How can you improve your time and priority management?
Why improve your time management? To be productive and avoid burn-out, among other things...
Whether you're in the office, in the field or working from home 😉 the problem is the same: how do you organise your working time? Yes, but it's not just about working well.
We're talking about timetabling, literally about using it wisely, to separate your professional life from your private life, to have a clear vision of what you have to do, so that you can have time for yourself, take a breather and get back to your tasks at 100%.
Because managing your working time means managing your emergencies, but also your breaks, your rhythm and your energy.
Here we give you 7 time management methods, divided into 4 stages, to help you find your balance and complete your projects with peace of mind.
These days, there are enough stress factors, aren't there?
Your timetable for the next 10 minutes:
What is time management?
Time management is the method used to plan and organise your activities so that you use your time as efficiently as possible.
The aim is to optimise your day or week by learning how to make the most of the time you have.
Without minimum time management, tasks pile up, panic sets in and time wastage increases exponentially - a veritable vicious circle!
The benefits of time management
If you're reading this article, you already understand the importance of time management. But what are the benefits of good time management, and therefore of well-organised work?
💪 By structuring your tasks and defining your schedule in advance, you reduce your mental workload and increase productivity. The sequence of tasks is smoother, you save time and free up free time.
⚠️ Priority management is an incredible lever for reducing stress: identifying these essential tasks and doing them first generates well-being and peace of mind to get everything else done.
🤜 If you work as part of a team, your team will know where you stand and may be able to help you with certain tasks. And if you work on your own, you can easily visualise your workload.
What not to do:
❌ O verload your diary
Your schedule should be realistic, even slightly pessimistic, keeping empty time slots for "just in case", emergencies, oversights.
❌ S ay yes to every request
Are you a good colleague, a good employee, full of goodwill? Maybe, but you're not a machine; you have to know how to say no. Otherwise your tasks pile up, your stress increases, and you can't cope any more.
❌ Procrastinating
Don't put off the tasks you're least excited about until later, especially if they're likely to be a priority: on the contrary, get rid of them first, you'll be proud and at peace with yourself. In any case, the longer you put them off, the more insurmountable the chores seem...
❌ Multitasking
Are you good at doing several things at once? Maybe, but do you do them as well as if you were concentrating on each one in turn? By thinking you're saving time, you're actually wasting time.
❌ Not taking breaks
Yet breaks are essential for your brain to recover and be efficient. Your body will thank you too: getting some fresh air, changing your point of view can be a source of inspiration for the mind, and it avoids cramps and backaches that don't help with concentration.
❌ Leave the door open to distractions
Isolate yourself from potential interruptions, noisy colleagues, mailboxes and chats with flashing notifications.
We're not even talking about the social networks glaring at you on your smartphone. Unplug everything, put on a headset, set your status to 'busy', everything to silent.
Take breaks to check your messages. You'll see, you haven't missed anything important and you're all the more receptive to relaxing moments when you're relaxed yourself!
❌ A change of pace when teleworking
It's true that waking up can be a little late, and why not allow yourself a nap during break time, but keep to a routine, a framework to be efficient. Read and answer emails in the morning, important tasks first, and the smartphone in a drawer, among other things!
❌ Make your days long
Sort out your tasks and make up your mind, you won't be able to do everything. If you try, you'll implode, what's the point?
The world isn't going to stop spinning, some things can wait perfectly well.
Whether you like getting up early, or on the contrary, if you're more productive in the evening, don't accumulate overtime, and keep time for yourself, your family, your leisure activities: that's how you'll recharge your batteries, and work better!
❌ Do everything yourself
Knowing how to delegate is very important, but to do that, you need to know how to trust! Let go...
Alone, we go faster. Together, we go further.
Proverbe africain
How can you manage your time and priorities effectively?
Why manage your time? Check ✅ What are the mistakes you shouldn't make? Check ✅
So what should you do?
The good news is that according to Pareto's law, you can achieve 80% of your mission by completing 20% of your tasks.
And yes, very often only that 20% is really important and yields 80% of the results.
But numbers and theory aren't going to help you manage your time.
The second piece of good news is that there is no shortage of time management methods.
We've selected 7 of them, divided into 4 essential stages, which you can combine as required!
Step 1: Draw up your to-do list
There's nothing like the to-do list method for getting organised: you list all the things you need to do, whether they're small or large, so you don't forget anything.
You can even go so far as to break down important tasks into several sub-tasks (which has the advantage of making them less daunting!) and then prioritise them.
Step 2: Define your priorities
What is important is rarely urgent, and what is urgent is rarely important.
Eisenhower
Now that you've got your to-do list, how do you prioritise? EVERYTHING seems urgent! Take a breath and look again, using the Eisenhower matrix above, or the one below, based on a gain/effort ratio:
You divide your tasks into 4 categories so you know in what order to do them or whether you need to put them off.
💡 Based on this principle, to motivate yourself at the start of the day, don't hesitate to start with quick tasks, where the effort is low and the payoff rather high. It's very satisfying!
Step 3: Plan your tasks!
Now you know what to do and in what order, plan your tasks using dedicated software or a calendar.
Give your work a deadline and visualise it easily, using colour codes.
☝️ The shared calendar is ideal for remote or team work.
💡 Plan your meetings at the start of the day if possible, and limit them in time.
A mid-morning or mid-afternoon meeting breaks your rhythm and concentration, and at the end of the day it drags on.
Better still, plan it before the lunch break - everyone will agree to get straight to the point and satisfy their stomachs as quickly as possible.
Step 4: Stick to your schedule and avoid procrastination
You've set yourself objectives, i.e. tasks to be completed in a certain order and by a certain deadline.
Now the hard part is sticking to them!
To stay focused on your tasks and avoid the notorious multitasking, adopt the Pomodoro method.
Dedicate clearly-defined time slots to your different tasks (around 25 minutes each, followed by a 5-minute break) so that you can devote yourself fully to them and get into a rhythm.
If, despite your best efforts, you find yourself putting off difficult tasks until later, in favour of easier ones, try the GTD method, for Getting things done.
This combines several of the time management methods outlined above: identifying tasks, prioritising them, delegating them if necessary, and making adjustments as you go along.
You have to be organised to be organised! And like everything else, you have to learn how.
Finally, based on the same principle, there's the NERAC method:
- Write down: your to-do list,
- Estimate: the degree of importance of each one,
- Reserve: time slots for the unexpected,
- Arbitrate: priorities and therefore deadlines,
- Check: what has been done, what remains to be done, and what adjustments need to be made.
You get the idea! 😉
Tick tock tick tock: when it's time to control your time
Are you running late? Don't panic! Take time to get organised... and save time!
It may seem paradoxical, but it's the key to your professional efficiency and personal fulfilment.
Managing your timetable requires a bit of rigour at the start, but in the long run brings flexibility (another paradox!): identifying, prioritising, delegating, executing, controlling, adjusting - that's the secret.
The hardest part is starting a new routine and sticking to it.
Of course, a little help is always welcome. We think our task management toolbox can help you achieve your goals:
These collaborative, organisational and planning tools considerably improve the coordination of your teamwork as well as your personal organisation.
They have the advantage of making it easier to access key information and to set clear objectives, allocated according to human and time resources.
What tips do you have for managing your time better and being more efficient on a daily basis?
Article translated from French