Helpful tips for successful time management
If you want to improve your personal time management, you first need to find out how you spend your time. Try to log your time for a week by carefully recording your activities.
The aim would be for you to be able to answer the following questions after one week:
1. which task or activity takes up the most time?
2. how much can I do in one day?
3. which activity brings me the greatest benefit?
4. which activity can I automate?
If you can answer these four questions, you will quickly realize how much time you spend on unproductive activities and where you can get more out of your time.
Create a plan for the day and try to stick to it
First thing in the morning, draw up a precise daily schedule in your calendar before you start work.
Important here: plan enough buffer time for snack breaks or visits to the toilet.
Compared to a normal to-do list, you decide for yourself how much time you have for a task. You set the deadline. You will no longer switch back and forth between individual tasks, but complete them efficiently one after the other.
Never confuse what is important with what really matters
Many things in our lives seem important, but only a few things really count. Keep this in mind when planning your time. Prioritization is extremely important for successful time management. Start by delegating or eliminating tasks that are not essential. Then choose the four most important tasks for the day and complete them right at the beginning. This way, you can be sure that the important tasks are actually completed at the end of the day.
Don't let urgent tasks get in the way of your plan. Stick to your plan!
Automate activities to create more time
Efficiency is a great thing, but there comes a point of diminishing returns when you use efficiency as your only productivity strategy. The faster you work, the more work you have to do. If an activity is repetitive, try to automate it. A good place to start is to automate phone or mail-based appointment scheduling with a tool like Calenso.
Plan your breaks - and then actually take them
Many people forget to take regular breaks because they are so busy. This can lead to fatigue or even occupational illness. Studies show that breaks have a positive impact on performance and improve mental well-being. Therefore, plan your breaks in addition to your tasks.
Enter a buffer time
Sometimes you have to work longer on your task than originally planned. If you allow enough buffer time, you can still stick to your schedule for the day. Don't forget that you will probably have to go to the toilet or eat a snack during a task.
Avoid distractions
You're probably familiar with the situation where you just want to quickly check a message on your smartphone and the 30 minutes you wasted on social media have flown by. Humans are controlled by emotions and hormones, and controlling them is very difficult. It is known that social media and coffee release the hormone dopamine in us, which makes us want more of it. But there are simple ways to resist such distractions. You can't use your smartphone if there is no smartphone nearby. So make sure that your smartphone, the coffee machine and other potential distractions are far away from your workstation. If you are easily distracted by noise, it is also advisable to work with noise-canceling headphones. Try to be aware of all distractions and then eliminate them.
These were six useful tips for better time management that can increase your productivity many times over.
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