How can you do that?
Time management in the workplace can not only further your career, it can make you look great to your superiors and create goodwill among fellow employees. It can also save you from embarrassment if some obstacle arises, as you will have time to react and
problem solve without getting behind schedule – since you are already hours ahead of the game.
Juggling roles and responsibilities can be nerve-wracking if you don’t have a handle on your time constraints. You can’t leave out the necessity for a fulfilling private life, so getting everything done at work needs to fall within your scheduled workday!
A career starts with making an impression, and showing you know how to manage your time and be a highly productive member of the workforce will do that for you. Using time management techniques to increase your efficiency can position you as the go-to person when deadlines tighten, and you’ll be able to shine.
What Are You Supposed to be Doing?
When you enter a new workplace the first thing you should do is gather information that will let you know what your role and responsibilities are in the office.
If you’ve been pulled in for a specific task, get on it right away, if you need training, show up ready and willing. If you have been assigned a task, make sure you understand its scope. Clarification can save you a lot of wasted time later.
First Things First
Hit the ground running and tackle the highest priority tasks first – that way if you hit a snag you can fix it and still be well on your way to completion by the time the boss checks in.
Take your to-do list and pick the three most important items to handle first. Put these on an index card, and the longer list in your desk.
Once you have done the three top items, get a new index card and retrieve your list to select the next three most important items, Repeat until your list is done.
I’ll Stop Procrastinating – Tomorrow
Tomorrow never comes. Stop procrastinating right now, simply by taking action on one of your ‘most-important, top-priority tasks’.
Every time you feel the urge to take an extra cigarette break, check your email or open a social network site, devote fifteen minutes to your task. You’ll find that after a while the fifteen minutes will stretch to an hour as you become absorbed, and you don’t need a break at all.
First Time, Only Time
Whatever you are doing, get it right the first time. Doing a fast shoddy job means spending twice the amount of time fixing it than you would have by simply doing a good job out of the gate.
Being fast does not always equate with being good – and your boss won’t be impressed with slipshod work. In addition, restrain yourself from presenting your boss with a game plan that obviously took all day to prepare.
They’d rather have had the task actually done instead – no matter how impressive your presentation of HOW to do it might be. Time management in the workplace is about getting more done!