Time is the only thing you can spend where you can have nothing to show for it. We\u2019ve all been sucked down the rabbit hole of social media, only to emerge minutes, if not hours later, knowing that other than looking at Robert Downey Junior memes or stalking your high school sweet heart, nothing much has been achieved. It can be depressing and disempowering. We\u2019re all glued to our phones; however, rather than us using our devices as productive tools, we are used by them. Breaking free of the pull of social media \u2014 and using our time more productively, effectively and satisfyingly \u2014 requires discipline. And mindful time management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read on for more time management tips if you\u2019re struggling with ideas on how to manage your work time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you know where and how you spend your time? Like really<\/em> know? Unfortunately, there is often a gap<\/a> between what we think is happening and what is actually happening. Thanks, brain. If you want to manage your time more effectively, you must do an audit. You\u2019ll have deep insights into how you spend your time, and you\u2019ll probably be shocked. Use this data to start tweaking and adjusting your activities so you are spending your time on things that are important to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s all well and good to do a time\nmanagement audit, but if you don\u2019t have a plan, then it\u2019s a waste of time \u2014 pun\nintended. The foundation of a good time management plan should be deciding what\nis important to you<\/em> based on what you want to achieve \u2014 both in the\nshort-term and long-term. If you want to be a published author, watching\nNetflix for six hours every day for \u201cstory, plot and character research\u201d won\u2019t\nhelp you with your goals if you don\u2019t actually write. You\u2019ll also need to\nschedule daily writing and editing time. Yes, time to actually get it done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The brain doesn\u2019t like to think too much, which explains why habits are so hard to kick. Your brain loves being on auto-pilot. It takes a minimum of three weeks to create a new habit, much longer to break a bad one. Your time audit will show you where your \u201cbad\u201d time habits are. Are you on Facebook for two hours before going to work? Twitter for an hour during lunch? Maybe Reddit or Pinterest or News is your addiction? Replace one \u201cbad\u201d time habit at a time with an activity that meets your goals. As you slowly change your routine, new habits will form that will systemise your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A key phase of systemising your schedule and\nmanaging your time is switching off those activities that don\u2019t serve your\npurpose and plan, and turning on those that do. Your audit will identify those\nactivities that gobble up valuable time and add nothing to the quality of your\nlife, and will help you notice those activities that you should be spending\nmore time on but don\u2019t.\nRunning a marathon, if that\u2019s something you want to achieve, won\u2019t happen if\nyou don\u2019t set aside time for training. You\u2019ll have to ensure that your schedule\nreflects your goal, and commit to it so it becomes a habit. But it will take a\nminimum of three weeks, remember? So you\u2019ll have to switch on your discipline\nmode in the meantime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If social media is your downfall, and you are constantly checking in (it\u2019s not you, social media and smart phones have been designed to keep you glued), switch the notifications off on the offending app. Delete all distracting social media apps from your phone, and only use them on your laptop at designated times. Ditto email. Or games. Whatever is your Achilles heel. Check and respond only at allotted times. If you must be on social media for work, be mindful in how you use it. Are you really using it for work, or is this just a justification you tell yourself in order to post a new Boomerang, or engage in a robust debate about the best Avengers movie?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Training your brain to be task and goal oriented \u2014 unless your goal is eating Doritos on the couch in your underwear while you binge-watch Netflix \u2014 takes effort. A way to bypass effort involved it to use the Pomodoro technique<\/a>, where you do what needs to be done but in a set amount of time. It forces your brain out of procrastination mode and into competition and urgency mode. Try a 15 minute sprint first, take a break and then schedule another 15 minutes. Before you know it, you\u2019ll have you brain trained to work in highly productive chunks of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One time management tip that all time management experts swear by is planning. Plan out your week \u2014 schedule meetings, deadlines, tasks, exercise, learning, errands and downtime in your diary or calendar. You can go old school and use paper or a spreadsheet, or use an online calendar or time tracking app like Traqq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Traqq is a time tracking application<\/a> that you can use to monitor and track your tasks, activities and hours. If you\u2019re managing employees, you can easily monitor the productivity of your staff with online timesheets, and build in rewards to incentivise your team.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n Once you have your week planned, plan your day the night before. Know what it is you want to achieve before you start your day will have you rocking your To Do list and feeling super satisfied. And that\u2019s a self-fulfilling prophecy.<\/p>\n\n\nDecide what\u2019s important<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Schedule your time<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Switch it up<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Switch it off<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Time your time<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Planning for productivity<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n