“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.”
Most of the startups or entrepreneurs who have achieved a degree of success attribute it to efficient time management, utilising each day to its fullest in their own way. Time is a resource like any other. It is pivotal to treat it like the investment it should be, start to think about budgeting your time in the same way you budget your cash. Here are some tips to manage time efficiently to increase the productivity.
Prioritize
“Time management is an oxymoron. Time is beyond our control, and the clock keeps ticking regardless of how we lead our lives. Priority management is the answer to maximizing the time we have.”
Image Source: slideshare
If you don’t have a good plan, you can’t manage your time effectively. Set your top priorities based both on a daily and long-term basis and then focus on them alone. This is a tricky proposition in a startup where teams aren’t large and many top people don multiple roles. Prioritize effectively based on the attention and efforts demanded by each task to put time into good use.
Related Read: 10 Daily Habits Of Successful People!
Set Deadlines
“Deadlines refine the mind. They remove variables like exotic materials and processes that take too long. The closer the deadline, the more likely you’ll start thinking waaay outside the box.”
Image Source: personalitutor.com
Schedule your activities, deciding how much time to devote to each task and setting realistic deadlines; set interim deadlines for major projects. Deadlines helps you in delegating your task better and increasing your focus.
Long-term Time Management
“Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.”
Image Source: echetna.in
Choose a long-term approach in managing time. Productivity in the short run though may seem heartening, but staying productive in the long run is even more important. You might not be productive as you expect to be on short time frames, but in the long run, you’ll be amazed by the amount you can accomplish!
Analyse
“We are time’s subjects, and time bids be gone.”
Quantify exactly how much time you spend daily for reading and sending emails, in meetings, browsing Twitter, LinkedIn, and on calls. Cross check if it needs the quantity of time spent.If you don’t know how you spend your time each day then you’ll never know what to cut out to be more productive. Track your time on a working day you will know how easily you let time slip away.
Related Read: How These 11 Entrepreneurs Spent Their Time In 2015 ?
Productive Utilization
“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.” “If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.”
Image Source: psychowith6.com
True productivity isn’t measured by the amount of time you work. If you aren’t doing things to achieve your long time goals every day, you’re in desperate need of some time management changes. Set a single “must do” task for each day. Get the task done first, and you’ll never find yourself feeling like your entire day has been a waste. Prepare a to-do list for a longer period or long term goals.