Learn how to manage your time to make your workday more productive and organized!

Do you think you can do good time management?

Sometimes we get the impression that time is passing very fast and the day should have 48 hours to be able to do all the planned activities. This happens when we don't know how to organize our time correctly and must solve this problem before it has negative consequences both in the work environment and in personal life.

The topics covered here in this article are essential for you to better understand this important subject, we will talk about:

• What is good time management?
• 5 Benefits of time management
• How do good time management?

What is good time management?

Good time management responds to the success and productivity of a company. After all, no customer is satisfied with a product that is not delivered within the established delivery time.

Lean Six Sigma projects, for example, have a pre-established time for their execution. The longer this methodology takes to be implemented, the more money an organization can lose.

However, it is not only in this type of project that time management is essential. Knowing how to control the time of day-to-day tasks is also important when taking a test or organizing to start practicing physical activity.

In addition, good time management allows numerous benefits, such as:

• Greater control of work and projects in the short and long term
• Achieving goals with safety and objectivity
• Success and increase in performance
• Feeling of accomplishment

5 Benefits of time management

Before learning how to manage the routine, we'll show you some of the benefits of your application. Among the various benefits that effective time management brings to the organization, we can mention:

1. Know and understand your internal and external demands
2. Increased productivity
3. Standardized processes
4. Reduction in the number of accidents
5. Greater assertiveness in achieving goals
6. Shorter response time to deviant actions.

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How do good time management?

Here are some time management tips:

1. Make a weekly schedule

As mentioned earlier, planning the time of each activity is extremely important for the success of a project. For this,  there is nothing better than using schedules.

A schedule is a management tool that can be used to organize and stipulate the time of each task.

It is indicated that each schedule should correspond to a week. It becomes easier to control the activities done and ensure that each stage of the project is carried out at the correct time.

However, it is not often that a project goes as planned.

In this way, the use of this tool also allows those responsible for the operation to compare the time foreseen for each task and the time spent.

Also, don't forget to use the technology to your advantage. There are several applications and software that can assist in managing your time and organizing your project activities, for example:

• Excel
• MS Project
• Outlook
• Applications such as Runrun.it and Evernote.

2. Prioritize your activities

Do you know the Pareto Principle? According to the concepts surrounding this tool, 20% of its efforts account for 80% of its results.

Prioritizing the most important activities, the chance of you optimizing the time spent on your tasks and achieving better results is much higher.

To help you prioritize your tasks, you can use the Eisenhower Matrix, as shown in the figure below.

In quadrant 1, you should list all the pending issues that are classified as urgent or important. Everything that must be done immediately and with sufficient time of dedication to be completed.

Quadrant 2 is for all tasks that are important but are not urgent. The date and time of execution may be planned according to the degree of importance.

Quadrant 3 represents all activities that are not important but that are urgent. They are tasks that need to be done but that are not so relevant.

For this case, the best option is to delegate the task to a team member who has the time and ability to solve it. Unlike quadrant 1, they are not activities of great responsibility.

Quadrant 4 is designated for activities that are not important and urgent. It is not necessary to spend time on their execution.

When the task lists are done, it is important that the prioritization framework is redone and the activities reclassified according to the degree of importance and urgency.

After all, it is normal for new information to appear and for the classification of tasks.

You can also use the PDCA Cycle technique, one of the main tools of the Lean Manufacturing methodology:

PLAN

At this stage, we must define the objectives and paths to be followed in routine management. Remember that planning is the most important step because good planning ensures more accurate execution and less need for rework. To do this, we need to:

• Know demand and productive capacity
• Create challenging but tangible goals
• Map the company's processes
• Create Standard Operating Procedures
• Create Poka Yoke for problematic processes
• Develop OCAPs (Out of Control Action Plan).

DO

This is where we are going to make it happen and apply the measures. As I said earlier, if due attention has been paid to the planning stage, the execution will be easy to apply. Some important activities at this stage are:

• Inform all employees about the standardized procedures
• Train staff in the processes
• Inform about goals and objectives
• Emphasize the importance of OCAP.

CHECK

At this point, we will compare the planning and execution steps to ensure that everything is going as expected. If the planning was well done, the divergences between it and the execution would be minimal. In the check, we then need to:

• Monitor progress constantly
• Use management indicators (created at the strategic level)
• Hold periodic meetings and always at the same time
• Ideal for the meeting to be quick and to the point, 30 minutes is enough.

ACT

In the last stage of the PDCA cycle, we need to make the corrections and improvements that have been identified. Good management of the work routine values continuous improvement, so:

• If any anomaly is detected, it should be corrected immediately.
• Action plans in extraordinary cases should be available and clear.

The daily performance of the Check and Act steps ensures that we are constantly applying continuous improvement.

3. Optimize your team's time

In most organizations, meetings are seen as a waste of time for many employees. They think that is not very productive, time-consuming, or happens more often than necessary.

However, these meetings are essential for the maintenance of a company and the alignment of what is intended to be achieved.

Every manager must understand what is the best way to conduct a meeting so that it is highly productive.

Continue reading this article and see the most important tips about time management when preparing for a meeting.

• Set schedules: The time of each meeting is crucial for it to be productive. Therefore, it is essential that the entire meeting starts at the scheduled time and does not take more time than necessary.

The ideal meeting time is around 30 minutes.

• Identify the relevant people: It is not all meetings that require the participation of all employees of the company.

Depending on the subject of the meeting, the manager should summon only the people who have involvement with the subject. With a larger group of people, the possibility of distractions and side conversations is higher.

• Have an agenda: Every meeting must have a clear theme and objective.

The manager must inform the participants of the meeting in advance what the topics will be addressed.

In this way, everyone will be able to prepare for the subject of the meeting and will bring constructive information.

• Focus: For good time management and a highly productive meeting, everyone involved must be focused on the meeting.

The timing of the meeting should be useful for making important decisions. Therefore, it is advisable that there are no side conversations and that the team keeps personal communication devices turned off.

• Have assertive communication: No bullshit at the time of the meeting. The conductor of these meetings should be clear and concise when exposing his ideas.

Non-assertive communication causes you, and others involved, to waste time and productivity.

• Generate actions when necessary: What attitudes can be taken based on what was discussed at the meeting?

The entire subject discussed must generate positive action for the company. It should also be defined who will be responsible and the time limit for the completion of this action.

• Record the meetings: It is common for people not to remember everything that was discussed in the meetings, so all the information discussed must be documented.

In addition, all members must be aware of and agree to the document produced. This will guarantee that there are no divergences and waste of time in the future.

• Summarize the key points: Have you ever heard about the lessons learned? The participants of a project come together at the end to define the points of improvement and what decisions should be maintained.

Throughout the meeting, it is recommended to make a summary of everything that must be done.

In this way, participants are aware of all the points that were agreed upon at the meeting.

And, as mentioned in the previous topic and according to the lessons learned, these abstracts can be documented.

4. Learn how to delegate functions

Time management also has a close relationship with the delegation of functions. Practices like this, besides making you spend time on activities that are not your responsibility, also interfere with your quality of life.

A good manager also needs to know how to divide the functions between the team. With this, everyone can commit to the execution of a project and be well executed in the shortest possible time.

5. Avoid procrastination

Your way of thinking reflects on your habits, so never leave for later what can and should be solved.

Setting up a schedule of activities is not enough. It is necessary to follow it and have a lot of discipline and awareness that you cannot postpone the activities.

Procrastination has been common, as many people have had difficulties in staying focused with agile communication brought over the internet, super active social networks, and real-time information. So being able to stay focused on their activities is a great competitive market advantage.

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