Time management and productivity in the workplace
Time is one essential resource required for life at home and in the workplace, ensuring productivity.
Time management is a process of managing and allocating time to various tasks and responsibilities to ensure optimal productivity. Daily, a plethora of tasks burden us, and each demands our attention at the same time and with equal magnitude. Without proper time management skills, effective performance in the workplace will hardly be achieved — missed deadlines, shoddy job output, etc.
But when time is adequately managed and properly utilized, it gives rest of the mind, builds confidence, enhances focus and elevates productivity. This article is aimed at highlighting the relationship between effective time management and productivity in the workplace.
Importance of effective time management
- Increased performance
One of the major advantages of effective time management is that we are able to execute tasks more professionally. Allotting time frame to every task enables the completion of the job satisfactorily. There is a consequential multiplication in produced goods and services when available time is utilized prudently, cutting away wastage. Adequate time management removes procrastination, eliminates time-wasting activities and allows you to channel most of the time to productive activities.
- Timely delivery
Effective time management will always make you a winner with finishing tasks in time. It is possible to be tricked into frittering away the time you have in your hands. But when you assign time slots and deadlines to each assignment, you will be committed to their completion within the expected time frame. Though there may be unforeseen circumstances that will creep up along the way, stretching the time band (which you should factor in as a matter of fact), you will still fare better than when you impulsively carry out tasks without proper planning for time.
Everyone loves a time-conscious person — employer, employee, client or customer. Getting on with your job early and staying through to the end will help you deliver as and when due and consequently afford you a reputation of being fast and reliable.
- No Dilly-dallies
Procrastination is one inevitable situation you will find yourself in if you don’t manage your time well. You are predisposed to postponing them to a later period because you didn’t structure your daily work routines and properly schedule each of them accordingly with a strict commitment to their prompt execution. When you keep putting off till a further date what you should do today, you only make your workload weightier and more burdensome to tackle.
- Lowers stress
Regular and excessive stress and anxiety can hamper your level of productivity, causing health conditions such as high blood pressure, obesity, autoimmune diseases and so on. Stress arises when you try to complete a truckload of tasks within a limited time frame. With a proper time plan, you will be able to prioritize your goals and follow them in order of importance.
- Excellent job output
If you’re an employee, you will earn the respect and admiration of your employer and fellow colleagues if you always churn out high-quality jobs. In the same vein, if you are a business owner, you will endear your brand to your customers and clients if you always deliver a topnotch job. However you consider it, high-quality work output is the delight of everyone, and that can be achieved by effective time management. It requires concentration of time and effort to do a fantastic job.
How to improve time management to ensure productivity in the workplace
In the preceding pages, I have established the importance of time management in the workplace. Now let’s look at how to improve time management in the workplace.
- Do proper planning
It’s very important to draw a clear plan of your daily activities before the day arrives. A properly planned work schedule makes it easy to execute tasks. It is said that “proper planning prevents poor performance”. Having a laid down blueprint for the day’s work will eliminate time wastage, keep you focused and ensure productivity.
- Draw up a scale of preference
It’s possible for you to get busy all through the day and still be unproductive because the activity does not translate to productivity. Not all the activities clamouring for your attention are relevant at the same time. That is why you need to place your tasks in their order of priority. By drawing up a scale of preference, you will be clear on which tasks are more important and should be handled first. When you have ticked off the essential tasks, you can put the rest off for later or, better still, delegate them to someone else.
- Stop juggling tasks
Juggling is the act of handling many tasks all at once. That thing is time-consuming and completely enervating. When you multitask, you may end up not finishing any task at all. So, don’t try to do too many things at a time: sending email, writing a report, receiving customers’ calls, drafting a brief, placing orders, etc. The probability of making too many errors is high in a situation like this.
Learn to stick to one task at a time and complete it satisfactorily before taking up another. Some employers may want to pressure you into succumbing to multitasking, but resist the temptation for your own good and the good of your company.
- Eliminate distractions
Whatever is not helping you accomplish a task at hand is nothing but a distraction and should not be condoned. “Few minutes” of watching videos on Instagram can eat deeply into the time for productive work. It becomes compulsory that you shut out every distraction — goofing colleagues, social media notifications, pop-ups from various brands, etc. Be disciplined enough to set time for social media and other side attractions, but ensure they do not take priority position.
Conclusion
Time lost can never be regained. It is a critical resource that must be utilized prudently if we desire high productivity in the workplace. So, feel free to use this tips for your good.
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