Boost Your Productivity with these Time Management Tips

Why is there never enough hours in the day?  With these time-bending productivity tips, there can be…

Business Optimizer collates some of the best time management advice from around the Internet to help you use your time more effectively and boost your productivity.

#1. Start your day well

Schedule your important and urgent tasks for early in the day to maximise your chances of getting them done.  This tip is a favourite of Laura Vanderkam .

#2. Don’t be an email reactor

Jocelyn Glei , author of “Unsubscribe” recommends that you timebox your email routine.  Set aside two or three blocks of half an hour to an hour each day that you dedicate to checking email – and don’t be tempted to peak in between batches.

“Recent research shows that the more frequently we check our email, the more stressed we feel,” says Jocelyn.  “So it’s not surprising that batchers tend to be more productive, happier and less stressed out.”

#3. Don’t add small tasks to your to-do list

Gretchen Rubin,  author of “Better Than Before” and “The Happiness Project” suggests completing any task that can be done in a minute immediately.

“Because the tasks are so quick, it isn’t too hard to follow the rule — but it has big results,” she says.  “Accomplishing all those small, nagging tasks makes us feel both calmer and more energetic because we’re not dragged down by the accumulated weight of a mass of tiny, insignificant tasks.”

#4. Being busy isn’t the same as being productive

While being busy might make you feel like you are achieving things, if you’re not doing the right things then your busy-ness isn’t productive.

Stephen Covey, co-author of “First Things First” , emphasises the importance of knowing how to prioritise.  He says tasks can be broken down into four types.

• Important and urgent tasks should be done immediately.
• Important but not urgent tasks can be scheduled at a time that suits you.
• Urgent but not important tasks make a lot of “noise” but have little or no lasting value when completed – and shouldn’t be prioritised. Covey suggests delegating them wherever possible.
• Not urgent and not important tasks are the low priority stuff that give the illusion of “being busy”. Do them later.

#5. Being in meetings isn’t the same as being productive

If you don’t need to be there, say no.

#6. Create a buffer between tasks

Jordan Bates  recommends leaving space in your schedule to take a break, take a walk or meditate between tasks.  “When we rush from task to task, it’s difficult to appreciate what we’re doing and to stay focused and motivated,” he says.

#7. Learn to delegate

John Rampton  argues that delegating and outsourcing are real time-savers because they lessen your workload.  This means you have more time to spend on more important tasks or doing less work.

#8. Instil keystone habits

Charles Duhigg , author of “The Power of Habit”, says keystone habits are the habits that replace bad habits and solicit bad habits and, as a result, they can transform your life.