Whether you’re standing or lying down, two thousand… hang on! Those days are gone. Both employers and employees know this. (Almost) everyone now wants to do their job well, efficiently and on time. And for that, proper task and time management is essential. Here are 10 quick tips on the subject.
Tidy up your workspace
A tip to start with: before you start managing your time and tasks, get your surroundings in order. A cluttered space distracts everyone around you. And at the worst possible moment, it will cause you trouble.
Make a list
It’s worth breaking large tasks down into smaller parts – this will make them easier to tackle. If you tick them off step by step, the prospect of completing the task won’t seem so far off.
Identify your priorities
There are plenty of tools online to help you with this. One solution is the Eisenhower Matrix. The name sounds intimidating, but it simply involves categorising tasks into four groups. This is illustrated by a square divided into four quadrants. Each quadrant represents different tasks: important and urgent, important and not urgent, unimportant and urgent, and unimportant and not urgent. This allows you to identify the most important tasks and weed out the so-called distractions.
Set a schedule
Based on the list and the categorisation of tasks, decide the order in which to complete them. Of course, the situation may change. That’s why you simply need to update the schedule. But you’ll already have a framework that will help you organise your work better.
Set specific goals
The task must be clearly defined. If you leave room for interpretation for yourself and others, you may find that you were thinking of two different things. Without a specific goal, it is difficult to be effective with your time.
Assign specific people to tasks
This ensures that responsibility for completing them does not become blurred. Each task must, of course, be tailored to the knowledge, skills and experience of the person who is to carry it out. The same task might take one person a moment, and another an age.
Estimate the time and leave a buffer
It’s worth estimating the time needed to complete each task in advance. You can adjust this as you go along, but at least the tasks won’t drag on unnecessarily. Always leave yourself a time buffer for unforeseen events.
Monitor progress
Check whether the work is going according to schedule. Perhaps some changes need to be made? Or should one of the tasks be assigned to someone else?
Don’t put off work until later
This applies to all tasks, but especially the less pleasant ones. You’ll have to do them anyway, so the sooner the better. Besides, if you avoid them, you’ll usually end up disrupting the agreed schedule unnecessarily.
Make it a habit
Believe in the power of effective time and work management! And then make it a habit ☺! This will simply allow you to complete the same tasks more quickly. Or get more done in the same amount of time. Effective work also increases employee satisfaction and motivation. Besides, less chaos at work means less stress for everyone. This, in turn, will help avoid mistakes and improve safety. And that, after all, is what matters most…
