We hear so much about productivity, but one of the single best ways to get more time out of the hours you actually have is to understand and practice something called time management.
Most of us don’t manage our time properly, and whether we want to admit it or not, procrastination often comes into play.
Come on, we’ve all been there – there is a monthly task you have that you really hate, it’s one of the most boring tasks you’ve ever had, but it’s a vitally important one. The downside is that it is your responsibility to do that monthly task every single month. Rather than just ploughing on with it, breaking it into smaller milestones and completing it without fuss, you might start to put it off, or even start it and then leave it for something else. As a result, the task becomes more urgent and adds more pressure to your working day.
When you manage your time effectively, you create extra hours (virtually, of course), and you lower stress levels. If you work from home, knowing how to manage your time properly is even more vital, because you have to motivate yourself and create a productive home working environment. In this case, having the right equipment, such as an executive home office desk is vital too.
What Exactly is Time Management?
Before we talk about how to achieve it, we need to know what it is! Time management is a variety of different methods you can adopt in order to manage your time effectively and achieve more. This allows you to be more productive in your working day, but it can also be used in various other situations too, e.g. for general tasks at home.
We run around procrastinating and wasting time without even realising it in so many ways. Time management teaches us to identify these methods, do away with them, and instead be more productive from the get-go.
The most basic time management method might not even look like it belongs to this category, and that comes down to your working environment. Arranging the office so that everything is close to hand is a basic way to save time. This means thinking about professional office desks which can hold everything you need to them to, siting printers close to desks and not too far away;
it’s basic but it works wonders!
Ways to Achieve Time Management Success
Everybody works slightly differently so the different methods to achieve time management might vary a little from person to person. Here are a few tried and tested ideas to try.
- Set Realistic Goals – Don’t try and do too much in one day, otherwise you’re simply setting yourself up for failure.
Set goals that are realistic and do-able, and as you achieve them you will be motivated to move onto the next thing.
- Break Tasks Into Milestones – Another way to achieve more is to break large tasks down into smaller more achievable milestones.
As you achieve one milestone, move onto the next, and before you know it, large tasks will be completed!
- Prioritise Effectively – Prioritising your tasks is the number one way to get things done! Write a list of what you need to do and number it in order of importance. You obviously do the most urgent thing first and then work down the list until everything is ticked off.
- Have Regular Breaks – Not at all counterproductive, having regular breaks makes you more focused and therefore you will be more productive and get more done.
- Identify And Eliminate Bad Habits – Do you check your emails constantly? Do you check your social media when you should be working? Do you multi-task and end up with four jobs on the go? Identify your bad habits and streamline your working practices to get more done in the time you have.
- Declutter Your Workspace – If you have one of the most stylish office desks but you can’t see it because it’s under too much clutter, you’re not going to feel productive. Throw out the things you don’t need and file away the things you do – a tidy desk will give you a clearer brain to be able to work with.
- Use Productivity Apps – There are countless apps you can use which help you to organise your time more effectively.
Try a few out and see which works best for you. Whilst you’re sat at your modern office desk, you can create an even more modern space with apps too! Some of these have features such as alerts and prioritising tips too.
How many of these tips do you use on a regular basis? Perhaps it’s time to shake up your working routine and incorporate a few! Meetings and collaboration events can also benefit from time management endeavours. For instance, when you’re sat around a large, round boardroom table, and you’re batting ideas back and forth in a brainstorming session, arrange the session into portions, e.g. sessions of no more than 20 minutes, in order to get the most out of your brain, and then have a break. People will be far more focused, and more ideas will come as a result.
Time management is a vital part of a productive workspace, but having the right arrangement of furniture is part of the puzzle too. People will easily waste time walking from printer to storage unit and back again several times a day. If you’re looking into furniture options, search close to your local area to find the best deals, e.g. search ‘office furniture Bromley’ if you’re in the region.
The more effectively we manage our time, the more productive we can be!