Manage time productively with less stress
Good time management requires an important shift of attention from activities to results: being committed it is not the same as being effective.
Spending the day among a thousand hectic activities often gets little, because you are dividing your attention into many different tasks. Good time management allows you to work more efficiently and easily, so you can get more done in less time.
What is Time Management?
"Time Management" is the process of organization and planning that allows you to divide time into specific activities. Good time management allows you to work smarter and easier, so you can do more in less time, even when time is short and pressures are high. Failing to manage your time damages your effectiveness and causes stress."Time Management" refers to how you organize and plan how much time you spend on specific activities.
It may seem counterintuitive spend precious time learning time management instead of using it to get on with your work, but the benefits are enormous:
Greater productivity and efficiency. A better professional reputation. Less stress. More advancement opportunities. More opportunities to achieve important life and career goals. Ineffective time management can have undesirable consequences:
Deadlines missed. The workflow inefficient. Poor quality of work. A bad professional reputation. Stress levels are higher. Spend a bit of time to learn the techniques of time management will bring huge benefits in terms of efficiency, even when time is limited and the pressures are high.
For a company, the time lost is equivalent to losing money.
In a corporate environment in which employees and qualified professionals are hired on the basis of their contribution and their productivity, and teach them the skills of time management is a great way to get immediate benefits and long-lasting. Why? To track and evaluate the use of their time, but because they will have the opportunity to monitor their progress in the projects and contribute to the success of the company.Be aware of the time take a self-improvement and a more likely achievement of objectives. But this is true both at work and in personal life.
What is the most effective way to manage time?
The adoption of some of these 10 tips is already a good start.Have a time control : find out exactly how you spend your time. In an office, identify the activities that will take away time. Know exactly how you spend your time can help you make decisions, how to delegate some of the activities or use of the software to speed up some processes. Set a time limit for an activity can also be fun. Set a time limit defined, for example, an hour or two. Then try to complete the task within the allotted time, if you succeed, the satisfaction is guaranteed. Avoid perfectionism, don't analyze too much what you do. This means not being careless, but once you have finished a task and given the maximum, you go ahead. Have a list of things to do is always to save time and keep you focused and motivated and let you see and monitor your progress. Planning ahead is a fundamental part of time management. When you know exactly what needs to be done for the day or the week, you'll stay organized and focused. Even spending only a few minutes to plan ahead can transform your way of working. Start the day with your most important tasks . All those stressful tasks, most of your work, the more difficult tasks, do it in the morning. The reason is simple. You have more energy, then you will be able to deal with them in a way that is efficient and competent. Delegate and outsource you can't do everything alone, so if you can delegate. Maybe it is time for you to instruct someone to do some of the simple processes in your work. This allows you to focus on the larger projects, or activities more complicated. Focus on one task at a time : if you're doing an activity, follow it until the end. Avoid abandon your current task and do something else. It is not only poor time management, but also a loss of concentration. You will lose your momentum. Use software tools for time management. The network offers a wide variety of apps and useful tools for the management of the company, in particular for the monitoring and evaluation of the daily processes. Try to use some of the most popular to manage priorities, organize work and manage time.
methods to handle time
Knowing how to manage the time to devote to work activities also involves a judicious use of cycles, work/pause, there are many methods to help you in this, let's look at just some of the most famous.The timeboxing is a simple technique of time management which provides for the assignment in advance of a unit of time, a fixed maximum for a scheduled task, then the task is completed within that time interval. You work on the activity during the period of the predetermined time and stops working once the time has expired, then evaluate if you have achieved the planned objectives. With timeboxing, you allocate periods of time for the purpose of putting a limit inflexible to activities that would wash away too long.
The technique Pomodoro is a popular method of time management developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 80's. The technique uses a timer (from a popular kitchen timer in the shape of a tomato) to subdivide the work into intervals traditionally long 25 minutes, separated by short breaks of a few minutes and longer, even up to half an hour, every four “tomatoes” to rest and to assimilate the new information before the next cycle.
methods to manage priorities
There are several techniques and methods to manage in an analytical way its activities or those of your team, we only see some of the most used.The Matrix of Eisenhower , the Principle urgent/important, Eisenhower helps you to quickly identify the activities on which you should concentrate, in addition to those that you should ignore.
When you are using this tool to prioritize your time, you can face issues which are truly urgent, while working to goals that are important to the long-term.
To use the tool, make a list of all your tasks and list them in one of the following categories:
Important and urgent. Important but not urgent. Not important but urgent. Not important and not urgent. Then schedule the tasks according to their importance and urgency.
The Method MoSCoW is a technique of definition of the priorities used in management, business analysis, project management and software development to reach a common understanding with stakeholders on the importance they attach to the delivery of each requirement.
The method takes its name from the initials of the four categories of prioritization:
M ust Have (Should have) S hould Have (Should have) C ould Have (Could have) W-on't Have this time (Not this time) The project participants will seek initially to provide all the requirements and Must-haves, Should-haves and Could Haves, but the requirements Should and Could be the first to be removed if the delivery time seems unlikely.
The Method, S. M. A. R. T . provides criteria to guide in the setting of objectives for example in project management, in the management of employee performance and development.
S pecific (simple, sensible, significant). M easurable (meaningful, motivational). A chievable (agreed upon, attainable). R elevant (reasonable, realistic, and equipped with resources, based on the results). T ime bound (time-based, time limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive). To pursue the objective, the method suggests to give answers to these questions:
What I want to achieve? Why this goal is important? Who is involved? Where is it located? What resources or limits are involved? Knowing how to manage your time is ultimately the result of the right attitude and commitment to effective for your goals.
Any suggestions or tools that you use, use wisely your time and as a last tip try to always find a few minutes break to rest and relax.
