Most of us try to avoid planning or organising our time in the best possible way. We end up leaving all those tasks we dread right to the last minute. However, there are ways you can improve your time management throughout the day. Being kind to yourself and setting realistic goals to achieve can lead to positive changes and the feeling of fulfilment, therefore reducing stress and extra pressure.

Over the past year, office workers have had to adapt to working from home a lot more than usual. This brings joy to some and stress to others! With the benefits of less commuting time to working from your sofa, working from home can have the benefits of home comfort. However, we’ve merged our offices with our personal home spaces that are there for home life and relaxing. It can be difficult to balance the two when working from home and not separating the office and the home space. But some people prefer that style of working and the comfort of being in their own space at home. Everyone has different preferences of where they work. It is up to the individual to choose effective strategies that will work for them.

Managing your time during the day effectively can be hugely beneficial to your mental health. By prioritising specific tasks, you’re left with even more time in the day.

Looking at practical ways to improve your time management enables you to see the methods that will help the most.

10 ways to practically improve your time management skills
  1. Delegate work out so you don’t have an unnecessarily high workload. It’s always good to delegate out enough work to your team members so you are not overloaded with too much,
  2. Look at prioritising work that needs completing sooner than others. Tasks that are a higher priority should be completed at beginning of the day. Then they’re done and you can continue the day knowing that important tasks are complete. Eat that frog!
  3. Schedule your day and write a to-do list to help with the scheduling. Writing a to-do list will hugely help with keeping track on the tasks that need completing throughout the day. It’s ok if you aren’t able to complete all the points on your to-do list. It’s important not to put that extra pressure on yourself if you don’t have enough time.
  4. Create deadlines that are realistic to achieve. Setting achievable deadlines for your work helps to plan how you’re going to achieve completing those different tasks.
  5. Work on reducing procrastination. Some procrastination is good but it also prevents you from staying pro-active when you have a larger workload than usual.
  6. Improve stress and mental health. If you find yourself stressed or struggling with your mental health, ask someone for help. Remember it’s ok if you need to take a day off for your mind. Taking a mental health day can be very beneficial and allows you to recharge those batteries.
  7. Aim for less multitasking. Focusing on one task at a time can be a lot more effective than trying to balance lots of tasks at once.
  8. Start your day earlier. Getting a good amount of sleep and starting your day earlier helps with scheduling your day. Give yourself enough space for small breaks with time to work on those important tasks.
  9. Remember to regularly take breaks. Schedule time in the day to get away from the desk so you can refocus your brain and allow time to rebalance. Studies have shown that when working from a screen, you should take a little break away from the screen every 20 minutes of around 20, to reset your eyes and reduce eye strain.
  10. It’s ok to say no if you’re already busy with other tasks. Being overloaded with too many tasks can be worse in terms of productivity and time management. It’s ok to set boundaries for yourself and your work team so you know how much workload is the right amount to take on that specific day.

Overall, working on your time management skills will help improve your productivity and work/life balance so you can leave time for the stuff in life that you treasure the most.