7 WAYS TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE YOUR TIME
Time management is a skill that everyone should have if they want to function effectively in their day to day lives and I will be talking about the 7 ways to manage your time effectively in this article.
Everyone has the gift of 24 hours daily and the more you are able to manage your time productively, the better for you. You will sometimes find yourself faced with projects from personal, business and work life.
There will be situations where these tasks needs to be completed within a given period and you are pressed for time, your boss in the office assigns a task to you that needs to be completed within a given time frame, as a student you will have assignments from school that needs to be submitted on a particular day etc. Meeting all these deadlines have to do with time management.
When you hear the term Time management, what comes into your mind? Time management here means the ability to juggle between tasks by planning and organising your time. One thing I always say to myself is that tasks will keep coming and this is why you need to make time for other things.
What are the 4 Ds of Time Management?
The 4 Ds of time management, sometimes referred to as the 4 Ds of productivity, is a popular strategy for discerning whether or not a task or project is worth your time. It involves making a quick decision about what to act on now either by doing it yourself or delegating to someone else, what to act on in the future, or what to drop from your to-do list.
The 4 Ds are: Do, Defer (Delay), Delegate, and Delete (Drop). Placing a task or project into one of these categories helps you manage your limited time more effectively and stay focused on what matters most to you. https://www.productplan.com/glossary/4dsoftimemanagement/#:~:text=The%204%20Ds%20are%3A%20Do,what%20matters%20most%20to%20you.
If you are faced with huge work load in the office, you should know when to ask for help by delegating, defer the task for another time and focus on what is more important. Here are the 7 ways to effectively manage your time
7 WAYS TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE YOUR TIME
1. MAKE A LIST OF YOUR TASKS – When starting your day, it is important to set your expectations and have an idea of what you are doing for that day. This way, you are aware of the situation on ground and your capacity for that day.
2. DECIDE WHETHER YOU ARE OVER TASKED OR UNDER TASKED – When you make a list of your tasks, it makes you aware of your workload and determine if under tasked or overtasked. If under tasked, you may want to help others who are struggling with too much workload . Also if overtasked, this is time to ask for help.
3. DELEGATE YOUR TASKS – With the list of the tasks you have created, after you have determined that you are overtasked, then it is time to ask for help so you don’t get overwhelmed. Asking for help here can be in the form of delegating some of your workload so as to keep them light and achievable.
7 WAYS CONTINUED
4. RANK YOUR TASKS BASED ON URGENCY, PRIORITY, AND IMPORTANCE – After delegating some of your workload, now focus on what you have in hand based on the urgency, priority and importance so you can meet deadlines and work efficiently
5. MARK OFF YOUR TASKS AS COMPLETED AND UNCOMPLETED – Now that you have ranked your tasks, go to work and complete them. There are however some tasks that cannot be completed due to reasons beyond your control such as needing information or input from another party. Mark these as uncompleted, set them aside and revisit them if you still have time
6. REVISIT THE UNCOMPLETED TASKS – After you have finished completing the ready to do tasks, go back to the uncompleted tasks and see if you have received any new updates that would help you complete them. If you have gotten what you need, get them completed and if not, defer them.
7. DEFER THE UNCOMPLETED TASKS – You need to understand that there are some tasks that would take longer than expected and may not likely be completed as I have mentioned before. Identity these and do not waste time dwelling on them. You need to defer these tasks for another day and focus on the tasks you are able to complete for that day.
Related Article
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