You have just sat down for the evening in your study at home to write an important article. Your friend calls you on the phone, “Tom, what are you doing right now? Come for dinner!” The article is not due tomorrow, and discussion with your friend is always lively and entertaining. You instinctively close your laptop, put on your jacket, and head out to meet your friend.
Time is a scarce and valuable resource that is easy to take for granted, undervalue, or outright squander.
Compared with other resources like land or money, time has three unique features.
- Time is the great equalizer. Everyone gets the same amount of time each day. If you find yourself in a rut, and resenting people who are earning more or rising through the ranks more quickly than you, then guess what!? You are wasting the one resource that you have just as much of as anyone else. By maintaining a positive and productive attitude, you can make the most of the time you have been given.
- There is no way to save up your time in order to spend it later. Each day you are required to spend the full 24 hours. As a result, you should make a conscious plan to spend your time in a worthwhile way. Otherwise, you risk being drawn predictably, like a moth towards a flame, into situations that appear urgent or enjoyable in the present moment.
- If you spend your time unproductively, the time you have wasted can never be recovered. Unlike money, there is no way to earn more time. As a result, you should not throw good time after bad by continuing to pursue activities that are unsuitable for you. Maybe you lack the necessary resources to achieve success, or maybe the project has become unfavourable because something in the wider world has changed. In deciding what to do next, you should be informed by the past, but without clinging tightly to it.
Time is a resource that is easy to undervalue and difficult to manage. Below are 7 time management tips to help you invest your time more effectively.
1. Set ambitious goals
Create a list of possible goals. Include goals with different timescales. For example, current year goals and five year goals. Your goals give you a star to aim for.
2. Rank your goals
Some goals are more important than others. Your time is scarce and valuable, so you should focus on only your most important goals.
3. List necessary tasks
What specific actions will you need to take in order to achieve your goals?
4. Divide tasks into groups
Place tasks into different groups based on their level of urgency and importance. For example, you might place important and urgent tasks in Group A, tasks that are important but not urgent in Group B, and other tasks in Group C.
Tasks in Group B may include important routine tasks. Just like brushing your teeth, these may seem boring. However, they could be crucial in helping you achieve your goals. By consciously carrying out certain tasks regularly and repeatedly you can turn those behaviours into habits, allowing you to persist and move towards your goals with less conscious effort.
5. Create a daily to-do list
At the end of the previous day, or first thing in the morning, make a list of the top three things that you want to accomplish that day.
If you consistently find that you have more than three important tasks to work on each day, you may need to revisit your priorities, work more efficiently, or hire an assistant.
6. Prioritise your tasks
Your to-do list will probably include a mix of tasks from Group A, B and C.
Which tasks should you work on first?
The conventional wisdom is to focus on the most important and challenging tasks first. Jeff Bezos indicates that he likes to tackle his most important and cognitively demanding tasks early in the day. When I worked at law firm Baker McKenzie, many lawyers would arrive at 6am in order to crunch through their to-do list before people and distractions started to filter into the office.
If you find yourself constantly working on urgent tasks that are not very important, then you might need to have another go at prioritising your tasks. You want to spend your professional career achieving goals, not fighting fires.
7. Remain flexible
US President Dwight D. Eisenhower is quoted as saying, “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” By having a plan, you will be able to set goals, identify urgent and important tasks, and prioritize your efforts. However, as the situation changes, your goals, tasks and priorities may also need to change.
In sharing his approach to public speaking, Richard Branson suggests that people should “over prepare, and then go with the flow.” This might also be good advice for managing your time.
Image: Pexels
2 replies on “7 Time Management Tips for Busy Professionals”
Great article Tom!
Thanks, Em!