Time management, or productivity, is a recurring theme in conversations with busy professionals. It is easy to reach the end of a full day and feel that little of real value was achieved. Being busy does not strictly equate to being productive. The key to time management is to focus on being as productive as possible within the time available. The following five practical tips can help anyone take control of their day and do less while achieving more.
Define your top three tasks
It is not possible to achieve as much as you might think in a single day, which is why so many people finish work feeling stressed and demotivated. If you strip your task list back to just three top priorities, you can end each day with a genuine sense of achievement, knowing you completed what you set out to do that morning. To help decide which tasks to focus on, Stephen Covey's distinction between urgent and important tasks, set out in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, offers a useful framework.
Take a break
The importance of taking breaks to avoid mental fatigue is easy to overlook. The Pomodoro Technique is a simple way of structuring breaks and improving productivity. Developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s and named after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer he used as a university student, it works by dividing the day into 25-minute chunks of focused work, each followed by a short five-minute break. After several of these intervals have passed, a longer break of 15 to 20 minutes is taken before the cycle repeats. Further detail on the method is available at the Pomodoro Technique website.
Answer emails three times a day
Unless a particular role requires an immediate response, it is often more effective to read and reply to emails just three times a day. Once each email session is complete, closing the email application helps to avoid further distraction and keeps attention on the task in hand.
Avoid distractions
Distractions are one of the biggest drains on productivity. Consider whether your phone rings constantly, whether a colleague frequently interrupts you, or whether your working environment is comfortable enough to concentrate in. Eliminating these interruptions where possible makes it far easier to complete a task, or a meaningful section of one, in a single focused effort.
Use the tools of the trade
Embracing the right technology helps you take ownership of how you manage your day. Software such as Evernote is designed to link existing task-management systems together in one digital space, making it easier to keep track of everything in one place rather than across scattered notes and applications.
Making the changes stick
These tips sound simple, but the challenge is avoiding a slip back into old habits. Committing to a new routine for three to four weeks gives a new habit time to become automatic. It helps to attach the new habit to a daily activity that already happens at the same time each day, creating a pattern that embeds the behaviour into an existing routine. Keeping things simple to begin with, and changing just one aspect of the working day at a time, allows small successes to build momentum and inspire further improvements in the months that follow.
How Professional Academy Supports Your Journey
Strong time management underpins success across marketing, sales and management roles alike. Professional Academy delivers marketing, sales, and management and leadership qualifications, available as bespoke in-company training for organisations as well as for individuals looking to progress in their careers. To discuss the right route for your personal development, the qualification advice team is on hand to help.
Find out more about in-company training or speak directly with the team.
