In today’s busy office, what we all feel like we could use more of is time. Many workplaces are dealing with tighter budgets, a scaled down workforce, increased workload, and greater expectations to perform. We can learn all the tricks there are to perform our tasks more efficiently and streamline systems to get more done, but at the end of the day the most important aspect to fitting everything in to your work week is time management. If we can master the planning of our schedules, we just might be a little better off.
6 Tips to Better Manage Your Workday:
- Take 15 minutes at the end of each day to schedule your workflow for the following day. Writing down important tasks for the next business day will also help alleviate stress once you leave the office for the evening.
- Don’t book yourself back to back – allow room in your day for interruptions from colleagues, sending and answering emails and even unexpected phone calls.
- Allow for flexibility – slot space in your calendar for breaks, lunch out of the office, and last minute projects. Giving yourself the extra time in your calendar for extra projects can help manage the stress that comes along with these unexpected requests.
- Be realistic with the time it takes to get something done. Short scheduling or thinking you can rush through a task won’t help you in the long run.
- Get the most important tasks done at the beginning of the day. That way if you do run over or out of time, you can reschedule some of the less important tasks for the following day.
- Make the commitment to yourself to stick to the schedule you set out. Skipping one or two tasks for the day will only make the to-do list for the following days grow longer.
Product Spotlight – shop these favourite products to help you master time management:
DAY-TIMER Solstice Starter Set
fILOFAX Weekly Planners, Fuchsia
AT-A-GLANCE Marrakesh Collection, Weekly/Monthly Planner
What are you best time management tips? Share them with us in the comments below, or tweet us @StaplesBusAdv!
