Strategic time management: 5 simple steps to success

There are many reasons for lack of time: bad ones Planning, inefficient ways of working and a lack of prioritization Problems prepare. With the right ones Time management-Methods you get to faster Objective. 5 steps at a glance.

Headache hectic?

“I still have so much to do” – almost everyone has rushed when time is running out before a deadline. Whether it's housework im Study or the completion of the project at work – Stress is inevitable.

This is not only bad for personal well-being. It may also affect the quality of the work if there is not enough time to elaborate and check the details. If the time window is too long, you may also struggle with the patience of colleagues or superiors who need the work themselves. Many an oath is made: "It won't happen to me again."

Structured time management is the solution

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But how do you manage to keep an eye on the deadlines, correctly estimate the time and effort and get the work done efficiently? Structured time management is the Solution. The aim is to organize the work in such a way that there is no time shortage in the first place. The problem is often not that not enough time has been scheduled, but that the time available is not being used optimally.

On average, employees waste three hours a day on things that are not part of their core tasks. It doesn't matter whether you fast getting bogged down or simply procrastinating: Good time management helps to organize work better and with short-term milestones Motivation hold up high. Last but not least, good time management is a welcome skill in Curriculum vitaewhich is ideally occupied by certificates for time management methods.

Time management in 5 simple steps

Good time management does not start with the time factor - by when something has to be done - but starts much earlier. First, goals and priorities must be set, then other steps such as scheduling and selection the right tools. 5 steps at a glance:

1. set priorities

These factors must be taken into account so as not to create any overburden. Only then can realistic goals be set.

• What do I want to achieve?
• What steps are necessary?
• Is this possible at all within the set time frame? The point is to develop a look for what you can really do without overloading or breaking deadlines. It is important to know yourself and your own personality.
• How strong am I at the moment?
• How much time can I honestly put into the work?
• Is it an important project?
• What important and unavoidable dates are in my calendar, which could hinder me?
• What about my health?
• Am I still free to relax?

2. Setting goals: What is important?

This also includes separating the important from the unimportant. The two-listTechnology help, which was already used by the investment billionaire Warren Buffet. First, a list of 25 goals is created, from which the 5 most important ones are selected. Before these 5 top goals are not achieved, none of the remaining goals may be tackled. This helps to stay focused and not get bogged down. Then the pending Tasks be done quickly and well, there will be no Energy wasted.

The Eisenhower principle also deals with the prioritization of goals and tasks. Here, too, the big picture is first recorded and then divided into subtasks. These are sorted into four categories: Urgent and important tasks must be completed first, urgent and non-important tasks can be easily delegated. Important but not urgent tasks are scheduled for later. Unimportant and non-urgent work is ignored and costs nothing at the moment awareness and energy. These two methods are part of strategic time management and reduce the feeling of being under pressure and being overwhelmed.

3. Divide tasks and stop in time

After the first steps it is clear which tasks are actually pending. Now it's time for operational time management. The task is divided into individual work steps. “Preparing the annual financial statements” is too vague, for example, and the associated effort is difficult to estimate. “Copy cash receipts” and “Account statements sortieren” are smaller milestones that are easier to achieve and tick off. Now the time must be planned:

• Until when does it have to be done?
• How much time does the task take? You often have to rely on your own experience.
• Here too, an honest assessment is important: Better to plan for a buffer, than to be too optimistic then in time.
• Unforeseen events can otherwise shake the whole schedule.
• The consequences are known: stress, worse results or anger with the client.

4. Time log

In order to be able to better assess yourself and the processing time of the tasks, it is advisable to keep a time log. Recurring tasks can be planned more precisely. on this one ways In addition, one often comes across undiscovered time wasters that can subsequently be avoided. A realistic schedule helps to complete the assigned tasks on time. The increases the motivation as well as the reward after work is done, for example with a meal with friends.

With many tasks it is not so easy to find an end point. Particularly PeopleThose who tend towards perfectionism know the problem. The Pareto principle can help with the allocation of time and effort: It states that an 80 percent result can often be achieved with 20 percent of the effort. That means: 20 percent of the tasks can be completed in 80 percent of the time. If you put more work into it, the result doesn't get much better. Even if you can't always follow this principle, it's definitely worth thinking about where effort can be saved without sacrificing much of the result.

5. Tools and tools for scheduling

Any plan is only as good as that Implementation. This also applies to scheduling. To ensure that the carefully worked out battle plan is adhered to, you can get help in the form of tools. Personal Kanban boards like Trello are used to visualize tasks, document the processing status and remind you of upcoming deadlines. check off subtasks Fun and helps the Head free up for current to-dos.

This also facilitates cooperation in projects and reduces the need for coordination. For complex tasks with many interdependent steps, the classic Gantt diagram can also be helpful. This clearly shows what needs to be done first so that other things can be tackled. Also, there are a variety of user-friendly apps.

Conclusion: Correct methods help

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All these methods and tools help users to spend their time effectively and efficiently. Who uses them comes to more realistic assessments than by gut feeling.

But the most important thing is that at the end there is a schedule that works for you and takes into account your own way of working and performance. Because only then will you become him successfully implement.

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