Get More Productive: 7 Golden Rules For Time Management

If you want to accomplish more in less time, mastering time management is essential.

However, finding enough hours in a day to get everything done might look like a mammoth task – a mission impossible. But with the right approach, you can raise the potential of your time and make the most out of it.

This blog post discusses the seven golden rules for time management that will help you become more productive and achieve your goals faster. 

Let’s dive in-

Understanding The Term ‘TIME’

Time management involves strategically allocating one’s time in order to maximize productivity and efficiency.

Everyone has the same hours each day, but how we spend them differs. We have divided time management into four main parts, known by the acronym TIME.

• Treasured
• Investment
• Mandatory
• Empty

Levels of TIME

4. Treasured times are the precious moments we share with our family, friends, and loved ones. These memories stay in our hearts and bring a smile to our faces when work stress starts taking a toll on us. 

Treasured time comes in many forms – from an afternoon spent chatting with a friend to a big celebration or family gathering.

Some examples are:

• Going on vacation with family 
• Summer Camps 
• Playing games
• Experiencing a new culture or city
• Going on a nature walk
• Listening to music or reading a book 
• Taking part in hobbies and activities 
• Celebrating special occasions

Effectively utilizing your free time can provide you with more moments to treasure. But don’t forget making money enables you to retire sooner and spend your time in whichever way you please.By improving your work habits, you will be more productive and accomplish tasks in fewer hours and gain more Treasured time every day.

Tip: 

Take T:  Maximize your treasured time for complete fulfillment and happiness.

3. Investment time is the amount of time and effort an individual spends on improving themselves and taking actions toward achieving their goals.

It involves setting aside time to study, plan, research, practice, or do other activities related to furthering one’s personal development or achieving a goal. 

It also involves using available resources such as money, education, mentorships, or other methods of self-improvement to help reach a desired outcome.

Tip:

Increase I: Increase your investment time to deliver high performance

Also read: Time Management Matrix: The Key to Prioritizing Work and Getting Best Results

2. Mandatory Time is the time you spend on things or activities that are necessary, even if you don’t like them. It may include daily traveling, managing expenses, or paying bills.

Let’s look at some of the ways to reduce mandatory time.

• As you get in the car, it is an ideal opportunity to transform your journey into an investment in your knowledge. You can listen to a business book while you drive.
• Working remotely or relocating closer to your place of employment can reduce the length of your daily commute.
• To free up your time, you can hire someone to take care of essential tasks, like a landscaper for lawn maintenance, a laundry service for your clothes, or an online delivery service for groceries.

Tip:

Minimize M: Minimize Mandatory time. Convert it into Investment (I) or Treasured (T) time. 

1. Empty Time means inaction. It is just an arbitrary amount of moments, squandered with nothing to show. 

While Mandatory Time can bring results, Empty Time won’t help at all. For e.g., Spending 35 minutes reaching your workplace means you have finished something. Yet aimlessly scrolling through Instagram, and Facebook or watching videos achieves nothing but wasting time.

Tip:

Remove E: Try to eliminate as much as possible from your schedule.

Here is the small Infographics to understand the levels of TIME in a better way:

 

Throughout every day, we use these four levels of time. With proper tips and tools, it is possible to effectively alter our time allocation and bring out more productive outcomes.

 7 Time Management Tips To Accelerate your Productivity

Let’s move to the golden tips that can help you to raise your productivity levels.

1. Keep a time log

Keeping a time log is an integral part of successful time management. It’s the best way to track how you spend your time, so you can improve and be more productive. 

A time log simply lists everything you did during the day and how much time each activity took. It’s a valuable tool because it allows you to identify which activities are taking up the most of your time and which aren’t as important. You can keep a time log in various ways – it can be as simple as making a list on paper or keeping track of it in a spreadsheet. 

You may also want to invest in software that helps you to track your time, such as Workstatus. 

Keeping a time log requires discipline and commitment – but it will prove helpful in the end. Once you know how you’re spending your time, you’ll be able to manage it better and become more productive.

Also read: 7 Reasons Why You Need Time Tracking Reports For Better Performance

2. Eat the frog

Use the “Eat the Frog” technique to prioritize tasks and manage your time. It involves tackling the most challenging task first to eliminate any procrastination or anxiety about completing it later. 

Once you have conquered this task, the rest of your tasks for the day will seem much more manageable.

3. Review your progress

One of the key elements of successful time management is regularly reviewing your progress. It means taking a step back and assessing how far you have come and where you are heading. 

How well have you been sticking to your schedule? Are you on track with your goals? Do you need to adjust your schedule or make any changes to help you stay focused and productive?

By reflecting on your progress regularly, you can assess whether you are meeting your goals or if there is room for improvement. You can also identify which strategies have worked well and which have not been successful. Knowing what works best for you can help you maximize your time and reach your goals faster. 

Take some time each week to review your progress and reflect on how you’re doing. 

Don’t forget to celebrate the small wins too! 

As long as you keep making steady progress, you’ll be able to make significant strides toward achieving your goals.

4. Learn to say No

One of the most important yet underrated tips for better time management is learning how to say no. We all have limited resources, including time, and saying no can help you wisely use your valuable resources. 

You often find yourself in scenarios where you want to say yes to everything, but you must remember that saying no can be beneficial in many cases.

When you learn to say no, you will be able to focus on what matters the most and prioritize your activities according to their importance. 

Saying no to specific tasks or requests can also help reduce stress levels and give you more control over your schedule.

At the same time, it’s essential to be mindful of how and when you say no. You don’t want to come across as rude or unhelpful, so make sure to explain why you’re not able to take on a task or request. You can also suggest alternatives or ways of accomplishing the same result without your direct involvement. 

5. Delegate & Outsource

Delegation and outsourcing are two powerful tools for increasing productivity. When you delegate tasks, you can assign them to other people who have the necessary skills and resources to complete them more quickly and efficiently than you could on your own. 

Outsourcing can also help free up your time by allowing you to hire professionals or contractors to do tasks that you either don’t have the time or the expertise to do yourself.

By delegating tasks and outsourcing projects, you can free up more of your time and energy for more important activities. It lets you focus on the most pressing tasks and make the most out of your time.

6. Prioritize your tasks

Prioritizing your tasks is an essential part of effective time management. Start by listing out all the tasks you need to do and rank them according to their importance and urgency. 

Work on the most important tasks first, followed by less important ones. If a task isn’t an urgent or high priority, don’t waste time on it immediately. Instead, save it for later or delegate it if possible.

7. Take breaks

A great time management tip is to take regular breaks throughout the day. It helps you stay focused, refreshed, and motivated to continue working towards your goals. 

Taking breaks can help improve your productivity by giving you a chance to recharge and refocus on the task at hand.

Start Today!

As a leader in the modern-day workplace, you need technology by your side. To accomplish all the 7 golden goals listed above, a time management software like Workstatus is just what you need.

Workstatus is an AI-powered time & productivity management software to manage employee performance, timeline of tasks & projects, budgets, employee timesheets & attendance, and other aspects of your day-to-day operations.

It tracks user activities in real-time and offers a range of reporting and analytics to help leaders stay on top of progress. 

Key Features:

• Online timesheets
• Employee scheduling
• Idle time tracker
• Invoicing
• Compare idle time vs. actual time
• Project budgeting
• Absence management
• Automatic clock in and clock out

Additionally, Workstatus includes multiple integrations with other tools and user-friendly interface to make your life easy. 

Get started now>>

Book your free trial here.

FAQs

Ques. How can time management make you successful?

Ans. Time management can help to increase success by allowing individuals to make the most of their available time. It will enable them to prioritize tasks and set achievable goals while reducing stress and improving focus. 

Additionally, with proper time management, people can work more efficiently. Eliminate wasted time and achieve more in less time. It can translate into greater productivity and better results, helping individuals to achieve their personal and professional goals.

Ques. Which is the best time management app to boost productivity?

Ans. Workstatus is an excellent time management app to boost productivity. It offers users the ability to organize and track their tasks and manage their schedules. 

With Workstatus, users can quickly see how much time they have available each day and allocate their work accordingly. It also provides insights into individual performance by analyzing tasks completed over a period of time. This data helps to prioritize tasks, plan activities, and identify & resolve inefficiencies.

Ques.  How to improve time management skills?

Ans. You can use the following tips to improve time management skills:

1. Set daily and weekly goals – Identify specific tasks that need to be accomplished each day or week and set measurable objectives. 
2. Prioritize – Break tasks into priority levels, first tackling the most important items.

3. Track progress – Take note of what needs to be done and monitor the time spent on activities to ensure tasks are completed efficiently.

4. Limit distractions – Turn off social media notifications, silence cell phones, and remove unnecessary items when focusing on work.

5. Establish a routine – Develop a regular schedule for completing projects, including taking breaks to refresh and recharge throughout the day.