The top five time management practices are often considered the best techniques by those who use them and the most recommended by experts. Check out the five suggested actions below to create a time management system that best suits your personal needs.
1. Create a daily “to do” list. This is always the number one tip from time management experts, business leaders, and others who are good at managing their time. Having a list of necessary and pleasant tasks focuses thoughts on work so that nothing important is neglected. It allows the list creator the opportunity to plan their day. Keeping the list always at hand makes it easy to add new items as they come up and mark completed items. Reviewing checked off tasks can help motivate the user to continue completing tasks and feel a great sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.
2. Write down the appointments. Jotting down is another axiom of time management experts, not just for your “to do” list but for your appointment calendar as well. Writing appointments on a calendar when they are done frees up your mind for other creative things. It also helps to avoid forgetting the meeting or appointment in the future. It should become a regular practice to check your calendar at the start of each day to make sure you don’t miss anything. By checking appointments, a decision can be made to attend, send a substitute, or attempt to reschedule if necessary.
3. Determine work priorities. Determining what work is important to get done each day and what can be put off for another time is another key to better time management. A high-priority task or appointment would relate to an important project, something that can lead to progress, or a promise owed to another. Low-priority to-do list items are those that are enjoyable to do but are not immediately needed or may be requested to attend a meeting where personal involvement is not required. Medium priority would be regular work tasks or standard team meetings.
4.Set alarms. Those who find that they are often late for meetings or forget other kinds of appointments find that setting an alarm on a watch, computer, or phone works very well as a reminder. Set the alarm at least ten minutes before the appointment start time so that the necessary data can be collected and allow walking to the meeting room. If the appointment is not in the same building, set the alarm further away to allow for travel time. Some people even reset their alarm when they are in a meeting for 10 minutes before the meeting ends to ensure adequate time for the meeting to close and still leave on time.
5. Break up big projects. Many people find that they put off starting big projects because they find it too much or too difficult to achieve. To make it easier to start a large project, break it down into several subtasks. Then plan to add different subtasks to daily “to do” lists by working backwards from the due date in the order the tasks need to be done. In this way, each subtask becomes part of the scheduled work and the project is completed on time. Some experts refer to this simple project management process as “the Swiss cheese method,” since you’re poking holes in the biggest cheese (project) until it’s all gone (tasks done).
Building on the five tips above, create a personal time management system that fits individual needs. Be sure to consider these top five time management practices in the future to improve the techniques being used and recommend those you find effective to others.