Time management is one of the most essential skills. In fact, successful people know how to manage their personal time intelligently. Everyone has 24 hours in a day, but not everyone gets the job done well. If you are looking for a method to use your time properly, check out the following article of Fastdo!
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1. What is time management?
Simply put, personal time management skills are the arrangement and division of tasks that need to be completed within a certain time. Detailed planning will help us optimize work performance. Depending on your purpose, you can plan your work by day, by week or by month, year…
2. Why is time management essential at work?
As mentioned above, time management is a very important skill. Effective time management will help you get more done. Here are the specific benefits of time management.
2.1 Increase productivity and work efficiency
Time management will help you improve productivity and achieve high quality work. The same job and the same amount of time, but the work efficiency of each person will be different. This means that the person who knows how to make the most of his time will complete the task comfortably and on schedule. In contrast, people who do not know how to manage time easily fall into a state of stress, “racing” with work.
2.2 Reduce work pressure
In fact, time management is a way for you to relieve pressure. Specifically, dividing and performing work scientifically according to a pre-planned plan will help you solve all problems. Moreover, a relaxed mind will help you to be more effective at work.
2.3 Quickly achieve success
If you organize your work properly, you are likely to get the job done sooner and more accurately. Then you can easily achieve success in stages. In contrast, people who work on emotions are more likely to fail because they don’t meet deadlines or forget about tasks.
2.4 Reasonable life balance
We all have 24 hours a day to dedicate to ourselves, family, work. The scientific time arrangement will help you have a reasonable life balance. This means you can both focus on getting things done well and have enough time to relax, take care of your loved ones and yourself.
2.5 Push back bad habits
Why does scientific time arrangement contribute to eliminating bad habits? For some reason, procrastination not only lowers your own ability, but also affects the overall progress of your work. Therefore, you should build a detailed work plan to limit bad habits!
3. Skills required to organize and manage time effectively
We all know that a reasonable division of time will improve the quality of work. However, how to organize your time effectively? Check out the content below to understand the smart time management methods !
3.1 Know how to distinguish work levels
Distinguishing work levels will help you know how to manage your time accordingly. You should divide the work into two levels including urgent and important. These “urgent jobs” will often require your immediate attention. However, whether you have to do it right away is not necessarily the point. As for “important work”, if you don’t do it, it will cause many consequences later.
3.2 Setting goals
Setting specific goals is considered an extremely effective time management skill. Defining your goals will give you more motivation to try. However, you need to establish an accurate and achievable purpose. You can refer to how to set SMART goals.
- Specific: Define clear, specific goals from the outset.
- Measurable: Goals need to be measured to see if you’re achieving them.
- Attainable: The goal is achievable. You need to choose a goal that suits your ability.
- Relevant: Goals should be relevant to your life and work to keep you motivated.
- Time-bound: Break big goals into small goals for best completion.
3.3 Develop an effective plan
After setting a specific goal, you need to know how to plan your work. Having a plan will help you make the best use of your time and be productive. Here are planning skills that you can refer to:
- Step 1: Set big goals
- Step 2: Develop a plan by identifying the small tasks that need to be completed to achieve the big goal
- Step 3: Prepare knowledge and skills to perform well the steps outlined in the plan.
- Step 4: Calculate a reasonable time
- Step 5: Determine the method to track goal achievement
3.4 Avoid planning “multitasking”
“Multitasking” means doing more than one thing at the same time. If you don’t have enough expertise, then Multitasking is not right for you. Better yet, you should break down the task to complete it step by step. Along with that, focusing on single tasks will increase efficiency.
3.5 Psychological adjustment
Keeping yourself comfortable is one of the ways to be effective at work. For that reason, if you have a relaxed, stress-free mind, you will make more accurate and rational decisions. Here are ways to help you adjust your mind:
- Laugh: This action helps you reduce stress hormones and increase happiness.
- Meditation: According to research, meditating for at least 10 minutes helps relieve stress.
- Eat dark chocolate: This food helps you reduce stress and fatigue
- Listen to music: Enjoy a favorite song that will make you relax and comfortable
- Dancing: This activity is both uplifting and healthy.
3.6 Deal with the “stealer” of time
In the process of trying to accomplish your goals, you will likely encounter people or factors that distract you. The “time thieves” can be personal matters, colleagues ask questions… Better yet, you need to solve this problem so as not to affect the quality of work.
4. Smart time management method of successful people
In fact, successful people know how to use their time wisely. We can learn this skill. Some of the time management methods used by successful people are:
4.1 The Most Important Tasks (MIT) method of time management
Most Important Tasks will focus on some of the most important things to do during the day. This method will assist you in dividing the work properly to save time. Priority tasks should be in the Urgent & Important category in the Eisenhower Matrix.
4.2 Eisenhower Matrix Time Management Method
The Eisenhower Matrix is a model that includes four criteria: Urgent and non-urgent; Important and unimportant. You should organize your work based on this model to prioritize the important tasks that need to be done right away. This matrix will support decision making and efficient use of time.
4.3 Pomodoro method
The Pomodoro method will help you stay focused at work. Specifically, you will work on a 25-minute cycle, then take a 5-minute break and repeat the process. According to research, this way will create time pressure for you to pay attention to work. In addition, a reasonable rest time will be beneficial to your health and give you a feeling of relaxation.
4.4 Method The 2-Minute Rule
This rule was mentioned by author David Allen in Getting Things Done. The point of this method is that you should not delay what can be done for less than 2 minutes. Right now, try to list and do the things you can do in 2 minutes!
4.5 Batching Method (Teamwork)
Batching is a method written by Tim Farris in his book “The 4-Hour Workweek.” This method recommends you work in groups for unimportant, not-yet-essential tasks.
5. Effective time management method in business
For businesses, smart time scheduling will bring many benefits. The following content will share methods of allocating reasonable time in the organization. Check it out now!
5.1 4D Rule (Do – Dump – Delegate – Defer)
The trick to the 4D rule is to tackle one task before another. The 4D method consists of 4 elements. Specifically:
- Do: Asking you to do the important work right in front of you.
- Dump: A way to save time when giving up meaningless tasks.
- Delegate Is assigning work to people to do better.
- Defer: Make a to-do list to defer.
5.2 The 80/20 Principle (Pareto)
In general, this principle emphasizes that 80% of the results will be generated by 20% of the contributions. Therefore, you should apply this method to determine the 20% of priority tasks that lead to the best results. The Pareto Principle will focus on specific tasks, so the use of time will be more effective.
5.3 Rule 40 – 30 – 20 – 10
It is also an effective time management method as well as a sensible business. Applying the 40 – 30 – 20 – 10 rule, you should spend 40% of your time doing the most important things, 30% of the time doing the second most important things. Next, you spend 20% of your time doing the third most important thing and 10% of the time doing everything combined.
6. How to effectively manage time at work
You should apply the secrets to make the most of your time. In particular, the office environment will have a large workload and time pressure. Therefore, you need to pay attention to the arrangement and management of work accordingly.
6.1 Organize and break down work
Better yet, you should organize your work in order of priority. Alternatively, you can break a big goal into small tasks. Completing each step will help optimize productivity and make you more professional and efficient.
6.2 Organize your workspace
Maybe you don’t pay too much attention to this! However, the workspace will affect your concentration level! Items on the desk or papers thrown around will cause you to worry. So you should take the time to rearrange your desk!
6.3 Note the tasks clearly
You will work more professionally and scientifically if you clearly note the tasks that need to be done. Moreover, clear notes will help you increase your motivation to complete the task. In addition, you will never forget a job or miss a deadline if you have made detailed and complete notes.
6.4 Training to improve skills
Besides effective time management skills, you should practice other office skills. Typing with 10 fingers will save you a lot of time. Using support tools or knowing how to find information also contributes to improving work productivity. In addition, highly specialized skills will assist you to solve problems more effectively.
6.5 Using task management software
Nowadays, task management software is very popular. Therefore, you can completely use task management applications to save time. One of the software you should try is Fastdo’s F-Todolist.
This tool allows you to set up tasks and manage tasks completed for the day efficiently. Thereby, you can arrange the most optimal time for the job to be completed on time. In addition, you can check-in or check-out work with the team or company easily. The application also has the function of statistics of individual, departmental, and team work results for you to use as motivation for the next tasks.
Above is the content shared on how to effectively manage time that Fastdo wants to send to you. The division and reasonable work arrangement will help you optimize working time. Besides, don’t forget to use software to help you make to-do lists and organize smart time. That way, you’ll get the most out of your working day.
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