Time management is a term heard all the way from school to the top of the corporate ladder, and it's something that everyone can struggle with at some point in their life. Examining even some of the underlying issues and finding way to fix them can help to make managing your time easier. With extra help from CatchApp Bookings, scheduling your bookings at meetings can be an issue you no longer have to worry about. Try out CatchApp Bookings here.
Procastination:
Procrastination is a common practice of putting a task off until right before a deadline, meaning you then have to cram (remember this from college and universtiy?). People may procrastinate for a variety of reasons including out of habit, perfectionism, and unclear goals. The great news is, it is possible to conquer procrastination and accomplish your goals effectively.
One way to address procrastination is to set a timer for a short period of time and begin working, telling yourself that you can stop for a short time at the end of that if you no longer feel like working.
Many people find that their momentum continues long after that initial work period and that they typically do not wish to procrastinate that task further. Breaking your objectives down into a detailed schedule can help, as well, by providing intermittent deadlines before the final one. One fairly common way to combat this is with the Pomodoro technique, where you split your tasks into 25 minutes of work, 5 minutes break. This means that if you find your concentration continues past the 25-minute mark, you can just keep going.
Absence of clear direction:
Sometimes it can be that the leaders of your business rarely discuss a strategy for the future, or they fail to communicate a coherent message about that strategy to all their teams and collegues
If there are an array of projects to push forward, and the business doesn't have that set of clear goals needed to gain the traction necessary to ensure its long-term, sustained growth, managing the projects, and by extension, your time, can get challenging. This usually displays itself as people become complacent, content to just show up, take care of today’s business, and hope that someone else is doing the heavy lifting. To combat that, there's two simple things that can be learnt: how to ask for help and clarification, and how to say "no".
An Interact survey by Harris Poll with 2,058 U.S. adults - 1,120 of them being employed, and 616 of those employed people were managers - showed that a stunning majority of 69% of the managers said that they’re often uncomfortable communicating with employees. 37% of the managers said that they’re uncomfortable having to give direct feedback about their employees’ performance. If your managers are uncomfortable giving feedback, or even direction in the first place, then it can fall down to the employee to ask.
If you've got an array of jobs that need to be done and you're already struggling to get them all done on time, explaining this to your managers and setting a clear boundary of saying "no" to the dreaded question of "hey, can I ask you to do this for me?" can set you up for success.
Delegation:
Another organisational issue you can face is knowing when and how to delegate. Many professionals like to accomplish tasks independently. Sometimes, this can become an issue with time management when there are too many tasks and not enough time in the day to complete them.
Consider delegating tasks to team members you trust. If there are individuals who have more time in their schedule and are capable of completing the work that needs to be done, you may find that asking them to help out can give you extra time to accomplish fewer tasks with greater success. If you're part of a team, rather than one that can directly delegate, consider collaborating with colleagues to enhance effective organisation across your team.
Changing your behaviours towards to certain situations in the workplace can really free up your time to get the jobs you have, done better. There's more than just these three issues, but starting to make even a small change can lead to bigger and better changes, that make your life easier and your work better.
CatchApp Bookings is a scheduling tool that can also help with managing your time through appointments in a way that automates the process. No more back-and-forth clogging up your work schedule, and instead a calendar that easy to read, use, and book with. Get your free account here.
