What Are The 7 Elements Of An Effective Time Management Mindset?
“All time management begins with planning” — Tom Greening
Once upon a time, there was a very hardworking woodcutter. His strength was remarkable. Looking at his incredible performance, the King of the town hired him for a timber merchant’s business. It was a fantastic job opportunity for the woodcutter, and he was super determined for his work.
He performed exceptionally well and brought around 20 trees the first day. “What a great job,” the King said. Being very motivated by the king’s appreciation, he worked harder but could only cut 15 trees the next day. As the days went by, his performance kept dropping, and he could bring very few trees.
Distressed by the low performance, he went up to the king and apologized. He mentioned to the King, “even after working harder than ever, I cannot cut more trees like I used to.”
“When did you last sharpen your axe?” , the King asked.
“I had been busy cutting the trees all this while; I had no time to sharpen the axe.”, the woodcutter replied.
Let’s imagine for a second that the “trees” in the aforementioned short story are your goals and the “axe” represents your resources.
What do we learn from this?
Even after working hard and having the right resources, some people cannot not be productive. Why? The only reason is a poor time management. They focus on unimportant things instead of taking out time for the things that would actually help them achieve more in less time.
We’re all given 24 hours everyday. Some people achieve 10x more in just a single day than most of the people achieve in a month. It’s all about having a time management mindset and setting the priorities right.
Being a CEO at ProofHub, it was crucial for me to develop a time management mindset to guide my team better. Adhering to the below mentioned practices, really helped me develop one.
- Set A Clear Vision And Goals
Without a vision we can only wander aimlessly through our careers and end up wasting a lot of time. Having a clear vision, and setting goals accordingly is a great way to manage your time effectively.
When it comes to businesses, goal setting provides a direction to everyone involved with it. With a defined vision, people already know what their priorities are and what the day holds for them. This way, they spend more time accomplishing the tasks instead of just wasting time on thinking what to do next.
At ProofHub, we determine our goals for the upcoming days beforehand so that everybody is on the same page and works towards the same outcome. This helps us in utilising the bulk of our time everyday on important stuff.
Bring all your time related data at one place with the time tracking software ProofHub.
2. Start With MITs- Most Important Tasks
One of the most important time management tips you will ever get is that you should start your work with the most important or the toughest tasks on a priority basis.
The reason behind this is simple. You are likely to be more efficient in the morning and full of energy to tackle even the toughest tasks competently. The point here is that if you accomplish a hard or time-consuming task earlier, you will have enough time to focus on other things as well.
Also, the feeling of getting the most and toughest tasks done will automatically make the rest of your day better.
3. Eliminate Distractions
Remember the task that needed just an hour but you took the entire day to complete it? Well, I’m sure you would agree that it only happened because you had a lot of distractions around you. Social media, phone calls, black friday sales, netflix and whatnot are the most common culprits here.
Make sure that you either switch your phone off or put it on silent mode while doing important tasks. You would notice that you’re saving a great amount of time and finish up your tasks right on time very efficiently.
4. Say No To Multitasking
Most people consider multitasking as a good thing. It’s a sign of busyness among people. But it needs to be understood that being busy does not mean being productive. They are two different things. As per a research, only 2% of people are good at multitasking while the rest 98% end up wasting their time when they try to multitask.
Instead of frantically dashing between a lot of tasks, focusing on just one task at a time is the perfect way to reach the epitome of productivity in very less time.
5. Take Breaks
A recent study suggests that humans can only concentrate on one task for a maximum time of 60 minutes. The productivity level starts declining after that.
I understand, it might not be feasible for you to take a lot of breaks at the workplace but it is still essential for you to take a few breaks in between to keep your mental and physical states at the peak.
Take a coffee break, go on a quick walk or just sit back, relax and close your eyes for five minutes. These things can help you in ways you can’t imagine. Do not consider breaks as “time waste”. In fact, breaks are essential for you to deliver really top-quality work by giving your brain some time to rest and recharge.
6. Start Using An Online Calendar
Another great time management tip is to use an online calendar. Calendars always have been highly used to manage time and days. Now that technology has evolved so much, you can easily find a good calendar online and start managing your time efficiently.
For instance, the online calendar in ProofHub helps you manage your schedule in a way that you can keep a track of all the important dates and deadlines. You can set up reminders and even create time blocks.
We have been doing it successfully for years now, and it has been just great!
Tired of missing the deadlines? Start using ProofHub now and stay ahead of your schedule.
7. Use A Time Tracking Software
The easiest way to keep a track on every single minute of the day is by using a reliable time tracking software. Online time tracking tools are specifically designed to estimate the amount of time spent on doing tasks and help you maintain a record of the total work done.
For example, if you are a team leader and working on a project, using a time management software like ProofHub,you can set a time estimate for every task and sub tasks to manage your time efficiently and deliver the project right on time.
Conclusion….
Lost money still has a chance to come back but the wasted time is just irreplaceable.
Time is a precious resource, and it totally depends on how we put it to the best use.
Remember, no matter how we place it, we only get 24 hours in a day. Every minute of the day is finite and we shouldn’t waste it doing something that does not add any value to our lives.
In the end, all i would like to say is that effective time management is not rocket science, it is a skill that can be mastered by any individual in order to accomplish more in a short period of time.
Try these tips, and I’m sure you are going to see the results!
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