Time is the one resource we all have in equal measure. Yet, how effectively we use it can make a significant difference in our personal and professional lives. As we move into August, the height of summer, balancing work with annual leave and the school holidays can be tricky, so mastering time management is crucial now more than ever. Here, we will explore why managing your time is vital and some essential time management techniques that you can start to implement today.
Identify your most difficult task of the day and complete it before you do any other work. If you have to eat 2 frogs, eat the bigger one first. Identify which task is more challenging, and do that first thing to get it out of the way and start your day with a great accomplishment.
This helps you decide on and prioritise tasks by urgency and importance, identifying which tasks require your urgent attention and which will help you achieve your long-term goals. You can also determine less urgent and important tasks which you should either delegate or not do at all.
This technique is based on 25-minute stretches of focused work broken by 5-minute breaks. After 4 consecutive 'Pomodoro' work intervals, take a longer break of 30 minutes to do something non-work related and give your brain a break. This allows you to break down projects into more manageable tasks and encourages you to fight procrastination.
This method has you divide your day into blocks of time, for example, half-hour or one-hour chunks. Each block is dedicated to completing a specific task, and only that specific task. These can be anything from eating breakfast to writing that all-important report. This technique discourages multitasking to help you improve your focus and optimise your time.
This technique is for the visual thinkers. Imagine a pickle jar full of rocks, pebbles and sand. The jar represents the time you have available in your day, the big rocks represent the most important tasks you need to get done today, the pebbles represent the other important but less urgent tasks, and the sand represents the time-wasting activities such as scrolling on social media or replying to messages. Always place the big rocks in your jar first; prioritising and scheduling your most important tasks. Then add the pebbles; fitting the less critical tasks around the big rocks. Then fill it with sand to use any remaining time for those trivial activities. Remember, if you fill your jar with sand first, there will be no room for those big important rocks!
Time management is more than just a skill—it’s a fundamental aspect of achieving a balanced and successful professional and personal life. Whether you are juggling a long to-do list, multiple project deadlines, the season of summer annual leave or childcare responsibilities, by implementing these effective techniques, you can take control of your time and make great progress towards your goals.
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