A myriad of factors might divert the attention of company owners and executives away from their essential responsibilities. This is often done to boost sales and move the firm ahead.
However, to be successful, you must be good at time management and guarding your time. The secret is not just doing everything on your to-do list but also staying away from burnout and ending each day with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.
Having said that, go over the following suggestions for new ideas or reminders to helpelevate your time management skills to the next level. And as a result, became the most productive boss in the history of management.
1. Pick your rubber balls and glass balls.
It might be hazardous to your productivity as well as your health to take on numerous duties at the same time. Because of this, setting priorities is quite essential. In addition, to prioritize, you need to consider the rubber and glass balls.
If you throw a glass ball at your team or company, you will have to deal with the aftermath for a long time. If you do not want these ones to get damaged, you should look after them on your own.
On the other hand, dealing with rubber balls may be put off until a later time or even assigned. Because they have bounced, it is not a significant problem if you drop them.
When you make this comparison using this example, you will be able to determine which activities need to be included in your plan to keep track of everything.
Considering all of this, which of today’s responsibilities will you forego?
2. Organize tasks in the correct order.
Everyone, regardless of whether they are in a position of leadership or not, has a tendency to fall into the same trap. They are being inefficient by going for the low-hanging fruit. Even if duties such as responding to emails, organizing computer files, and cleaning your desk could give you the impression that you are making progress, they may not really be the most critical or pressing responsibilities.
As a result of this, a lot of individuals start their day by doing the activity that is the most essential to them (MIT). Since of this, the morning is the best time to address your most important concerns because it is the time of day when individuals are the most attentive and have the most energy.
After you have finished all of the tasks labelled “must-do,” you may next take your time working through the activities labelled “would be nice to do.”
3. Plan your life a year in advance.
In addition to the duties you have at work, you also have commitments in your personal life. This includes visits to the doctor, conferences between parents and teachers, and time off for vacations, at the very least. If you do not have them in your schedule, you should anticipate that there may be conflicts between them.
Additionally, with a bit of preparation, you are aware of what to anticipate, which allows you to be well-prepared. In addition, this cuts down on the number of choices you have to make to save valuable energy. In addition, it is an efficient method for establishing and monitoring one’s objectives.
However, how far in advance should you plan your calendar? What do you think? It wouldn’t hurt to plan out the next year of your life in advance.
4. Don’t schedule every minute.
Have you ever pondered the rationale behind why some influential people divide their days into 5-minute increments? You can blame Parkinson’s Law for that, to be honest. “Works grow to fill the available time,” as the saying goes.
Timeboxing is a strategy that many influential people, such as Bill Gates and Elon Musk, use to remain on top of their packed agendas. You will allot specific amounts of time for each activity and include that time into your plan.
You will be able to concentrate more effectively on each activity if you set a time limit, increasing the probability that you will finish them on time. When you have a plan for the day that includes breaks, it is also simpler to figure out what the next thing to accomplish will be.
That is really encouraging to hear. After all, planning is an essential activity. However, you shouldn’t feel the need to plan out every single second of the day.
According to a research project by Michael E. Porter and Nitin Nohria of the Harvard Business School, CEOs spend around one-fourth of their working hours engaging in impromptu conversations and meetings.
Executives need to make themselves accessible for appropriate chats or meetings to effectively manage the developing and unforeseen events that take up 36% of their time.
“Leaders whose schedules are always booked up or whose [executive assistants]… say no to too many people risk being viewed as imperious, self-important, or out of touch,” noted Porter and Nohria. “Leaders whose schedules are always booked up or whose [executive assistants]… say no to too many people.”
5. Build healthy habits and set firm boundaries.
Research conducted by McKinsey found that professionals spend an average of 28% of their working hours managing their email. In addition, a study published in the Harvard Business Review found that “professionals check their email 15 times each day, or once every 37 minutes.”
What exactly is the issue with that? When employees are stopped in any way, such as reading their email, it takes them 23 minutes and 15 seconds to return to their previous production level.
On the other hand, emails aren’t the only thing that may waste your time. In addition, many individuals allow alerts from Slack, social media, and text messages to divert their attention from their work. As a result, they cannot devote their total concentration to the activity at hand. And to make matters even worse, this may cut their time off.
The response is… Make sure to check your email first thing in the morning and reply to any urgent messages within the next 20 to 30 minutes. In addition, you should mark the ones that need more in-depth investigation.
In addition, to prevent wasting time on distractions like email and Slack, executives have to establish limitations on the frequency with which they check their email. In addition, it is essential to express to workers their expected expectations and how they may be reached if an emergency situation requires immediate attention.
6. Schedule alone time.
The duty of a chief executive officer (CEO) is to construct a vision for the firm, come up with comprehensive plans for bringing that vision to life, and convey those strategies in a way that is understandable to all of the company’s stakeholders.
However, if you don’t have sufficient time to ponder, it will be difficult for you to achieve that goal. Because of this, CEOs spend around 28% of their work time alone, although the amount of time they spend by themselves usually is little more than an hour or two.
“CEOs need to cordon off considerable amounts of alone time and avoid dispersing it by dealing with pressing problems, particularly their inboxes,” Porter and Nohria said. “CEOs need to spend meaningful amounts of time alone.”
7. Make time for personal well-being.
Working about sixty hours per week might be difficult for those in higher-up positions to find time for themselves. To maintain a healthy lifestyle, however, it is essential to schedule time specifically for your own personal well-being.
But how exactly do you plan to fit in this time by yourself? Contributors to the Harvard Business Review Whitney Johnson and Amy Humble give the following four pieces of advice to assist you in taking care of yourself:
Take care of yourself at the top of your to-do list and schedule it accordingly.
If you require assistance, don’t be hesitant to ask for it.
It’s essential to check in with other people and see how they’re doing.
Create a list of all the good things that happened today. In addition to this, make it a point to articulate them aloud.
