Key skills of good Time Management

Do you ever have more work than time available to do it in? If so, you’re not alone! Many of us would love just a few more hours each day. There is never enough time. This is not a new insight, but the pace of life and the pressures on our time have become worse. Unfortunately, you can’t make the day any longer, but what you can do is, take control of the time you do have available.

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Efficient time management is essential for maximizing productivity and achieving goals. This article  provides practical insights into time management strategies for you to 

• Focus on high-priority tasks be more productive and accomplish your goals.
• Benefit from a sense of being in control which reduces stress and feeling overwhelmed.
• Improve your decision-making by highlighting task urgency and importance.

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Key skills to master:

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Skill number 1:  Make regular To-Do Lists that work 

Your To Do-List helps to empty your head and provide you with a plan of action. For it to work it needs to fulfil these criteria:   

• Capture everything that you need to do in the coming period (your choice if it is day, week, month, or quarter), including large and small tasks, to get the full overview out of your head. 
• Each To-Do item needs to be actionable; meaning it should be possible to measure if it is done or not. 
• Break large tasks into smaller ones; a task on your list should not take more than a few hours to finalize.
• Set up a method to keep track of your tasks regularly and strike through (keep visible) what you have done. This confirms you are moving forward and motivates as it gives a feeling of satisfaction.

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Skill number 2: Prioritise what’s urgent AND important

By using the so-called Eisenhower Matrix, also known as the Urgent-Important Matrix, you categorize tasks based on their urgency and importance. This model is attributed to the former American president Dwight D. Eisenhower. Being able to prioritize is a crucial ability when you need to make informed decisions about where to allocate your often limited time and resources effectively.

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The matrix categorizes tasks into four quadrants:

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1. Urgent and Important: tasks that require immediate attention and contribute significantly to your goals or responsibilities. These are the top priorities and should be addressed first.

2. Important but not urgent: tasks that are important for long-term goals or personal development but don't require immediate action. These should be scheduled and managed to prevent them from becoming urgent.

3. Urgent but not important: tasks that demand immediate attention but don't contribute much to your goals or responsibilities. These should be delegated, minimized or automatized to free up time for important tasks.

4. Not urgent and not Important: tasks that are neither urgent nor important well, you got it already, these are distractions and time-wasters that should be eliminated or minimised. 

By putting your tasks or to-dos in the four quadrants, you immediately see what you need to prioritise and take action on and where you are losing time and energy.

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Skill number 3: Effective scheduling/time blocking

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Time blocking is a method of scheduling specific time slots for different tasks or activities. By allocating dedicated blocks of time to essential tasks, you can focus your energy and attention, minimise multitasking, and maintain momentum throughout the day. These are important steps to schedule effectively: 

• Identify available time - be realistic in what time you actually have available after you have removed all non-available time like fixed meetings, appointments, breaks, travel etc. 
• Block out time for essential tasks - start planning time for your top priorities (important and urgent tasks) including preparation/follow up of meetings etc to make sure these are in your schedule. 
• Estimate how much time you need to set aside for unpredicted events/requests that ask for your attention. Block buffer time for these requests that might come from colleagues, your manager, family, clients etc
• Use the leftover time for high importance/low urgency tasks and plan ahead when to deal with these to avoid them becoming urgent.

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A final tip!

One thing is to set up a schedule and prioritize the tasks; another thing is to stick to it. Here are three reflective questions to ask yourself every time a new task comes up and want to get onto your already full To-Do List:  

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 Is it really important and urgent? Is it my responsibility? What if it is not done at all?

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