How To Manage Time To Be More Efficient At Work

Ironically, time management is a problem that we all face, but do not have time to tackle. However, spending a little time analyzing how we “spend” our time and thinking about how to be more efficient is something worth doing. Managing time to be more efficient at work is possible, but it is a problem that we must face.

After all, time passes. And the more time that goes without addressing the problem, the more time we lose, the more energy we waste, and the more opportunities we miss. That is why it is essential to analyze our way of managing time to implement the changes that are necessary. 

21 tips to manage time and be more efficient

Time management is a complex topic that ranges from increasing productivity to balancing work and family life, avoiding burnout, creating good habits or setting long-term goals, among other matters. Planning and prioritizing are the bases to take control of our time and our life, regardless of our occupation. Author Jory MacKay proposes 21 strategies for managing time effectively.

Understand where your time is going

Time management is not about quelling the fear of wasting time. It’s about understanding the powerful benefits of using our time wisely, explains MacKay. Hence the first tips and strategies:

1. Understand why time management is important. Time management is not about quelling the fear of wasting time. It’s about understanding the powerful benefits of using our time wisely.

2. Be realistic about how much work you can actually do in one day. We can think of time as a resource that we simply need more of, but more time does not mean more productive time. The simplest way to manage time is to schedule when and what you will work on.

3. Find out where you are wasting your time.  The more you understand how you spend your day, the more impactful your time management efforts will be.

4. Set daily goals and alerts on how you are spending your time. Once you have an overview of how you are spending your time, you can start making changes on a daily basis.

5. Create a morning routine that motivates you. A good morning routine can set you up for a meaningful and productive work day by giving you the opportunity to start off with a positive boost that you will build on for the rest of the day.

6. Give up multitasking. Studies have shown that it is impossible for humans to focus on more than one task at a time. When you find yourself losing focus, stop and write down what you’re thinking before getting back to the task at hand.

Prioritize meaningful work and delegate the rest

Once we know where our time is going, we have to decide what we should (and shouldn’t) spend our time on, MacKay explains. For it:

7. Separate the urgent from the important work.  Distinguishing what is urgent from what is not and what is important or not, helps you prioritize your time and draw a schedule that allows you to do more of the important work and less of what is not important.

8. Prioritize without mercy. Pick your main goals and focus on them.

9. Use the 30X rule to delegate more tasks. Mackay proposes to follow the rule proposed by Rory Vaden, who proposes that we should give ourselves 30 times the time it takes us to complete a task to train someone else to do it. Taking the time to delegate and coach someone else earns you a net gain of 1,100 minutes per year. Or, as Vaden puts it, a 733% increase in ROTI (return on time invested).

10. Recover the “no” in your vocabulary. According to an article by the University of Chicago and published in the Journal of Consumer Research , saying “I don’t do” something, instead of “I can’t,” allowed participants to detach from unwanted commitments much more easily.

Establish an efficient daily schedule

With the above done, it is time to design a schedule to manage time effectively.

11. Set schedules, not deadlines. Mackay turns to the advice of James Clear here. Rather than giving yourself a deadline to achieve a particular goal (and then feeling like a failure if you don’t), pick a goal that is important and then set a timeline to work accordingly.

12. Schedule with time, not with homework. Take big tasks and break them down into timed sessions. By organizing the day by scheduling time instead of tasks, we go from managing our schedule around an unknown date (task) to a known time.

13. Schedule time for breaks and breaks. We need time to rest and assume there will be interruptions. Not counting on it is chaotic. Interruptions come or our bodies tell us that we have to take a break. If we haven’t counted on it, when this happens, our perfectly formulated program suddenly breaks down.

14. Separate the Time Maker from the Time Manager . It is very easy to fill it with administrative tasks and not leave enough time for meaningful work. It is one thing to do and another to manage .

15. Batch activities throughout the week. Group similar activities together and take advantage of the boost you get when you start. Apply Newton’s First Law of Motion to productivity: “An object in motion keeps moving.”

They use location to your advantage to manage time

Your calendar or schedule aren’t the only time management tools you have. Mackay proposes some ways you can use in the workplace that can influence how you work.

16. Try the Popcorn method at work to unlock your time. Changing your work location during the day can be a great way to stay motivated and productive. This Joel Runyon technique works like this:

• Write down all the tasks you have to do today.

• Divide that list into 3 equal sections or into three groups (lots, seen in tip 15).
• Choose 3 different locations for each batch of work.

17. Work with your body’s natural energy cycle. Work by doing what works best for you, so that you don’t just think about managing your time, but also your energy.

Protect your time

There will never be a shortage of things to do that will try to occupy your time. That is why you have to protect it, to avoid using it in the wrong way. Mackay proposes these tips to get it:

18. Use strategic laziness to work on the right things. The concept of “strategic laziness” refers to prioritizing work and tasks that are important and allowing yourself to be lazy on those that don’t matter.

19. Automate non-negotiable focused time throughout the day.  It is important to ensure that your focused work sessions run smoothly. For this it is important to protect yourself from distractions. There are tools that help you communicate to others that you are not available automatically. If not, you can find ways to make it known to others that you are in a work moment in which you cannot be disturbed.

 20. Use the Ivy Lee Method to end the day properly.  Ivy Lee came up with this simple five-step daily routine for maximum productivity:

• At the end of each work day, write down the six most important things you need to accomplish tomorrow. Write no more than six tasks.
• Prioritize those six items in order of importance.
• The next day, focus only on the first task. Work until you finish the first task before moving on to the second task.

• Approach the rest of your list in the same way. At the end of the day, move the unfinished items to a new list of six tasks for the next day.
• Repeat this process every business day.

21. Don’t forget the benefits of free time. Managing time doesn’t just mean working. To find a work-life balance that keeps us healthy and happy, we must make sure we allow time for rest, relaxation, and socializing.

Managing time and being more productive is a challenge available to everyone.  However, we must become aware that we must stop and think about what we do, how we do it and what we really want to achieve. Doing does not necessarily mean working, much less finishing.

Take the time, whatever you need, to analyze your routines and rethink your tasks. With these instructions to manage time, it will be much easier for you to face your work or your studies and achieve better results.