5 Time Management Tips That Work

Time management is a decision-making process with the intention of planning and organizing how you divide the time to be spent on specific activities in order to maximize productively and achieve goals.

1. Make sure you know where you are spending your time

A lot of people are time-wasters, to avoid that, make sure all of your activities are in your calendar and follow through with them. This is going to help you to have visibility on your tasks, and it's the first step to effective time management.

2. Set achievable goals and prioritize your tasks

Complete your most important and urgent tasks first, for most people the first few hours of work are the most productive. Defer tasks that are important, but not too urgent. The focus of time management is changing your behaviors, not changing time.

3. Get in the habit of setting time limits for tasks

Examine your workflow, Identify tasks that took longer and less than you expected, and learn from them. Answering emails can consume a lot of your time, so my suggestion would be to set a big block of one hour, for example, instead of answering on demand, if you have other tasks.

4. Make sure your system is organized

Having an organized system will help you to quickly lay your hands on what you need. Minimizing your open windows is also very helpful.

5. Don't waste time

You definitely need to eliminate your personal time-wasters. According to a survey done by salary.com two-thirds of all respondents report wasting time at work with non-work-related activities. It's also important not to waste time waiting, if you have a meeting, and are waiting for your guest after 3 minutes send a message confirming if the person will be able to join you or will need to reschedule after 5-7 minutes jump out and start another activity.

Always remember that you are in control of your time, and you can accomplish what you want to accomplish, once you set achievable goals and follow them.