When it comes to managing our time efficiently at work, some of us are definitely better than others. Time is precious—you can never get back those minutes you lost while you were trying to procrastinate your weekly tasks. The way you manage your time parallels closely with your work-life balance. If you’re spending much more time at work than living your life, then you may want to consider more efficient ways to manage your time. Its possible you’re losing valuable time at work; with these three tips, hopefully you’ll find yourself with time to spare.
1. Set SMART Goals
When you’re setting goals for yourself at the beginning of the week, it’s important to remember to stay SMART—Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Rather than mindlessly making goals without actually knowing if they’re reasonable for yourself, you should make sure each of your goals falls in-line with this acronym.
- Specific: Be specific about what you want to accomplish in your goals.
- Measurable: Make sure there is a way for you to know when you’ve accomplished your goal.
- Attainable: If your goal is unattainable for you, then you’ll never complete it. Be realistic with your goals.
- Relevant: Be honest with yourself, is this relevant to you and your company? If not, you may want to direct your attention elsewhere.
- Time-bound: Set a reasonable due date for yourself.
2. Prioritize
Deciding which of your goals take priority over other can sometimes be a bit difficult. Ultimately, all of your goals are important otherwise they wouldn’t be goals. Don’t sort by how important you think they are, but rather on their urgency. If one goal needs to be completed by the end of the week, it should definitely take priority over a quarterly goal. When prioritizing your goals, consider their urgency like this:
- Daily
- Weekly
- Monthly
- Quarterly
This isn’t to say that you should push all long-term goals off until you no longer have time for them, but that you can take your time completing them. Working on them little by little throughout your work day while completing other more time-sensitive goals quicker.
3. Plan ahead
Many people find that making To-Do lists helpful to tackling all of their goals in a day or week. Figuring out what you need to do every day takes time away from actually getting things done. If you have all of your To-Do’s figured out at the beginning of the day, you can seamlessly move from one item to another.
Managing your time can seem like a daunting task. But the more efficient you are with your time, the more balanced your life can become. Consider these tips when you’re going throughout your work week.
If you still find yourself pressed for time, perhaps consider how an answering service can take some of the load off. Dexcomm has experience helping companies attain a better work-life balance and managing their time better!
