TIME MANAGEMENT: Three Tips for Improving Your Effectiveness

Prioritise around outcomes

Have you ever found yourself in the middle of a task and realised what you’re doing either won’t get you to where you want to be or simply isn’t the best use of your time?

Before starting a task, think about its purpose. Ask yourself, what result it will achieve. For example; a client asks for a report summarising the work you’ve completed for them. It will be time consuming to prepare and it’s an admin task you don’t enjoy, so you might be tempted to relegate it to the bottom of your ‘to do’ list. But the report will also allow you to communicate your results and the value you deliver to your client’s business, possibly leading to more work in the future. So perhaps this task has more significance than you thought?

Thinking about the outcome will give you a clearer sense of a task’s importance and help you to appropriately prioritise it.

Manage expectations

There’ll be times when your own priorities mean you’re unable to accommodate the needs or priorities of another person. When that happens, it’s important to set their expectations.

Acknowledge the other person’s request. Show that you recognise its importance to them before explaining why you are unable to accommodate it. If the other person feels heard and understands your situation, they’ll be more open to collaborate to find a win: win solution that works for both of you.

Limit interruptions

These are commonplace at work and most of the time we simply deal with them before getting back to the task in hand. But regular interruptions affect our productivity and wellbeing. They increase our workload, our effort and put pressure on us, often making us feel stressed and overloaded.

To stay productive, consider turning off notifications for a brief time while you focus on important tasks or agree times with colleagues when you will be available to answer questions or provide help.