One of the biggest myths is that time is always against you. You must push yourself to the brink of exhaustion and sacrifice your personal life to keep up with it.
However, contrary to what people might tell you, you don’t have to pit yourself against the clock, you just have to use ‘time’ efficiently.
According to Ernst and Young’s Australian Productivity Pulse survey, a third of Australian workers waste almost a quarter of the time they spend at work, where the lack of productivity costs businesses more than $41 billion each year in wages alone.
Enhance your organisation’s time management abilities by shifting the focus from working faster to working smarter. Rather than blocking out all distractions, acknowledge and prioritise jobs and tasks as they appear. Ignore the sadistic part of your brain telling you to work through lunch, and schedule a rest period.
Read on to debunk three myths about time management:
Myth 1: Working faster will save you time
Many believe rushing through tasks allows for more tasks to be completed each day. However, whipping haphazardly through tasks can increase the likelihood of errors and result in an even bigger workload at a later date. Track your time consumption to identify exactly what activities can be executed faster without a drop in standards.
“Working efficiently is about performing the best you can, with the least amount of wasted time and effort. Working fast is good, working efficiently, is better” - Managing Director of R & G Technologies, Gordon Tan.
Use a time-tracking app to close the gap between how long it actually takes you to accomplish tasks, and how long it ‘should’ be taking you. A free or commercial web-based time-tracking app like Toggl, gives you the ability to accurately track time, check records and generate data, off any device, from any location.
For example, Grammarly employees use Toggl to track work tasks versus personal tasks, specific projects, and any level of granularity in between. “When they begin working on a particular project, they need only click ‘Start’ to begin tracking in the manner that works best for them,” says Brad Hoover, CEO of Grammarly.
Time tracking apps like Toggl help prioritise the finite hours in the day. Use them to accurately identify where you can afford to speed up, and you’ll ensure an immediate, positive impact on your organisation.
Myth 2: Ignore all distractions
While not all interruptions are pertinent, tasks requiring urgent action rarely pop up when it’s convenient. Effectively prioritise these distractions as they appear, and you won’t have to worry about unchecked incidents escalating into problems later on.
“Knowing when to ignore distractions, when to acknowledge them, and when to respond immediately is an art form. In order to do this effectively you need to know the priority level of each of the tasks on your to-do list, and assign priority to interruptions” - Director of R & G Technologies, Mimi Tan.
Assigning priority levels is next to impossible if you’re not aware of the priority on your current to-do list. Instead of having your to-dos stored over multiple storage media, consolidate and organise them in a task-management application.
Remember the Milk is a task management tool that can help you organise, prioritise, and quickly complete tasks. You’re able to create multiple lists, set priority levels and organise by due-date. It syncs with applications on the iPhone, Android platforms and more, and integrates with Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Maps, so you’re able to share and assign tasks, schedule reminders and geolocate tasks quickly, without having to open multiple applications.
Another tool that can help you with your todo lists is Trello. Ross Beard, Marketing Manager at R & G Technologies, uses Trello on a daily basis. “The best tool for managing to-do lists is Trello, it’s like your paper to-do list on steriods,” he says.
Related: 8 tools that will help you boost office productivity
Shutting out every distraction entails neglecting potentially critical tasks. Since this isn’t an option, use a task-management application to classify when you should ignore distractions, and when to embrace them head on.
Myth 3: Don’t take a break
You may perceive breaks to be a colossal waste of time. However, scheduled breaks recharge your depleted energy stores, giving you greater capacity to get things done.
Research suggests breaks ‘actually save time and effort in the long run’, as fatigue can cripple creativity, problem solving and ultimately productivity. Yet a survey by workplace consulting group, Right Management, found only one in five office workers take a lunch break away from their desk.
Avoid the common trap of devouring lunch at your desk, or eating on the fly and use a calendaring tool like Google Calendars or Microsoft Outlook to schedule a break. Don’t worry about wasting time, simply sync these tools with your mobile devices, so no matter where you are and what you’re using, you’ll know when it’s time to start, and when it’s time to finish. Share your calendar with relevant individuals to ensure you won’t be disturbed, and you’ll notice you’re far more productive when your brain gets a chance to refresh.
Make your break compulsory by scheduling it in your calendar. The brief rest will increase your performance, so you can spend less time ‘managing time’ and more time spending it productively.
Time management tips for the office
Work smarter, not harder. Leverage technologies like time-tracking apps to identify where you ‘should’ speed up, and task-management apps to help prioritise distractions. Use a calendaring tool to schedule a compulsory break. Once you and your staff are up to speed, you’ll begin to see the fruits of your labour, including better time management, improved performance and greater productivity across your organisation.
Do you need help evaluating the best tools to help improve time management?
We can help you make better use of new technologies - like Toggl and Trello - to improve time management. Call us on 1300 562 886 or contact us via this page.