Many of you may have read one or more books on time management, or you have read articles about it, or even attended an in-person workshop or an online webinar. Whatever your starting point, here is just some of what I have observed over the decades I have researched, written about, and conducted workshops on time management—essential ways to make yourself more productive at work.
Prioritize
With only 24 hours in a day, you need to decide what you will focus on each day at work. You might even want to focus on what you will accomplish in any given hour!
Your priority task might be the one that your boss or clients have told you needs to be done by a certain deadline. Or it might be something you have decided needs your attention even if it’s not put there by someone else, such as deciding to register for training to upgrade your skills, or planning an article you want to write for a trade journal to enhance your personal brand.
Assess Time-Wasters
As I discuss in greater detail in my time management books, some of the key time-wasters are procrastination, doing too much at once, fear of success, and fear of failure; to name a few. In today’s workplace, texting and web surfing are major time-wasters. It is key for you to figure out what your time-wasters are. To understand what is causing a particular time-waster and to work on eliminating it, take some time to reflect, sign up for a course, or hire a coach, if necessary.
There are emotional time-wasters, like perfectionism, that we all must recognize and deal with. Too many people think that time-wasters are caused by others. I have observed that most time-wasters are those that we initiate ourselves. For example, surfing the web can be relaxing and a convenient escape from work and everyday responsibilities. But too much of it can keep you from getting simple tasks done at work and cause a loss of focus.
Practice Creative Procrastination
Years ago, I interviewed the prolific author, Isaac Asimov. I asked him how he managed to write several hundred books. He explained that he would have several projects in different typewriters—yes, this was a long time ago!—and if he was blocked on a particular project, he would switch to another one. He would finish all the various projects, but it might not be in a straight line.
That concept really resonated with me especially since at times I find myself getting bored with something and wanting to switch to something else. So, I developed a creative procrastination concept; when you do switch to something else, which is what most procrastinators do, you address another priority task rather than doing something frivolous. In that way, you are moving along your priorities, even if it is not in a typical order. There is an important caveat to this concept, however. You must finish each of the projects and not allow yourself to have untold numbers of incomplete projects that you started and never completed.
Reward Yourself and Others for Accomplishments
If you are self-employed, you need to find a way to reward yourself when you are accomplishing your goals. Make sure the reward you choose is important enough to you to reinforce your increased productivity.
If you work in a company, whether you are a supervisor, CEO, or employee, have regular interactions with those reporting to you so that improvements are noted and areas that need to change are also addressed. When you give feedback about ways that an employee needs to change, always start with the positives. When you discuss areas where improvements are required, provide suggestions about how that might be accomplished or at least brainstorm together to figure out what steps can be taken to achieve those goals that you mutually agree will be most beneficial.
Aim for Work-Life Balance
One of the fascinating facts I learned when researching workaholics is that they tend to be people who have poor time management skills. They find that once they start a task they cannot stop. They keep going, often to the exclusion of the relationships and things that matter most in all our lives. Make sure that in your quest to be more productive at work that you still make the time for family and friends, and even non-work activities, like participating in sports or community activities, that make for a balanced and happier life.
Jan Yager, Ph.D., is a sociologist, coach, and adjunct associate college professor, whose 50-plus award-winning books have been translated into 35 languages. For more information, visit drjanyager.com.