Tip of the Week: Three Keys to Time Management

“We have so much time and so little to do. Strike that, reverse it.” – Willy Wonka, as written by Roald Dahl.

Time is perhaps the most finite resource there is, especially when it comes to business productivity. Whether your team is working in the office or remotely, it is important that that spend their available time wisely. Here, we’ve put together a few tips to share with your team to help them be more productive in their work tasks.

Get Enough Sleep

Studies have shown that getting sufficient rest is imperative to your productivity. Not only will it put you in a better mood throughout the day, consistently getting an average of seven-to-eight hours’ rest each night allows you to accomplish more, with the results of your efforts being better overall. On a related note, it helps to start your day earlier in the morning as well. As the brain tends to function at its peak approximately two and a half hours after awakening, rising early puts you in the position to start the workday on the best footing.

Stick to a Schedule

You should generally have a pretty good idea of what you are responsible for, especially how it ranks in its priority level and the time it will take you to do it. If you have the leeway to do so, take these tasks and schedule them out in a way that works for both you and your team.

What does this mean? Simple. Let’s assume that, like many, you are best able to focus on thought-intensive tasks early in the morning, while your energy levels flutter and wane after lunch. Arranging your day to begin with those responsibilities that will require the most focus and reserving the afternoon for procedural tasks may work well for you. Pay attention to the signals your brain and body give you and shift your work approach to match.

Avoid Multitasking

Multitasking is a contentious term where productivity is concerned. While many may swear that they can do it, studies have shown that the human brain simply isn’t well-suited to the task. Not only does it decrease the amount that can be accomplished during a set time, the quality of what is accomplished will also suffer. Fully committing to one task at a time and progressing down a to-do list not only enables you to devote your full attention to each task as you encounter it, it enables you to work more efficiently. The only exception to this rule is a technicality at best: the use of your IT to automate some of your procedures.

This can also help reduce the temptation that many may feel when working at home to attend to your home responsibilities. Sure, the dishes may need to be done and bills need to be paid but shifting to these tasks during the workday can break the focus you need to be productive. Instead of taking care of these needs when they pop into your head on line 37 of the spreadsheet, jot down a note to do them once the workday is over.

Productivity is obviously important, so it is important that it is approached strategically. Advantage IT Management can help you implement the solutions to help support such a strategy for your business. To learn more, reach out to our team by calling 251-662-9770.