As you progress through the various stages of management, your time will get more and more stretched. There is a lot on your plate sometimes, and with that comes challenges with managing time. Which employee situations are most challenging for you as a manager? How many of the most frequently occurring fires can be prevented or have their impact substantially mitigated? In advance? Way in advance? And every step of the way? Do you have enough time to coach your team? The reality is that a lot of people get stuck in managing on autopilot. Most often, it’s because of how their most valuable resource, time, is spent.
How do most managers spend their time? Unfortunately, it is often on non-value-added tasks. Attending too many mediocre meetings, which are the #1-time suck for managers. Wading through a never-ending tidal wave of email. Touching base, checking in, and shooting the breeze instead of following an agenda. Interrupting and being interrupted. You need to be more effective in managing time. If the goal is to efficiently get work done each day, how can you with so much time wasted? How can you and others be more effective?
You don’t always need to do more. You sometimes just need to prioritize and set goals. Eliminating tasks that provide little value is helpful too. Work smarter, not harder. Help your team identify where time is wasted and eliminate those situations from happening again with these key tips to evolve your time management skills to the next level:
Perform A Time Audit
Spend 1 week documenting how you spend your time. Break the day into 15-minute increments and create a log of what was completed. To make it easy, code everything into the following categories: Meeting, Task, Email, Interruption, Waste. At the end of the week, add up all the categories and see where your time is spent. Work to improve managing your time going forward in these areas to be more effective.
Learn To Say No To Meetings
Are all meetings effective? Nope. Are you needed at each meeting? Nope. Should there have even been a meeting about this topic? Nope. Your time is valuable, just like your money. Spend it wisely. Sometimes, you just need to say no.
Be Strategic With Your Schedule
Spend your time on what matters, the priorities. Don’t get bogged down by useless stuff not worthy of your time. If it can be delegated, move it along to someone else.
Focus On The Important And Urgent Only
Respect the person, but not the interruption. People are going to interrupt you. They may ask for help, or they may just want to socialize. Don’t be rude. Let them know you are working on something important and urgent. Ask that they park what they have for right now until a better time presents itself. When the time is right, show them the respect of your full attention (if the interruption in question is worth it to you).
Time Is The Most Valuable Resource
There is only so much time available. Traditionally, most people work a minimum of 40 hours per week, so every moment counts. More on our thoughts on 40 hours per week to come (spoiler alert: you can get everything accomplished in way less time).
To be more effective prioritizing is key. Try the tactics outlined, and you will gain more time back in your day, becoming way more effective to help you evolve your management skills.
