The top five time management practices are often considered the best techniques by those who use them and the most recommended by experts. Check out the five suggested actions below to create a time management system that is best suited to your personal needs.
1. Create a daily “to do” list. This is always the number one tip from time management experts, business leaders, and others who know how to manage their time. Having a list of necessary and enjoyable tasks focuses your thoughts on work so that nothing important is neglected. Allow the list builder the opportunity to plan their day. Keeping the list always close at hand makes it easy to add new items as they emerge and mark completed items. Reviewing marked tasks can help motivate the user to continue completing tasks and feel a great sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.
2. Write down the appointments. Jotting it down is another axiom of time management experts, not only for the “to do” list but also for the appointment calendar. Writing appointments on a calendar when they are made frees the mind for other creative things. It also helps to avoid forgetting the meeting or appointment in the future. It should become a regular practice to check the calendar at the beginning of each day to make sure nothing is missed. By checking appointments, a decision can be made to attend, send a substitute, or attempt to reschedule if necessary.
3. Determine work priorities. Determining what work is important to do each day and what can be postponed to another time is another key to improving time management. A high-priority task or appointment would relate to an important project, something that may lead to advancement, or a promise owed to someone else. Low priority to-do list items are those that are enjoyable but not needed immediately or can be requested to attend a meeting where no personal input is required. Medium priority would be regular work tasks or standard team meetings.
4. Set alarms. Those who find that they are often late for meetings or forget other types of appointments find that setting the alarm on a watch, computer, or phone works great as a reminder. Set the alarm at least ten minutes before the appointment start time so that you can collect the necessary data and be able to walk to the meeting room. If the appointment is not in the same building, set the alarm more to allow travel time. Some people even reset their alarm when they are in a meeting for 10 minutes before the meeting ends to ensure proper time for the meeting to conclude and still be able to leave on time.
5. Break up the big projects. Many people find that they put off starting big projects because it seems too much to do or too difficult to accomplish. To make it easier to start a large project, divide it into several subtasks. Then plan to add different subtasks to the daily “to do” lists working backward from the due date in the order in which the tasks need to be completed. In this way, each subtask becomes part of the scheduled work and the project is completed on time. Some experts refer to this simple project management process as “the Swiss cheese method” as you are poking holes in the larger cheese (project) until it is all done (tasks done).
Building on the five tips above, create a personal time management system that is tailored to individual needs. Be sure to consider these top five time management practices in the future to improve your techniques and recommend those that are effective for others.
