Time Management Essentials

How you spend your time determines how effective you are. We all have the same amount of hours in the day. Unfortunately, many people don’t use their time effectively. For example, some people sleep 10-12 hours, wasting half of their day in bed. Don’t waste your time. The reality is that a lot of people get stuck managing in autopilot. Most often, it’s because of how their most valuable resource, time, is spent. You need to ask yourself, what’s the most effective use of your time right now? Remember, the most expensive employees are not the highest-paid – they are the ones who the least productive. If you can master time management as a skill, you can achieve tremendous things in life and business.

The Importance of Time

Time is the greatest resource. If you can monetize giving people their time back, that’s what can make the difference. Give people their time back. Eliminate wait times by becoming more efficient. Simplify processes and make the experience easy. It’s time to rethink and evolve the approach to managing time.

Priorities

Busy or productive … there is a difference. It’s OK to be busy if you are productive, working on the tasks that provide the most value. Too many employees lack focus because the work that they are doing isn’t prioritized, making them less productive. One of the keys to success is prioritizing effectively. Doing so will help ensure that you are productive instead of just being busy.

How to prioritize effectively

1. You need a list
2. Next, reduce your list
3. Determine what’s urgent & important
4. Decide what can be delegated
5. Establish value in the task
6. Set a tight deadline
7. Get it done

Ask yourself – what’s the one thing that I can achieve today that justifies my whole week’s work? Then do nothing until you complete that task. Remember, the power of the 80/20 rule. Identify the 20% of efforts that lead to 80% of your results. Focus on that 20% as your main priority.

Increasing your time management skills

1. Monitor how you use your time – perform a time audit
2. Calculate how much your time is worth – what’s the value of your time?
3. Create a daily schedule – define your goals, setting tight timelines
4. Prioritize ruthlessly – does everything deserve a spot on your to-do list?
5. Learn to say no – attend only useful meetings
6. Remove distractions and time-sucks – add them to a stop list
7. Bundle like tasks together – group similar tasks together and do them in batches
8. Avoid interruptions – stop procrastinating
9. Work when, how, and where you can be successful – understand your energy cycles
10. Organize yourself – work in your strength zone

Meetings and time management

Stop attending useless meetings. Don’t get robbed in your next meeting. Don’t give away lots of money attending an unnecessary meeting. Does everyone need to participate in a meeting? Nope. Be selective.

Here are some tips for more productive meetings:

1. Determine if the meeting should happen or be moved to another form of communication
2. Don’t invite everyone, not everyone is needed
3. Ask everyone to arrive at least a minimum of five minutes early
4. Discuss sensitive issues before the meeting
5. Plan small meetings that focus on a single issue
6. A larger meeting should have a prepared agenda with a max of 4-5 items total
7. Decline meetings with vague agendas or ask for clarification
8. Allocate appropriate time, not too long or too short
9. Ensure everyone knows their role during the meeting (i.e., who is taking meeting notes?)
10. Once the session is over, don’t linger and waste time
11. Send copies of the meeting notes to everyone to confirm action items and understanding

Final thoughts

Focus on the things that matter most to you. Instead of spending your time, why don’t you invest it? Time is the one thing you can never get back. Invest your time in yourself and move forward. Remember, if you don’t like change, you will like irrelevance even less. Keep evolving. All highly competent people search for ways to keep learning, growing, and improving. Remember the following takeaways and you will better master how you manage your time.

• You don’t have to do everything – prioritize. Just because you like doing something doesn’t mean it should say on your to-do list. If it’s a strength, do it. If it helps you grow, do it. Anything else, stop it.

• In most organizations, a 30-hour work week is 100% possible. Given the right structure and environment, 30 hours per week will yield the same or better results than a 40-hour work week. People use their time effectively, can get away with working fewer hours.

• Eliminate surprises. If you aim to be more proactive than reactive, surprises disappear. With the right level of planning, organizational, and time management skills, prioritize what matters.

• Work when, where, and how you can be most successful in producing results. Invest your time wisely. How you invest or spend your time defines who you are.

For a regular dose of advice, tips, and tricks, follow me or my podcast, The Chris Hanna Show on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, or visit Evolving Management for more solutions. Let’s connect.