There Are 7 Tips For Mastering Time Management

Time man that is all about working smarter, not harder. It’s more than scheduling your time; it’s maximizing the productivity of each day so you can get more done and achieve your goals faster than ever before. Here are seven tips to help you master Time Management so you can get back to doing what matters to you—and have more time to enjoy it!

1) Plan your day

Planning your day is one of many steps in a larger practice of time management. It will help you to work and live more efficiently by telling you exactly how much time you need to accomplish any particular task. A planner, particularly a digital planner such as Trello or Google Calendar, can help make sure that every activity gets its due consideration. By knowing when and where the activity will take place—and what resources it requires—you’ll be able to avoid scheduling conflicts and other roadblocks. You can also use planning to create space in your schedule for activities that aren’t directly related to work; whether it’s taking time out for exercise or family time, planning gives you something concrete to tell others about what’s coming up in your life.

2) Prioritize

Start with one thing on your to-do list. Cut everything else out and spend as much time as you can on that one thing. Set a timer for 30 minutes and try to knock it out of the park. If you finish, great! If not, take a break and grab another task from your to-do list. Repeat until you’ve completed everything on your list.

3) Learn to say no

When you’re juggling a ton of responsibilities, it can be difficult to see where or how your time is getting eaten up. Learning to say no gives you more time and energy—the type that allows you to prioritize what matters. It doesn’t mean ignoring opportunities; rather, it’s about learning when and how to say no so you can focus on what truly makes sense for your professional future. Figure out how many tasks you can realistically complete each day and try making a list of things that take away from those hours. Review that list regularly and ask yourself: Is it worth saying yes? If not, then don’t!

4) Use technology to your advantage

Using apps like Asana and Trello can help you to manage your team, plan your projects, and keep on top of tasks. When you automate as much of your workflow as possible, you free up more time to dedicate to deep thinking. But don’t just take my word for it—Google is even implementing a company-wide initiative called inbox zero that will incentivize employees with real monetary rewards if they commit to staying on top of their emails. Another win-win!

5) Know your limits

For starters, time management means taking a hard look at your daily activities and deciding which ones need to be done. Sounds obvious, but most of us spend much of our day doing things that aren’t important or enjoyable. If you’re short on time and want to get more things done each day, stop trying to do it all! The first step in learning how to manage your time better is knowing what you can—and can’t—do. You might find that cutting out 15 minutes of Facebook per day will allow you an extra hour of free time later in the week.

6) Ditch multitasking

Multitasking is a myth; we all think we’re doing it, but research shows that our brains can’t multitask. Instead, what we do is quickly shift from one task to another and back again, which leads to distraction and mistakes (and then more distraction). Turn off your computer’s auto-refresh function. Research shows that every time an email pops up on your screen—even if you don’t read it—it takes an average of 23 minutes to return to whatever you were working on before.

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