You 'Zoom' from meeting to meeting, call appointments from your car and haven't read an email for days. You're so busy, you don't even have time to take a time management course. So ten tips to do more in less time.
One of the very best Time Management books is David Allen's Getting Things Done, also translated into Dutch. The price of the book and the time you need to read it will be earned back immediately by all the tricks you learn. The book has been a bestseller for many years now. But until you've read that book, here are some tips that will get you started right away. This saves you time.
Don't procrastinate
Procrastination takes more time than you think. People who procrastinate tend to spend a lot of time thinking about unfinished or unfinished tasks. Often it is the little things that make you feel overloaded. As a result, you are less able to concentrate on important matters. Make a list of all those little things you need to do, set aside some time, and do them one by one.
Use your biological rhythm
Your biological rhythm, or biological clock, determines not only your sleeping and waking rhythm, but also your blood pressure, your heart rate and your brain activity. It basically shows a 24-hour rhythm. In those 24 hours there are times when you have more concentration and times when you get tired. And fatigue is a major time waster. Between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., most people have a lot of energy. Between three and five o'clock in the afternoon there is a second energy peak. Don't waste that by painting your toenails for two hours if you want to do time management. Try to do all the thinking and tricky jobs in that time. Also, alternate between strenuous work and "dumb chores." This variety saves you energy.
By the way, the times differ for morning and evening people. Keep track of when your optimal time is.
Don't meet too much
Meetings are notorious time wasters.
The 80/20 principle
There is no such thing as a lack of time, says the author of the book The eighty/twenty principle † “We only use twenty percent of our time well. Under the 80/20 principle, if we spent twice as much time on the top 20 percent of our business, we could have a two-day work week.” The 80/20 principle means that you achieve 80 percent of your performance in 20% of your time. To do more in less time, you will need to replace low-effect resources with high-effect resources. Make a list for yourself with low-quality and high-quality time activities and try to replace the first with the second as much as possible.
Low time use
High quality time use
Bring air into your calendar
Keep space in your calendar for unexpected events. That is the best form of time management. Set aside half a day every week, also a day every month and leave a week open in your calendar every quarter. That is not time that you have to keep free at all costs, but time that you can use for extra assignments, finished projects, crises and things that fall from the sky. Think of that extra time as a capital that you have in the bank and that you can use when needed. In fact, you plan the unplanned work that way, making you work more efficiently.
Learn to say no without being a whiner !
Make it clear to your colleagues that sometimes you can say no without being a whiner. Practice saying no politely and if necessary explain why something can wait. People often don't dare to say no to their customers. They don't believe that customers are just ordinary people who understand when something has to wait. Just say:I'm going to call you back at the end of the week and I will. Ninety percent of people agree.
Don't read unnecessary email and other posts
Many employees receive 50 to 150 emails per day. Answering that takes more time than many people realize. Thirty percent of the time employees spend on email is wasted on useless messages, according to a US research firm. Fortunately, there are handy tricks to keep your email manageable.
Learn to delegate
Delegating takes time. But it's time you'll reclaim later. If you train someone in a structured way to take over certain tasks from you, you will have time for other things. Like a nice cup of tea :)
Make lists
Make lists of things you want to do in a day or a week. The criticism that many people have is that they are so busy that they don't have time to look at their lists. So don't make your list too long. Write down the three most important things you want to do that day and look at your list again at the beginning of the afternoon. Use it as a handhold and not as a straitjacket.
At the end of the week, write down what you want to do at the beginning of the week. Then you don't have to think on Monday morning:What did I come here to do again? Plus, you'll head into the weekend without worrying about unfinished work. Don't put unimportant things, such as watering plants , on your list.
Clean up
People with an office job spend an average of six weeks a year looking for things. That's not good for your time management. Cleaning up your desk and closet already saves you an enormous amount of time. Keep the things you need most close to you. Only the papers you are currently working on should be on your desk.
Also tidy up your mail. Do not leave mail for more than one or two days. Most mail items that come in only have to go through your hands once. So think about what you are going to do with each piece:answer it, temporarily store it, forward it, throw it away or store it permanently. and when it comes to tidying up, of course, there's only one really great example, and that's Marie Kondo. Google her principles or read one of her books full of great cleaning tips.
Text Manon Sikkel, Image Getty Images
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