None of us are born with time management skills, nor are they inherited within us. Take your parents, for instance, they seem to be really organized, though they took years to develop this ability. Similarly, time management skills aren’t ingrained from childbirth. And luckily, there is no time period for learning them, they can be learned by anyone at any point of time. There comes time again. If you have the time, you can learn and incorporate time management skills in you in no time. With some adjustments in your daily habits and patterns, you can easily practice time management skills and help yourself in planning and putting your plans into action. By following certain principles, you will soon discover that you are able to complete more than you actually do currently. To add on, the highest achievers in all walks of life are those who utilize these skills to their best, be it business professionals, sportsmen, or public service personnel. To function effectively without any unwanted pressure, integrating these time management skills are of utmost importance. Read on further for different skills required for time management.
Time Management Skills
Prioritize
Often, we find people doing different things one after the other without realizing and categorizing them according to their relevance. In such a situation, they usually end up completing things that are less relevant while leaving the most important ones unfinished. Though everything needs to be done at the same time, it is better to access and prioritize every single task before you begin working on it. Hence, planning and prioritizing activities is the primary step towards building good time management skills. List down all the things to be done, according to their importance, indicating how much time will be required to complete each of them. In case you find any problem in dividing the things as per their importance, check out their productivity and emphasize more on the most productive work.
Be Flexible
It is not necessary that you may end up doing things that way you have planned and prioritized. You should be prepared for the unexpected and hence, be flexible. Say, for instance, if you’d estimated to complete a particular task in one hour and you took some more time due to unforeseen reasons, do not be frustrated and lose your control. For, if you do, it will affect your productivity as your energies will be exhausted in your anger. Instead of cursing yourself, make adjustments in your to-do list and proceed with the next most important task, leaving the least important ones for the next day.
Divide Work
To avoid your productivity from falling below your expectations and the set level, divide your work amongst your co-workers or colleagues. Pick up the major tasks yourself and distribute the lesser important tasks to them. This way, you can be sure about giving your 100% to the utmost significant tasks, while getting the lesser significant tasks also accomplished, at the same time, though by your colleagues.
Learn to Say “No”
Overloading yourself with too much work, because you have committed, only leads to tremendous pressure, resulting in delayed work. Besides, peer pressure can lead to damaging situations, affecting your efficiency and productivity of accomplishing the assigned tasks. Hence, whenever low priority requests come your way, learn to refuse and say no. This will give you more time to spend on tasks that are comparatively important.
Do Not be a Perfectionist
Agreed that you desire to give in your best to fulfill an assigned task, but not all tasks demand the same kind of dedication and hard work. There is a difference between tasks that should be done brilliantly and tasks that just have to be done. As such, don't waste time perfecting tasks that need not be perfected. However, when it comes to important task, don't lose that streak of perfectionism in you.
Break Up Work
Tasks that are likely to take a couple of days to be fulfilled should not be targeted for completion in a single day. Be practical and logical. Divide all the longer tasks into parts, allocating each part for each day to be accomplished. Although completing the entire task at one go will take the same amount of time prior to planning and segregating it into parts, but fulfilling one part at a time will improve your efficiency and keep you interested in the work. Furthermore, you will be able to complete the lesser important tasks, in between, without giving them much time.
Lastly, mastering time management is not something that can be achieved in a day. By practicing over a period of few days and with some determination, you can easily attain proficiency. Give it some time, and time management skills will soon become a part of your habit, enabling you to perform tasks efficiently and effortlessly.
