SIGNIFICANCE OF TIME MANAGEMENT IN THE WORKPLACE

Like the popular saying “time and tide wait for no man.” It was probably just a saying till some of us had to complete certain tasks at work within a period or when we start finding it hard to balance work and personal life. We are all faced with this challenge at some point in our lives. It is important to understand the value of time to get tasks done before the deadline and the benefit of effectively managing our time.

WHAT IS TIME MANAGEMENT?

Time management is the ability to make possible use of available time. It is a necessary skill needed to ensure the completion of projects within a given time. We understand how hard it can be to make use of available time when there are a lot of tasks to complete within a certain period. However, time management is not impossible to achieve as there are certain ways in which you can save time.

1. Adequate planning: one of the most effective ways to manage your time is by planning. This can be achieved by creating a TO-DO LIST. This will enable you to allocate time for each task and tick out accomplished tasks. When you adequately manage your time it will enable you to work within a specific time frame and advert procrastination.
2. Prioritize tasks: it is important to rank these tasks according to their order of importance and urgency. This will help you get the tasks done with a closer deadline off your desks.
3. Set goals: This gives you a time frame in which your tasks should be ready. Setting goals for yourself pushes you beyond your limits and helps you get tasks off your desk quicker.
4. Delegate responsibilities: This is by far the most effective way to manage tasks. Breaking tasks into clusters and assigning them to other people helps get these tasks done fast. As they say “two good heads are better than one.” involving multiple hands to take care of the tasks instead of trying to do them on your own gives you more time to get other tasks done.
5. Reduce the number of breaks: it is important to take breaks in between work. However, it is important to limit your breaks within a certain period to avoid lagging.

BENEFITS OF TIME MANAGEMENT

1. It makes you more organised: Time management makes your work more correlated and reduces time spent on looking for documents or trying to put things in order.
2. It boosts your confidence: Proper time management boosts individual confidence. As they said, ‘prior proper preparation prevents poor performance.’ The ability to complete your projects at the right time increases your confidence.
3. It helps prioritize tasks at the workplace: Time management helps place importance on the most urgent projects. This creates more time for other tasks.
4. It ensures deadlines are met: Adequate time management prevents asking for an extension of the deadline. Asking for deadlines to be extended sometimes might not be beneficial to the organisation or your client. Effective management of time ensures speedy delivery of projects.

Time management is a skill you need regardless of your profession. However, it isn’t a skill that can be acquired instantly but one that requires constant practice and determination.

Now the question, are you determined?