Are you always running from task to task, never really getting anything done when you’re supposed to?
Do you regularly feel stressed at work and unable to actually complete your to do list every day?
Do you ever wonder where the time is going? Are you convinced that someone is tampering with the office clock?
These are all signs that you need to understand the importance of time management a little better and find a strategy that works for you as an individual.
The Importance of Time Management
The truth is that we all want to do as much as we can do during our hours at our office desks, but we tend to overestimate our own ability. That doesn’t mean we’re not able to do what we want to do, it’s more a case of it being unrealistic.
When you set unrealistic goals, you’re setting yourself up for failure. In that case, you’re knocking your own confidence, you’re wasting time, and you’re being extremely unproductive as a result.
You are not superhuman, and that means understanding that you have your limits, just like everyone else does!
Time management allows you to take the time you have at your office chairs and manipulate it in a way which allows you to get more done. For instance, prioritising your tasks and doing them in the order of most importance means that you’re hitting targets, and you’re not constantly stressed about urgent tasks not being completed. That in itself is a way of manipulating time.
If you’re not sure if your current time management technique or your current way of working is the best for you, let’s check out 5 symptoms which basically say you need to change things around.
5 Signs You Need a New Time Management Strategy
If you notice any of the five signs below, you need to turn your attention to a new way of working, to give you a greater amount of control over your working day.
- You regularly take work home with you, ruining your home and work-life balance
- You miss deadlines and targets on a regular basis and you regularly feel stressed about it
- You don’t take your breaks when you’re supposed to and you try and work as much as possible to complete your daily tasks, often failing
- You feel stressed a lot of the time whenever you think about work, and you find it hard to switch off when you go home at night
- You’re starting to make a lot of mistakes, because your mind is always whirring away with the things you need to do, worrying about not having enough time
These are very common signs, and more people experience them than you might realise. In fact, many people experience them but don’t want to admit it!
For instance, taking work home is one of the biggest no-nos of the modern contemporary office. If you do that, what is the point of having set working hours and home hours? You need time to rest, otherwise, you’re basically ruining your home life, ruining your home relationships, and you’re not giving yourself the time you need to refresh your mind and get ready for the next day.
The same goes for not taking your breaks when you’re supposed to, or not at all. Those breaks are there for a reason, and they’re far from unproductive!
The key to understanding the real time management definition is knowing that you can control time, you simply need to find a method which suits you and your way of working best. It might also be that you need to tweak the way you work, but you will get there in the end. Nobody is unproductive without a reason. Nobody is stressed at work without a reason.
The good news is that there are countless time management techniques you can try and it’s a case of trial and error in terms of finding the one which suits you best. Don’t assume that just because your neighbour at their executive chair finds scheduling works best for them, that you’ll find it works for you too. We’re all individual and dedicating time to finding the right technique is never time wasted.