Do you wish you had more hours in the day? Nikki Heald, managing director of Corptraining explains that it's not the amount of time that matters; it's what you do with it…
If you think it’s getting harder and harder to manage your time, you’re certainly not alone. More and more employees are complaining about the pressure on their time and how their workload appears to be increasing.
We each have 24 hours in our day, so why is it that some people breeze seamlessly through their tasks and others struggle with time?
Time management is really about managing yourself. We can’t control the number of hours in our day, but we can control the way we work.
To make positive time-management changes, it’s important to develop the mindset that your time is valuable. In other words, recognize the importance of what you do and decide what deserves your energy. The essence of working effectively is: 1) knowing what to do; and 2) just doing it.
These appear to be very simple steps at first glance, but with so many distractions and interruptions in the workplace, it’s easy to lose focus.
Research has demonstrated that approximately 2.1 hours per day is wasted on trivial intrusions. These time-wasters destroy any attempt at effective time management if they are not identified and eliminated.
Some interruptions, of course, are necessary and cannot be avoided but many are just needless annoyances.
Think about your working day and consider all of the inconsequential disturbances that may occur. Some of the biggest time-wasters include checking Facebook, texting, social chit chat, smoke breaks, IT issues, humorous emails, feeling tired, personal phone calls, questions from colleagues and notifications. It’s easy to see just how quickly 2.1 hours can accumulate.
Additionally, a lot of time may be spent on low payoff activities rather than high payoff activities. High payoff activities bring us maximum return; essentially, they are the most significant tasks or actions. They are duties generally aligned with our KPIs, targets or form part of our job description.
Low payoff activities don’t significantly affect results or the bottom line. And yet these tasks often get the majority of our attention. Why? Well, firstly they often require minimal effort and can be done quickly. This provides us with instant gratification – we feel as though we’ve been ‘busy.’
Additionally, because they are easier, they may be more pleasant and enjoyable to complete than high payoff tasks.
High payoff activities will vary from person to person, job to job. A low payoff for one individual may well be a high payoff for another. Either way, it’s vital you have a clear understanding of what your high payoffs are. That way, you can ensure that maximum time is devoted to these.
In theory and ideally, we should be aiming to work on high payoffs for around 70% to 80% of our working week. Unfortunately, research has demonstrated that realistically only about 40% of our working week is actually spent on them.
The trick is to identify your low payoffs. Once you’ve done so, consider ways to remove or eliminate them. Not everything has to be done by you!
Create a list outlining low payoff tasks in one column and high payoffs in the other. Doing this will provide clarity about where the majority of your time is being depleted and allow you to recognize where your time should be invested.
Learning to manage your time wisely not only improves productivity but also has important health benefits. When we feel more in control of our workload, it’s only natural we are likely to feel less stress. How many times have you taken work home or logged on remotely late at night? If you find yourself doing this consistently, it’s important to recognize the toll on your health, well-being and ability to relax.
