What Are Time Management Techniques at Work? This is the most obvious question every individual looks to answer for. Irrespective of the nature of the job and location, time management is a part of personal and professional life. The role of time management is much more in the organization. Employees wasting their time on other work not only results in delays in the completion but also affects the overall project for the company. An individual can come across many reasons to face distraction, and social media is the major reason. As per one stat, employees spend 44 minutes of their day using social media. Similarly, 23 hours per week are spent on meetings. All these distractions result in adopting the best time management techniques at work to reduce stress.
The technique of planning and controlling how much time you need to spend on various activities is known as time management. Good time management allows an individual to accomplish more results in less time, reduces stress, and leads to job success. When you follow the right techniques, time management becomes easier.
8 Time Management Techniques at Work to Grow with Time
In this article, we present you with 8 such time management techniques for employees that will help you to manage time at the workplace and bring massive change to your work life.
1. Pareto Analysis (80/20 rule)
This time management technique is the product of Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. The Pareto Analysis is about the 80/20 rule where 20% of actions are responsible resulting in 80% of the outcome. In simpler words, if you are accommodating a lot of 10 items, only two would be worth compared to the rest 8. 80 percent of your total output should be from those 20 percent of your total time. The concept of Pareto Analysis is to make you focus more on things that are important and will help you reach your goals. Whether you are an entrepreneur or a working professional, this time management analysis will work best.
How Does it Work?
- To get the most out of the Pareto Principle, prioritize the work or item you need to do based on the amount of work required.
- Then go ahead with counting items starting from one to ten. Then evaluate the potential benefits of performing those things.
- Label them from one to ten, with ten having the greatest influence.
- Subtract the amount of work from the potential outcomes.
- The process will further help you to rank the work for better management of time in the long run. Those that provide the best outcomes with the least amount of work are finished first.
2. Pomodoro Technique
Francesco Cirillo, an entrepreneur, and author developed this Pomodoro time management technique. Mainly employee time tracking software is designed to encourage all employees to work. The Pomodoro Technique will help in dividing your overall work schedule into 25-minute intervals. The total interval time taken is called Pomodoro.
How to work on this?
- Select the actual task which you need to complete under a certain deadline.
- Make a timer (e.g., for 30 mins).
- Now start your work and focus without getting distracted.
- Tick mark on a piece of paper as the alarm goes off.
- Steps one through four should be repeated: After you’ve repeated this process four times, you can start taking longer breaks (20–30 minutes).
The forced breaks serve to alleviate the frazzled situation that most of us have at the end of the day. Spending hours sitting in front of the computer will lead to health issues and distraction.
3. Eisenhower Matrix
The Eisenhower Matrix is a basic decision-making tool that helps you to create differences between work that is less important and more important. You can divide your jobs into four boxes that prioritize which activities should be completed first and which you can do it later. It was named after Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States, known for his accuracy in work. President Eisenhower used to prioritize his duties so that only the most significant and pressing issues came across his desk.
How does this time management technique work?
- Create a schedule of your work as per its importance
- Making small progress for long-term
- No more procrastination
- Can delegate time without difficulty
4. Parkinson’s Law
Parkinson’s Law was introduced by Cyril Northcote Parkinson, a reputed British naval historian who wrote a book titled Parkinson’s Law: The Pursuit of Progress. The basic theme of this law is your work will keep expanding to fill the time allotted as per the deadline. If you keep juggling between deadlines and managing projects, then Parkinson’s Law fits perfectly. For instance, assume you’re a marketing manager and working towards the client pitch. You have one month to gather all of the resources required to include in your presentation. Although you have enough timeline to work on the said project, you have other tasks to work on. The deadline approaches, and you hurry to finish the pitch at the last minute.
How to work on this?
- Make a list of tasks and divide them according to the amount and the team you have.
- Let your team focus on the task given and the amount of time required.
- Having an accurate judging time to know the completion of the project will help you further.
- It will help in reducing inefficiency, boosting productivity, and learning to prioritize.
5. Time Blocking Method
Being one of the best time management techniques at work for employees, the time-blocking method allows people to schedule the overall work as per the time. Each block is committed to performing a single job so that the individual can stay focused on the work completely without getting distracted. Time blocking allows you to focus on the given specific plan, and further helps to eliminate distractions to complete your work as per the schedule. The time-blocking method comprises different types including task batching, day theming, time boxing, and others. It is the best time management technique that helps in how to manage time at work.
How to work on this?
- Make a list of work according to the priority
- Create a template for the day’s work
- Set a certain timeline for focused work and breaks
- Add blocks for those that are reactive tasks
6. Rapid Planning Method
Tony Robbins, a motivational speaker, and business coach devised this time management strategy, which is sometimes abbreviated as RPM. RPM, according to Robbins, is a way of thinking rather than a time management strategy, a system designed to help you enhance your productivity nonetheless. In other words, it is one of the ways to train your brain to stay focused on the work and complete the task given.
How to work on this?
- Capture the process and consider the must-accomplish task for the week.
- Start the churning process with proper planning.
- Creating the RPM plan which includes- writing the results you hope and the purpose.
7. Pickle Jar Theory
The pickle jar idea is based on a time management strategy scheduling jobs and responsibilities according to their importance. The pebbles in the pickle jar theory of time in which the jar represents our normal day and the sand, rocks, and pebbles reflect our daily activities. Fill the entire jar in the form of duties and essential activities.
How to Work on this?
- To get the best out of this time management technique for work, you need to fill your jar with the most important tasks and then go with the least important ones.
- In this manner, you will complete your most critical chores first and then deal with the reminder. Keep in mind that highly productive people make efficient use of their resources and are less concerned with how much they accomplish and more concerned with what they do.
8. Eat That Frog Technique
This is yet another effective employee time management technique. Following Eat the Frog time management technique for the workplace helps in promoting deep work habits, setting up your agenda, helps you to win in meeting targets, and allows infinite flexibility.
How to work on this?
- Get clear on an objective.
- Make a list of everything you need to accomplish to reach your objective by the respective deadline
- Sort this list according to priority. The most crucial items are most likely the most challenging. Consider these as ‘frogs.”
- Now it’s time to take action.
- Practice this technique daily ensuring you will keep doing any activities helping you to achieve your goals.
Conclusion
We have covered all the major time management techniques at work along with time management skills examples you can work on. Following the right set of techniques by using time management skills will help in keeping a balanced life, no matter what profession you belong to. If you have a habit of procrastinating, consider employing Parkinson’s Law or eat that frog method. If you have trouble focusing on a subject, feel the Pomodoro technique of working intensively in short intervals. In the end, we all want to have a perfect life with a scheduled work lifestyle.
