“I don’t have time”, “I don’t have enough time”, “I can’t do everything”… Surely you have uttered some of these phrases in a moment of overwhelm! You look at your to-do list and no matter how many of them you cross off, it keeps growing. Don’t worry, it’s normal. In this post we are going to tell you how to manage time effectively and not die trying.
Time management is the process by which a person divides his or her hours according to the hours he or she has to work. When you manage your time efficiently, you increase your productivity and improve your quality of life. It sounds simple, but putting it into practice is not so simple.
Today we tell you how to manage time effectively and not die trying. Ready to make the most of your 24 hours?
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Find out what you spend your time on
Social networks, inopportune phone calls, WhatsApp, emails that keep coming, unproductive meetings that could be an email… They are usually small activities that seem to steal only a couple of minutes, however, at the end of the day they add up to large amounts of time because they interrupt your concentration. The best thing to do is to identify those “time thieves”, review mentally (or on paper) all the activities you have done and those that you have thought have stolen your time.
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Plan, plan, plan
Either at the end of the workday the day before or before you start work, spend ten minutes planning the tasks you have to complete. Write it down in a planner, notebook or on your computer, and note how long you think it might take you to complete them.
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Prioritizing is key
Surely throughout the day you have dozens of tasks that are not important or urgent. Identify which tasks have the highest priority and put them first.
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Learn to delegate
There are many tasks that can be done by other colleagues who are less busy, more specialized in a particular subject or more agile with certain tools. Ask for help for those activities you need it.
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Saying no is also important
Don’t be afraid to say no from time to time, especially when your to-do list is growing and you are not on time for deliverables. Also, you can use phrases like “I can’t right now”, “if I get rid of X, we’ll see you later” or “let’s sit down later, it’s impossible now” to be more subtle.
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Unforeseen events appear at any time
If earlier we talked about those “time thieves”, now it is time to talk about unforeseen events, also called fires. Leave time for problems that may arise along the way, from tasks that get complicated to things that don’t arrive on time.
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Take breaks
Breaks are important to increase performance, take short breaks of five or ten minutes every hour or every two hours. Plus, after working remotely for so long, these breaks will help you connect with your colleagues. The pomodoro technique is a very effective way to organize breaks and plan time for maximum concentration.
Now that you know how to manage your time effectively and not die trying, don’t miss the 8 apps you can’t miss to improve your productivity.
