first helps to clear your mind for the rest of the day. You will then have the time and motivation to deal with tasks that are less important but still urgent.

3. Delegate tasks

Delegation is a valuable aid in getting more out of the time you spend in the office. Of course, delegating the task initially takes some extra time. You need to explain the goals of the task properly and ensure that the person has the tools at hand to complete it successfully.

However, once you have delegated important or urgent tasks, you now have more time on your hands. Delegation also has the benefit of helping to train others to take on more responsibility. Many studies point to the fact that this helps businesses to become more successful.

4. Be organised

It should go without saying that good organisation is also key to managing time effectively. For example, good organisation is connected with clearly defining your goals and categorising them. However, you need to have good organisational systems when it comes to your desk, paperwork, and IT systems.

Having a good system of organisation around your workplace will mean you spend less time looking for items.

In conclusion, prioritising task, avoiding procrastination, delegating tasks and staying organised allows you to control how you manage your time.

Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash