My personal top 5 time management tips

Every working person, no matter what industry or career you have can benefit by implementing some simple steps into our daily routine, below are my personal tips which I use on a daily basis to get the most out of the hours I’m in the office.if you have any tips which work for you feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

1) Time management is DEAD!

Before we go any further it is vital we understand the we CANNOT manage time, we can however manage ourselves, how do we do this? Easy by managing our actions, projects, attention and habits.

If you fall into the trap of believing that time itself can be managed, you are already in trouble.

2) Make the most of the tech you have

When you’re working on an important task, be proactive, not reactive. Don’t answer emails and calls right away if the current task is a priority.

Turn off your email notifications so you are not distracted by new messages in your inbox. If you are worried the sender may feel forgotten about then set up an auto reply to let them know you will get back to them soon.

Your phone has a text and voicemail feature, people trying to contact you can always leave you a message which you can check once every few hours.

3) Break time

Working for shorter periods with regular breaks is often more effective than completing longer tasks in one go. It should also improve your concentration.

Sitting down for long periods of time can be stressful to your body and can lead to problems such as back pain, not only is this a health issue but the pain will also affect the amount of work you get done. Take a short break every hour to have a stretch, walk around and grab a drink.

4) plan your meetings

Prepare for meetings and plan them so that important issues are dealt with first.

If you are taking part in a meeting always ask what the meeting is about so you understand why you are there.

If you are chairing the meeting make sure you tell your audience how long the meeting will last (and stick to it) so that they don’t have to worry about when they will be able to leave and get back to work.

5) Work smarter, not harder!

The above tips don’t mean much until you form a habit of using them, once it has become a habit it comes as second nature to put them in action and once you have gotten to this point you will be able to reap the rewards of being productive without even seeming to do anything.