Using Time Management Techniques In The Workplace
Success in your career has a lot to do with time management in the workplace. By employing time management in the workplace, you’ll be able to perform faster, better and just plain get ahead.
Making a list of things to do is a start and guides you to composing your matrix. It is labeling activities by order of urgency and importance. It goes like this: important-urgent, important-not urgent and not important. Responses can then be loosely classified as immediate, can wait, disregard, and stop.
Don’t let email slow you down. Of course, you need to check your email for important work-related messages. My advice is that you dedicate specific times in the day for that purpose only.
Action Please (important-urgent). These activities can’t seem to wait for another day. These may comprise emergencies, complaints from customers, staff problems, meetings, due reports, and direct demand from one’s superior. Expectedly, a real emergency or serious complaint has to be acted on immediately. However, a closer look may show that response or action may be put on hold on some or re-scheduled. This could come about by discussing and prioritizing tasks with ones’ superior who ordered the task to be done. Meeting with customers or staff to help in tasks scheduling can be beneficial to everybody concerned.
There is a reason planners (both leather bound and electronic) were created. They help you schedule things and assign tasks on a specific time slot. Planners help you develop better time management in the workplace by keeping you on track. Besides, it can be very fun filling in details in your planner. Having a little fun with planning makes you less vulnerable to slacking off.
Waiting Act (important-not urgent). How could a task be considered important and yet not acted on immediately as it’s not an urgent one? Generally, these involve activities that need a lot of thought, analysis or creative thinking, discussions, research, and planning, among others. Because of the nature of work involved, ideas need time to jell and for one to focus. A good way of using time management tools in the workplace is sharing the schedule with its specific time allocation of activities with colleagues. By doing so, they will understand your need to safeguard your time and not be bothered by many requests and demands.
Know your priorities. One of the most important tips for time management in the workplace is to know which tasks should be done first. Don’t try to do everything at once. Doing things over will cost you; so unless you can settle for mediocrity, I strongly suggest prioritizing your responsibilities. And do it one thing at a time.
Blow Away (not important). It’s no surprise that those who need to do serious work lock themselves away from the rest. Then, they work on it in their homes or over the weekend. This is to protect themselves from unnecessary interruptions like phone calls, inane conversations, unfocused discussions, or just plain frittering away of time with chatting, surfing, and the like. Just so not to appear uncooperative or snobbish with office happenings, one should be sensitive to the prevailing atmosphere in the office. Join in the fun occasionally, say your refusal with sincere regret, and try to be of help on some other time.
Time management in the workplace is an efficient skill to have. Don’t worry if you’re not the most organized employee in the world or if you’re always lagged behind deadlines. It’s not too late to change your habits for the better. You still have time to deal with time.