Do you often feel as if there is a never ending list of work waiting to be completed? Do you have difficulty meeting deadlines and following schedules? Do you wish there was a way to easily balance multiple responsibilities?
If you answered “yes” to any of the questions above, then may be missing out on opportunities to practice effective time management. Missing deadlines and struggling to keep to a schedule are clear indicators of ineffective time management. In addition to the toll this may take on your morale, poor time management can also lead to a decrease in work quality.
A person who successfully manages his/her time usually is able to produce excellent work while maintaining reduced stress levels. So how what are some common mistakes that contribute to ineffective time management?
- Not Maintaining a To-Do List
By maintaining a to-do list, you can prioritize your tasks on the basis of urgency. Furthermore, this list will make it easier to track all of the tasks that are pending, ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks. Once you make a to-do list, keep cross checking all the entries and update the list regularly. There is an art of making a to-do list. Use specific wording when creating your to-do list, and include any factors that need to be taken into consideration, such as deadlines or the involvement of other team members.
- Not Prioritizing
In a workplace, prioritizing your tasks is of paramount importance. Determine the order of priorities using parameters such as importance, profitability and effort required.
- Lacking Focus on Personal Goals
Setting a goal will always make you realize the steps required to achieve that goal. Establishing goals will give you a vision to work towards and will make it easier to distinguish between what is crucial and what is a distraction.
- Inability to Manage Unexpected Emergencies
If you are not managing your time properly, any unexpected occurrence may hamper your work. However, if you have a set plan that also includes “extra time” to account for any unexpected situations then you will be able to account for these surprises while still effectively meeting your planned deadline.
- Multitasking
It is a common misconception that multitasking can increase productivity and efficiency. However, splitting focus between several tasks often leads to a poorer quality of work and requires more time than focusing on efficiently completing one task would. If you concentrate only on one task at a time, you will actually reduce the amount of time spent on tasks and increase the likelihood that the task is completed in the best possible manner.