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4 effective tips to manage your time and priorities more effectively

René-Louis Comtois
4 effective tips to manage your time and priorities more effectively

These days, it's hard to work without being constantly interrupted by phone notifications, the (sometimes intense!) appearance of new e-mails, or an urgent, unexpected request from a colleague to deal with an issue. So, in a day-to-day life where attention spans are often stretched to the limit, clutter can become the norm.

René-Louis Comtois can help you set your priorities so that you're on the right track.

How to become SMART?

A recent study by collaborative tool Asana mentions that 80% of workers surveyed report working with their inbox and other communication applications open. As a result, employees are less efficient and tend to miss messages and deadlines, or fail to act in a timely manner. Tired of letting your to-do list dictate your entire schedule? Put some work management strategies in place so you can prioritize your day-to-day work and focus on the most relevant tasks.

You may be familiar with Peter Drucker and his SMART method, a concept of management by objectives defined in 1954. This method is still relevant today, and its author is still the most quoted researcher on the subject of work organization. "There's nothing more useless than doing well something that shouldn't be done", he said. It's an inspiring phrase, as work organization becomes the priority for all professionals wishing to increase their potential and optimize their performance.

What do you mean by SMART?

S -> Specific (what I can control)

M -> Measurable (how will I see the difference? By gaining 30 minutes a day?)

A -> Achievable (what's your level of complexity? how many ongoing tasks do you have?)

R -> Realistic (is it possible to make the change now? If not, when?)

T -> Temporal (how much time will you need to make the change?)

 

4 time-saving tips for everyday life

1. Plan effectively for the short, medium and long term

Imagine if, for one or two hours each day, you had no emergencies or priorities to deal with and could devote yourself to an activity you've been wanting to do for a long time. Start your sentence with "If I had the time, I could do this or that...". What thoughts can you draw from this list? Quite often, you'll realize that this list contains elements that will form the very foundations of your role! In short, planning is often absent, and that's what's most detrimental to setting priorities. For example, an employee may complain that he or she never has enough time to prepare for a meeting, even though he or she has never set aside a time slot for it. So, what needs to be planned? Absolutely everything!

Never forget that it's very difficult to prioritize a task that hasn't been planned.

2. Cut out tasks that take too long

This method has been used for decades and has always proved its worth: cutting out a task that takes a long time to complete enables you to do it much more quickly, because you tackle it block by block. The main aim is to assess the real scope of the work to be done. I love the expression "The best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time". It's absolutely true, even in time management!

3. Stop managing by deadline

For example, you have a quote to send to a potential customer by a specific date. Often, most employees are inclined to enter the task of "delivering the quote to the customer" on that same date in their calendar, regardless of when the task is due to start. For many employees, the objective is usually to meet deadlines more effectively, whereas a deliverable's start date should be planned before it is actually handed over. Here again, breaking down the deliverable into smaller tasks can be particularly beneficial. In my practice, I regularly see huge projects that have to be cut up first. Don't fall for it!

4. Use collaborative tools

Here's some software that can be a great help when you're overhauling your time management or prioritizing a larger project as a team. Platforms such as Monday or Smartsheet are particularly useful, but you need to understand them in order to use them properly. Don't forget to update it as often as possible, so that the same information is shared by all team members.

In conclusion

In closing, I'd like to say that effective time management is likely to change your everyday life. Used correctly, with the right reflexes, collaborative project management tools can be almost miraculous! However, I'd like to offer a word of warning: it's very easy to get lost in the technology and to duplicate your tasks, because they are now contained in several tools. Don't forget to set aside a personal dashboard where all your tasks are recorded, so that you don't have to fly over all your tools at the same time to find out what you need to do every day. It's sure to be a great start to impressive time savings!

To find out more :

Time Management: Defining Your Priorities While Remaining Flexible