How to solve time management

We all experience time management issues at work. With a hopeful and optimistic awakening, you can not only meet all your deadlines, but also hit the gym and cook healthy homemade meals.

Then life happens. You leave late, get stuck in traffic, and arrive at your desk already frustrated with the world. I realize I have a meeting. And we are already late for the first meeting. Finally, when you're dragged into a meeting with the VP, end the last meeting and start sifting through the emails. He has a last minute request for you. "It should have only taken an hour," he says. Try three.

The good news is that there are ways to make up for lost time in your day. It's all about personal time management. Manage your time instead of letting time manage you. Here are 10 time management tips to get you started.

How many times have you said to yourself, ``I want to be better at managing my time''? Probably too many to remember! Smart time management makes you work smarter, not harder. This means projects can be completed in less time.

Unfortunately, time is irreversible. If you want to achieve more, you have to learn to make the most of it. This article lists the most common time management problems and suggests some solutions. Save this list so you can refer back to it whenever you need additional time management ideas.

Why can't I manage my time? You'd be surprised at how easily time management can go wrong. Do you always have that nagging feeling that you forgot an important task? If so, you may have neglected to use your to-do list or never used it effectively.

The trick is in prioritizing tasks, and many project managers use her A-F coding system. Use A for high priority items and F for low priority items. Alternatively, you can use numbers and other characters.

If you have many projects on your to-do list, their descriptions can be ineffective and vague if you aren’t careful enough. For instance, you might have written down “start planning the budget,” but what does that mean? Without necessary details, you might miss key steps or procrastinate.

As you can see, the main reason why we fail to manage time is that we don’t have a system put up in place. There are a couple of strategies or solutions project managers can use to avoid time management issues.

The effects of poor time management

Low quality of work: when trying to finish a job at the last minute, you are more likely to sacrifice the quality of your work for speed. You can easily avoid this by setting some time aside to go through any last-minute changes or mistakes at the end of each day.

Missed deadlines: this can happen to the best project managers, and sometimes you will take on too much work, which will lead to missed deadlines. It’s essential to keep your schedule in check and delegate or cut out unnecessary tasks.

Bad working relationships: your poor time management skills could potentially affect your coworkers, for instance, when you are late for a meeting. Planning is a must if you want to avoid awkward situations. Always plan enough time for correction at work.

Procrastination: we are all guilty of pushing off work to the last minute. If you have trouble getting started, sometimes all it takes is a little push. For example, if you want to start exercising and going to the gym, you just need to leave your house. You can apply the same rule to your work. Don’t postpone things just because you have a hard time getting started.

Lack of sleep: are working hours affecting your sleeping habits? While not everyone is a morning person, and you might be more comfortable with alternative working hours, try to maintain a consistent sleep schedule.

Common time management mistakes

Not prioritizing. Identifying and focusing on top priority tasks can be challenging because it requires a certain level of dedication. For instance, let’s say you just started working on a high-priority task. In the middle of a brainstorming session, your coworker steals your attention by pointing out that you need to focus on another pressing matter.

Getting a late start. All your efforts to complete tasks on time will fail if you don’t start your day early. Even the most influential leaders and CEOs follow this unwritten rule, and starting your day early will ensure you don’t have to rush through tasks to complete everything on time.

Not scheduling tasks effectively. While our productivity level changes during the day, it can significantly vary from one person to another as well. Even though some people are at the peak of their productivity when they wake up, others not so much. The easiest way to balance your time is to discover your peak and leave it for top-priority tasks.

Failing to avoid distractions. Even though various social media platforms and communication channels allow you to stay connected and communicate more efficiently, they are also a major distraction.

Not making the correct estimate. One of the most common problems many project managers face is miscalculating the time and energy needed to complete the task. This behavior is typical for overachievers who believe that everything is under their control.