time management in a business plan

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As a professional web and software developer, the author possesses a strong foundational background in Computer Science. This equips him with both academic rigor and practical insights into the world of web-based entrepreneurship. As the founder of this platform, webpreneurships.com, he stands at the intersection of technology and business.

How to Design a Business Time Management Plan in 10 Steps

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In the world of business, managing time efficiently is a necessity because of the number of important tasks that entrepreneurs face. Whether it is setting your goals for the day, or knowing your most productive hour, creating a well-structured time management plan can be your road map to success.

This guide will discuss 10 time management strategies to help you with your daily or weekly schedule and save time for your personal life as a busy entrepreneur.

But first, what does time management mean in a business plan?

What is Time Management in a Business Plan?

Time management in a business plan refers to the systematic allocation of time to all the tasks and responsibilities to boost productivity and efficiency to achieve goals and maintain a good balance between business operations and personal time.

Importance of Time Management Plan in Business

There are many benefits in developing your time management skills for your business and your daily schedule. Here are some of the most important advantages of a time management plan:

Now let’s dive into how to write a good time management plan that will give you all these benefits and more.

Related: 5 Proven Business Hacks Every Entrepreneur Should Know

How Do You Write a Time Management Plan?

Step 1: set clear goals.

72% achieved goals when they wrote them down, made a plan, and submitted a weekly report, according to a study on goal-setting statistics.

This statistic not only highlights the significance of having clear goals but also the necessity of creating a time management plan that includes detailed planning and regular progress reviews.

Here are the qualities of a clear goal:

Specificity : Clearly defined business objectives.

Measurability : Goals that can be quantified or measured using numbers.

Achievability : Realistic and attainable milestones.

Relevance : Goals aligned with your core mission and values.

Time-bound : Deadlines that foster accountability and efficiency.

Related: 7 Business Short-Term Goals to Boost Your Company’s Growth

STEP 2: Know Your Most Productive Hours

Identifying your most productive hours is key to crafting a schedule that not only completes tasks but mirrors your natural rhythms.

With this strategy, you can tailor your time management plan to be based on your daily routine where you have your peak mental and physical energy.

With a routine in place, scheduling tasks especially the most important ones in your golden hour will do wonders for your business but also in your daily life.

STEP 3: Make a To-Do List

Starting your day with a well-structured to-do list is important, it guides you to identify what tasks need to be done for the day, for the week, or for however long you set the deadline for the list.

Integrating a to-do list into your own time management plan also ensures that you do not forget any necessary daily tasks.

Remember that when creating a to-do list, make sure that they are small and actionable pieces of work rather than an ambiguous objective or even your business goals.

It has to be a chore that can be done for the day that will result in your business or yourself moving forward to your vision and desired results.

However, according to data from iDoneThisBlog , 41% of to-do list items are never completed. This means that even if you set a list of chores for the day, it will still depend on you to stay organized, manage your time, and follow the particular task you scheduled.

STEP 4: Prioritize tasks

One of the most crucial time management skills that you need to learn is to prioritize tasks effectively. Because most of the time we end up stressing and doing things that will have little to no effect in the future.

Identifying your priority tasks first things ensures that you channel your energy and time towards achieving the most significant outcomes thus utilizing the time effectively.

There are specific tasks that will have a massive influence on whether you succeed or not, and then there are some that are not even worth doing. Learn how to know which ones to prioritize and your time management will improve considerably.

STEP 5: Break Down Big Tasks

Finishing big tasks can often feel overwhelming and even time-blocking. One of the good time management skills that can solve this is to know how to break a complex task down into smaller and manageable specific tasks.

Moreover, by making your specific task smaller, you ensure a smooth workflow as you can concentrate on one segment at a time without the distraction of the whole chore.

As you complete tasks, you will find that what once seemed like a mountain was successfully done, showcasing the effectiveness of strategic breakdown and focused execution.

STEP 6: Limit Distractions

In a world where we receive notifications every hour of the day, whether it is from social media apps or just your stats from your iPhone telling you your screen time, distractions are everywhere.

Mastering the art of limiting distractions is one of the hardest tasks in this time management strategy.

Also, even in a distraction-free environment, it is crucial to take some time to remove any unnecessary thoughts in your mind and just focus on the job in front of you.

Because some distractions are not in our surroundings but in our thoughts. Take time to meditate or have a quiet moment to clear your mind, enabling a dedicated mindset toward the task at hand.

STEP 7: Use a Timer

Utilizing a timer is a simple yet effective tool for maintaining discipline to finish your important task in an estimated time.

Setting a fixed amount of time for each task not only encourages focus but also fosters a sense of urgency to help you stay on track and avoid procrastination.

Working with a timer also helps in planning your schedule and the actual time it needs to be done, ultimately helping in creating a good time management plan for your business and yourself.

STEP 8: Take Regular Breaks

Incorporating regular breaks is an important part of any time management plan. You have to know when to take a rest or else your body will tell you when.

Short breaks allow your mind to recuperate and prevent burnout, facilitating sustained concentration for longer periods.

Planning your breaks wisely can also lead to a more rewarding work schedule, with time set aside for relaxation and personal activities that you enjoy, you foster a healthier and better work-life balance.

STEP 9: Learn to Say No

Learning to say NO, is a crucial thing to stay true to your time management plan. Sometimes, it is necessary to not go crazy on a Friday night, or binge-watch that new Netflix series.

Moreover, being able to refuse tasks that do not align with your goals and values keeps your focus on the road ahead, giving you a better chance to achieve your objectives.

By being able to say no, you can also remove distractions, you preserve more time, energy, and focus for the tasks that really matter, steering your journey toward success with a clear and resolute vision.

STEP 10: Review Your Day

Ending your day with a review of what you have done to progress is a powerful practice that fosters awareness and a deep understanding of your personal rhythm.

It helps to identify both your victories and the areas that require improvement. Taking a few minutes to reflect on the day’s achievements cultivates a sense of accomplishment and gratitude.

This reinforces positive thinking and behavior and can lead to your success.

By incorporating daily reviews into your routine, you foster a continuous cycle of growth and improvement, steering yourself steadily into the realization of your goals.

What are the Tools Used in Time Management?

Now that we finished all the steps to create a great time management plan here is a list of time management tools that can help you accomplish all the strategies above.

1. Calendar Apps

These applications assist in scheduling and organizing your tasks and appointments seamlessly.

By having a calendar that contains all the dates where you need to accomplish a goal and the time limit you set on them you position yourself to do more challenging tasks and can even result in less stress.

Here are some popular options:

Google Calendar

Microsoft Outlook Calendar

Apple Calendar

2. To-Do List Apps

These apps are designed to help you list down all the tasks that need to be accomplished. Some will even have a priority setting where you can arrange the list based on importance or time sensitivity.

Utilizing these settings can greatly assist with your day-to-day objectives and make sure that you pour your energy into the most urgent and important tasks of the day.

Microsoft To Do

3. Project Management Software

These kinds of tools are essential for overseeing complex projects that involve the coordination of various individuals to handle multifaceted tasks with different components.

Making use of project management software can be a game-changer in terms of enhancing productivity and ensuring that projects are completed on time and within the stipulated budget.

Microsoft Project

4. Time Tracking Apps

These applications are fundamental in creating a time management plan. By setting up a time limit for specific tasks at hand, you increase the chance that they will be finished before the deadline.

Time tracking tools can be the key to avoiding poor time management and finally being able to finish all the important tasks in your to-do lists.

Toggl Track

Summary of How to Design a Time Management Plan

Here is a table to summarize all the steps discussed above and how to do them properly and apply them to your daily schedules.

Final Thoughts

As we have gone through all the steps needed to create a well-structured time management plan and some of the tools that can streamline this process, it becomes evident that the road to enhanced productivity and efficiency is paved by meticulous planning with the right set of tools.

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Time Management Is About More Than Life Hacks

• Erich C. Dierdorff

Your productivity hinges on these three skills.

There is certainly no shortage of advice — books and blogs, hacks and apps — all created to boost time management with a bevy of ready-to-apply tools. Yet, the frustrating reality for individuals trying to improve their time management is that tools alone won’t work. You have to develop your time management skills in three key areas: awareness, arrangement, and adaptation. The author offers evidence-based tactics to improve in all three areas.

Project creep, slipping deadlines, and a to-do list that seems to get longer each day — these experiences are all too common in both life and work. With the New Year’s resolution season upon us, many people are boldly trying to fulfill goals to “manage time better,” “be more productive,” and “focus on what matters.” Development goals like these are indeed important to career success. Look no further than large-scale surveys that routinely find time management skills among the most desired workforce skills, but at the same time among the rarest skills to find.

• Erich C. Dierdorff is a professor of management and entrepreneurship at the Richard H. Driehaus College of Business at DePaul University and is currently an associate editor at  Personnel Psychology.

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How to Create a Time Management Plan in 9 Steps

In today’s fast-paced world, mastering time management is essential for your success in any task you might have, be it because it allows you to enjoy life outside of work better, or helps you have more free time.

Good time management skills help you increase productivity, prioritize tasks, and save time for professional development and personal life.

“We have become 20% more profitable because everyone is in the habit of time tracking.” – Richard Wingfield, Head Geek at Envision Design

To have good time management, the stepping stone is for you to create a time management plan first. This is why, in this article, we will provide you with 7 steps on how to create an effective time management plan.

We’ll guide you through the essential steps, from establishing precise work goals and evaluating your time availability to executing the plan and adapting as needed. Along the way, you’ll uncover effective time management techniques and powerful tools to enhance your productivity significantly.

What is a time management plan?

A time management plan is like a smart schedule that helps you get things done efficiently. It’s all about setting realistic goals , breaking them into smaller tasks, and setting aside specific times to complete them. A proper time management plan will help you and your team stay organized, reduce stress, and succeed in both your personal and work life.

What is a crucial part of a successful plan?

• Time management tools like time tracking apps, calendars, and reminders will help you stick to your plan
• Strong time management skills
• Effective time management strategies

We will get into details in the next sections of this article.

Read also: Why is time management important in a business?

Free eBook: How to plan your team’s time?

Get your free copy and discover how to leverage the power of time tracking in your team.

How to create a time management plan in 9 steps

TIP: Before delving into your time management plan, it’s essential to sharpen your time management skills . Poor time management often results from a lack of familiarity with time management techniques, as well as time tracking. To equip you with the essentials, we’ve included some effective time management tips in the next section of this article.

1. Determine your goals

Clarity in your goals is the fundamental starting point for a proper time management strategy. Ask yourself: What do I want to achieve in a particular task, project, or even the week ahead? This clarity forms the foundation of your time management plan.

Importantly, ensure your goals are realistic . Setting achievable objectives prevents frustration and maintains motivation throughout the process while ensuring there won’t be any wasted time.

Tip: Apply this step to both your personal and professional goals.

2. Prioritize tasks

Once your goals are crystal clear, priority tasks should be established. Categorizing your daily tasks helps you pinpoint what truly requires your immediate attention. To implement this, create a daily or weekly to do list , placing the most crucial and challenging tasks at the top.

TIP: It might be a good idea to use a good work prioritization tool .

3. Assess your available schedule  plan

Next, let’s consider your current time situation . Take a close look at your schedule and assess it thoroughly. How much time do you have available, and how does it align with the time required for your tasks? This evaluation is crucial.

As you delve into this exercise, you’ll learn whether adjustments to your routine or schedule are necessary for more effective time management.

4. Reflect on your productivity periods

Additionally, consider your peak productivity times . Are you at your best in the morning, evening, or other times? This individual inclination, known as your chronotype, depends on various factors. The key here is to harness your chronotype’s strengths by scheduling tasks accordingly. If you are a night person, work at night! You’d be better off setting your entire weekly schedule based on your strengths, rather than weaknesses.

You might find yourself most productive in the morning (AM-shifted), the late afternoon or evening (PM-shifted), or even in two distinct phases (Bi-phasic) – it varies from person to person.

5. List your tasks

Create a to-do list of all the tasks you need to complete. Sort them starting with the most urgent tasks and drill down until you get to the least important task on your list. Add information about deadlines and estimated time limits.

6. Choose the right tools

Using a time-tracking software  is a big help in ensuring the plan is followed and the goals are accomplished, while you monitor every task inside the software.

A time tracking tool is also useful in understanding the amount of time spent on a specific task and what are the areas that demand the most attention and focus.

It’s a great idea to assess what you’re doing before setting up a plan to identify the most problematic areas or habits.

We’ll explore several techniques further down this article, such as the Pomodoro technique or time blocking, which can be followed with a time tracking tool.

Read our master guide if you want to know what the Pomodoro technique is .

7. Implement the plan

It’s now time to put the plan in motion. Keep up with that initial burst of motivation and stay focused on the final goals, without getting blocked by the critical tasks that may require more time and energy.

To keep you motivated, did you know that preparing your elaborated task list in advance is one of the  best time saving tips ?

8. Adjust as needed

As time goes by and the workload shifts and changes, you’ll be able to customize your plan/schedule even further. Adjust as many times as needed based on a new strategy or important tasks that appear.

Don’t be afraid to make changes, switch tasks around, and implement new techniques if it’ll help you reach your goals more effectively.

If you find out there are other manageable tasks you could do at some point, as you stumbled upon blockers in finalizing your initial ones, changing your focus can only speed up the achievement of your objectives.

9. Plan for unexpected situations

Unfortunately, it’s impossible to control all aspects of time management. As we work on arranging time for tasks, setting deadlines, and even planning personal errands, unexpected events will happen.

This can include events like meetings, questions from coworkers, or urgent assignments that take longer to complete than originally planned.

Other times, real-life problems can get in the way. Try to plan for this by budgeting some extra time. If you don’t need it, it’s extra time for relaxing and simply enjoying daily life at a slower pace.

• TIP: Use the best time management books to learn how to deal with unexpected situations.

Time management plan template

This is a schematic example of how simply, yet effectively manage your time in a week – or even your recurring tasks.

To-do list prioritization

This is a template that will allow you to organize your list based on the order of priority tasks.

But if you’re looking for something more elaborate and helpful, the Eisenhower’s Matrix also known as the 4 quadrants of time management.

Tips and techniques to include in your time management plan

Below, we enlisted some of the most popular time management techniques that help to manage time effectively:

The 80/20 rule

This time management technique, also known as the Pareto Analysis (named after its Italian creator), consists in prioritizing the tasks that are most effective at solving problems.

Write down all the problems you are facing at the moment, in your department, company, agency, or even personal life, and identify the root cause of each problem.

Assign a score to each problem – the higher the score, the bigger the issue. Group them together according to their scores. The group with the highest score should be the one you work on first.

As you’ll end up with a task list already prioritized, you’ll be better equipped to manage your time effectively and complete tasks, in your daily or weekly schedule.

Time blocking

Time blocking , also known as time batching, involves scheduling dedicated time slots for specific tasks, allowing you to protect your focus, avoid task overload, and make consistent progress on projects. It’s an effective time management strategy that helps to  avoid procrastination .

By applying this methodology, you’d develop your time management skills, as you’re exercising your awareness to complete tasks within a time limit.

This technique has a lot of supporters, i.e. the CEO of Tesla,  Elon Musk who uses 5-minute blocks to organize his day .

• Download for free: Time blocking planner templates

The Pomodoro technique

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management technique that involves working in focused 25-minute intervals, known as ‘Pomodoros,’ followed by a 5-minute break. This method enhances concentration, minimizes procrastination, and optimizes productivity by breaking tasks into manageable time intervals with regular short breaks.

Regardless of how long a task takes in general, you’d need to break it into 25 minutes and stay focused on it. This will free time for a break and give a sense of finalizing a specific task easier, regardless of the total time spent on it.

Remember, time tracking is the core of this technique! You could even schedule meetings in a Pomodoro fashion for better efficiency.

Pro tip:  Use our free Pomodoro timer or one of the  Pomodoro apps  to set Pomodoro slots with one click!

Time management Matrix

The time management matrix, aka Eisenhower Matrix, is a prioritization strategy that categorizes tasks into four quadrants based on their urgency and importance. It helps individuals make decisions, prioritize tasks, and achieve their goals effectively by sorting tasks into categories such as:

• urgent and important,
• not important but urgent,
• urgent but not important,
• and neither urgent nor important.

Most of the time we lose focus as, either our time management skills are not as robust as we’d need, or because we’re too stressed to see clearly what managing time effectively really means. That is why, the Eisenhower Matrix will help declutter the minds and demonstrate in black and white, what the next task should be.

Eat the Frog Technique

Named after a Mark Twain quote, “eat a live frog the first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day”, the Eat the Frog method translates to starting the day by doing the “worst” of your tasks.

The “worst” will be done sooner rather than later, and the rest of the day will seem easier to tackle. You’ll have a higher feeling of achievement, knowing that you’re well ahead of those complex tasks no longer dragged towards of the day, and more relaxed during your back-to-back meetings in the second part of the day.

Parkinson’s law

This method is especially directed at people who work well under pressure. Cyril Northcote Parkinson coined the phrase, “work expands to fill the time available for its completion”.

This means that the time we give ourselves to complete a task is the amount of time it’ll take for it to be completed. 

Applying this technique means working more efficiently in shorter bursts of time. For example, setting a limit amount of minutes to check e-mails (like half an hour) and that’s it.

Try to work without a computer charger, and challenge yourself to finish the task before the computer or other device dies.

In conclusion

Now, that you have identified these time management techniques, you should be able to create an effective time management plan, whether it is for professional or personal life goals.

The  benefits of good time management  are virtually impossible to ignore, whether you’re planning a task, or even managing personal errands. You’d be more prepared to face any challenge that may come up, and stay on top of things , while still meeting deadlines.

Using a time-tracking software can aid in making sure you’re accomplishing your goals, and sticking to your plan, while you monitor every task inside the software. A time tracking tool is also useful in understanding the amount of time dedicated to a specific task and what are the areas that demand the most attention and focus.

All in all, regardless of the technique or tool you choose, it will lead to efficiency and productivity increase and it will fuel you to stay motivated long-term while enjoying work and personal time.

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• 18 time management tips, strategies, an ...

18 time management tips, strategies, and quick wins to get your best work done

Today, we’re constantly interrupted by tools, notifications, emails, social media—you name it. In our distraction economy, chaos has become the norm.

Time management templates can help you take back your time and bring more mindfulness into your daily routine. Instead of letting your to-do list dictate how you spend your time, you can use time management strategies to intentionally set your daily priorities and focus on the most relevant work.

There isn’t one right way to manage your time. In this article, we’ll cover 18 different tips, strategies, and quick wins to help you take back control of your tasks—and your time.

What is time management?

Time management is the practice of managing your work in order to ensure you’re spending your time as intentionally as possible. Time management can  increase productivity —but the biggest advantage of effective time management is the ability to better prioritize your day so you can make space for rest and self care.

The benefits of time management

Good time management strategies can help you organize and prioritize tasks so you can:

Feel like you have more time in your day.  When you’re intentional about where your time is going, you may find that you reduce unnecessary tasks, de-prioritize work that doesn’t need to get done today, and accomplish things in less time. You won’t literally have more time in your day—but you may find that you accomplish more in the same amount of time.

Establish boundaries between work and personal time.  Improving your time management isn’t about squeezing out every second of productivity you have at work. Rather, these strategies can help you get your most important work done—and identify what work can wait until tomorrow. By prioritizing the work that needs to get done today and clarifying what work you can defer to a later date, you’re also establishing boundaries between your work time and your personal time.

Reduce stress.  Without effective time management, it can feel like you never have enough time at work. You might feel like you’re running around and putting out fires—which can lead to increased stress and, ultimately, burnout. In fact, according to the  Anatomy of Work Index , 71% of knowledge workers reported feeling burnout at least once in 2020.

Improve productivity.  There are a variety of time management tips to help reduce procrastination and increase productivity. By identifying your main priorities for the day, you won’t just be more productive—you can also feel confident that you’re working on the right things each day.

Break bad habits.  No one wants to procrastinate. But over time, bad habits can pile up and get in the way of high-impact work. (Trust us, we’ve been there too.) Time management strategies can help you identify and break out of bad habits.

6 time management strategies to increase productivity

One of the easiest ways to build your time management skills is to incorporate a tried-and-true time management strategy into your daily routine. Time management strategies help you set time limits on work, tackle one task at a time, and schedule your day with more intention.

1. Timeboxing

Timeboxing  is a goal-oriented time management strategy where you complete work within “timeboxes.” This strategy is particularly effective if you aren’t sure how much time you’re spending on each task and want to approach your  to-do list  more intentionally.

Timeboxing helps you break down large tasks into smaller pieces, and then complete those pieces in a reasonable amount of time. Each task should have its own unique timebox that lasts no more than three hours. For example, if you need to write a blog post, you might create a two-hour timebox to write an outline. Then after taking a break, you can create another three hour timebox to begin the first draft. By breaking the work into smaller pieces, you can make steady progress towards your goal over the course of days or weeks.

2. Time blocking

Time blocking  is similar to timeboxing, but instead of scheduling specific time for each individual task, you’ll practice blocking off set periods of your calendar for related work. When you use time blocking to schedule your work, you’re effectively breaking the work week into discrete time slots where you can work on projects, communicate with coworkers, take a break, or even exercise. Time blocking can help you dedicate more time to flow and  deep work  by allowing you to focus without being interrupted.

To create a time block, start by figuring out your daily or weekly priorities. Then, group similar tasks so you can work on them in one time block. Finally, practice scheduling blocks of focus time on your calendar to help you stick to your time blocked schedule.

3. Pomodoro method

Similar to timeboxing and time blocking, the  Pomodoro method  helps you tackle work within short time frames and then take breaks between working sessions. The Pomodoro time management strategy is particularly helpful because it actively encourages regular breaks, which are good for intrinsic motivation —and good for your brain. In fact, research suggests that taking breaks makes people  more creative .

To use the Pomodoro method, you need a timer, a prioritized to-do list, and a “snooze” feature on your notifications. Start by setting your timer for 25 minutes, and try to spend that time exclusively working on a task—avoid checking your text messages or social media if possible. Then, once time is up, take a five minute break. Ideally, aim to do something physical during your break, like grabbing a snack or getting up to stretch—but it’s ok to check your devices or see if you got an important ping while you were focused on your task.

Repeat the process of working for 25 minutes and then taking a five minute break four times. Then, after the fourth working session, take a longer 20-30 minute break.

4. Eat the Frog

Mark Twain famously said, “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning.” The  Eat the Frog  time management strategy takes inspiration from this quote and encourages you to tackle big or complex tasks first before working on your less important or less urgent work. This strategy is particularly helpful if you split your days between regular, daily work and high-priority tasks.

With the Eat the Frog method, you can ensure you’re getting to your most important work every day. To get started with this time management strategy, make sure you’re tracking your work and priorities in a centralized tool. Look for a way to connect your  daily tasks to company goals . That way, you can better identify which tasks to prioritize every day, and make sure you get those to-dos done first. Then, once you’ve eaten your frog for the day, you can move on to the rest of your work.

5. Pareto principle

If eating a frog first thing in the morning doesn’t sound appetizing, you might prefer the Pareto time management strategy. The  Pareto principle  is the opposite of the Eat the Frog method—this strategy encourages you to get quick tasks out of the way, so you can feel more accomplished and motivated as you head into your day.

Often called the “80/20 rule,” the Pareto principle has one fundamental rule: you spend 20% of your time on 80% of your work. If you can get those 80% of your tasks out of the way in relatively quick order, you free up your workday to tackle the 20% of your work that will take 80% of your time.

6. Getting Things Done (GTD)

The  Getting Things Done  method was invented by David Allen in the early 2000s. According to Allen, the first step to getting things done is to write down everything you need to do. By freeing up brain power and instead relying on  task management tools , you can focus on taking action—and not remembering what you need to do.

To use the GTD method, capture all of your upcoming work in one place. Then once you’ve written down everything you need to do, sort and prioritize your work. For example, you might have work you no longer need to do (that goes in the “trash”), work you want to do eventually but not right now (that goes into a “later” project or folder), work that is dependent on other tasks, and so on. The tool should capture all the details—it’s your job to take action on them.

6 time management tips to get more done

You may or may not like using an established time management strategy to organize your work. Not every time management strategy is effective for every person—that’s why there are so many of them in the first place. Instead, try these six tips to build your time management skills.

1. Connect daily work to goals

Time management isn’t always about getting all of your work done—rather, it’s about identifying and prioritizing your most important work. In order to do that, you need to connect your day-to-day work to team or company goals so you can identify the most important tasks to tackle daily. But, according to a recent  survey of over 6,000 global knowledge workers , only 26% of employees say they have a very clear understanding of how their individual work relates to company goals.

The best way to coordinate work and priorities across all levels of your organization is with a  work management tool . With work management, you can connect daily work and team projects to company objectives, so your team members always understand how their work impacts company priorities.

To ensure we’re prioritizing the right work, we use OKRs to set quarterly goals that ladder up to bi-annual goals. On a weekly cadence, our team leads make sure that the work the team is doing ladders up to these goals.”

2. Prioritize and organize your work

Whether you like the Eat the Frog method or prefer the Getting Things Done approach, it’s critical to know which tasks are important. Inevitably, you’ll have a task that shifts in priority or a deadline that gets moved up or down. If you don’t have clarity on which work is more important, you won’t be able to adapt and prioritize the right work.

Why does prioritizing work matter? You might be familiar with burnout, which impacts a growing number of global employees every year. But what’s less documented is how unclear priorities contribute to burnout. According to the  Anatomy of Work Index , 29% of the knowledge workers who reported feeling burnout cited feeling overworked from a lack of clarity on tasks and roles as a contributing factor. Knowing which tasks to prioritiz

e can help reduce that feeling and increase confidence that you’re working on the right tasks every day.

3. Plan ahead at the end of each day

The workday often feels like a scramble because we’re already behind by the time we get started. If you’re the type of person who goes through emails every morning trying to figure out what to prioritize for the day, you’re not alone. Fortunately, there’s a better way.

Instead of trying to figure out what you should be doing in the morning, spend the last five minutes of each day preparing for the next one. This can increase motivation because you know exactly what you’re doing every day before you even log on. It’s also a valuable way to make sure you’re going to get your most important work done every day. Instead of reacting to an email or request at 4:30 in the afternoon, you can make sure to incorporate that important work into the next day’s schedule.

4. Say “no” or delegate

One advantage of clarifying your priorities is that you gain an understanding of what’s less of a priority as well. It’s not always easy to say “no” to work—but it helps when you can explain that you’re saying “no” because the work doesn’t align with your current priorities. Defining priorities for yourself—and sharing those priorities with your team members—can give everyone more clarity.

If the work has to get done, but still isn’t a priority for you, see if you can delegate it to another team member . Keep in mind—delegating doesn’t mean the task isn’t important, it just means the work isn’t in line with your current priorities. It could be that this work is more relevant for someone else’s expertise—and when you reassign it to them, you’re ensuring the work is done by the best person for the job.

A strategy we have put in place to make sure our team is efficient is to be clear around what you will and won't do as a team... Having clear visibility of your work makes decisions easier around what you will focus on and what you won't focus on. If you can be very clear around that it helps drive efficiency and clarity around what our teams need to be focusing on.”

5. Audit your tasks

Similar to saying “no” to work, take some time to look through tasks you committed to a while back and are still working on. Is there anything that’s currently on your plate that no longer aligns with your team’s goals?

When you find these tasks, ask yourself if this work needs to be done at all. If it’s no longer important to your team, consider putting the work on hold. If the task still needs to be done, ask yourself if you’re the best person for the job—and if not, go through the same delegation exercise to figure out who is.

6. Ditch handwritten to-dos—use a tool

If you’re still tracking your work by hand, it’s time to upgrade to an online tool. As satisfying as it can be to take notes manually, written  to-do lists  are disorganized, prone to mistakes, easy to lose, and ineffective.

Instead, make sure the majority of your project management is happening in a dedicated tool.  Project management tools  offer a variety of features that make it easier to get the most out of your time. With a project management tool you can:

Coordinate cross-functional work and track exactly who’s doing what by when.

Communicate about work, share feedback, and  report on project status  in one place.

Track progress in real time to accurately see where work stands.

See due dates and  dependencies so you can hit your goals without scrambling.

Plus, if you think there’s nothing quite like crossing a task off your written to-do list, wait until you see a herd of  celebration creatures  fly across your computer screen.

6 time management quick wins

The time management strategies and tips we outlined above are helpful—but they take some time to implement. Looking to get started in the next five minutes? Try these six quick wins to improve your time management right now.

1. Snooze notifications

We’re constantly bouncing between apps, notifications, and tasks. In fact, the average knowledge worker  switches between 10 apps  up to 25 times per day. That’s why it’s harder to focus on the task at hand and get into a good flow—which means work takes longer.

When you can, turn off your notifications or use “Do not Disturb” features to temporarily disable notifications. That way, you can dive into deep work—while also letting your team know you’ll be getting back to them later. Most tools show that you’re temporarily snoozed, so team members know not to expect a reply from you right away. If necessary, they can usually choose to override the feature, so you’re never too far out of reach.

To be most productive, I find it helpful to block off time between meetings when I intend to work on different projects, making sure to leave time for short breaks. I also find it helpful when I (and folks around me) update Slack statuses to “Heads down” so nobody expects an immediate response.”

2. Organize your physical space

Think back to how clean your desk was when you first set it up. You likely had a computer monitor and a keyboard, maybe a notepad, but probably not much else. If you’re anything like us, that clean desk didn’t last long. Over time, you’ve inevitably accumulated papers, boxes, books, sticky notes, and stray wires.

A messy desk might not seem like much, but visual clutter can influence mental clutter, and make it hard to focus. Take a quick five minute break to organize your desk. Throw away any papers that are no longer necessary, stack your books in a neat row, and coil any stray wires that might be lying around. Then, when you get back to work, you may find that it's easier to focus.

3. Group like tasks

Every time you switch between tasks, your brain has to find the relevant context and information for that new task and bring that knowledge to the forefront of your mind. Sure, it takes mere seconds for your brain to do that—but if you’re constantly switching between tasks and projects, that means you’re forcing your brain to work overtime.

This can lead to reduced productivity—not to mention increased exhaustion at the end of the day. So instead, try to group like tasks. See if you can work on all of your tasks for one project, or all tasks for the same deliverable, in the same time block. When you do, you’ll spend less time context-switching and more time focused on getting high-impact work done.

Working in batches, especially with planning, really helps you prioritize the work while still giving you the ability to be dynamic to what's happening or what may be coming.”

4. Work on quick tasks in between meetings or focus time

You likely have a few tasks every day that take five or 10 minutes to complete. These can be quick responses to a team member, fixing a typo on a document, or submitting a work request form to another coworker.

If you have this type of work, store it somewhere that’s front and center—like a project management tool—but don’t immediately work on it. Instead, save these tasks for those five minutes between meetings or 10 minutes immediately after lunch as you get back into the swing of things. Not only will you be able to quickly tackle this work—and feel good for doing it—they also won’t take up valuable mental energy that could be spent on more complex work.

5. Stop trying to multitask

Simply put, multitasking is a myth . While it might feel like you’re doing more than one thing at the same time, when you attempt to multitask you’re actually forcing your brain to quickly switch between tasks. Every time you switch between work, your brain needs to find the information and context for that task. Not only does this take more effort than simply focusing on one to-do, it also exhausts your brain.

Instead of multitasking, aim to work on one task at a time, so you can get into flow while working.  Flow state  happens when you’re so focused that you feel like you’re “in the zone.” When you get into flow, you’re able to get more work done more efficiently, since your brain is only focusing on one task at a time.

6. Take breaks

It might seem counterintuitive, but one of the best things you can do to improve your time management is to take a break. We tend to react to feeling behind on work by just doing more of it, but your brain needs time to rest and recharge. If you’re overworked and burnt out—you won’t be able to get anything done, much less tackle your most important work.

If taking a break feels hard to do, you’re not alone. According to our research,  32% of knowledge workers  who feel burnout report not being able to switch off or disconnect as something that fuels their burnout. Because they can’t switch off, they get burnt out, and when they’re burnt out, they can’t switch off—it’s a never-ending cycle.

If you struggle to remember to take breaks, consider scheduling them into your calendar. Then when the break pops up on your calendar, force yourself to take it—even if you just stand up to stretch. Even though it might feel stressful to take that break, you’ll feel better once you do.

To help ensure you don't burn out while working remotely, find new ways in this digital world to separate yourself from your screen and to take the time that you need. Also, I highly recommend the one-minute dance party–just get up and move around.”

Take control of your time

Ultimately, time management is more of a state of mind than anything else. To effectively manage your time, prioritize your work so you know to work on each day. Instead of letting your to-do list dictate your priorities, focus your attention on your intention to really drive impact.

To get started, make sure you’re tracking work in a centralized tool. Ready to get started? Learn how Asana can help you  organize your tasks and hit your deliverables .

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The Importance of Time Management: Tips & Techniques

Time management is the creation of tools and processes that allow individuals and organizations to accomplish more in a set time period. While time management is critical to success for all individuals, it is critically important to entrepreneurs. This is because entrepreneurs are typically faced with tons of challenges each day and quickly compile massive “To Do” lists. This article presents tips to help entrepreneurs to better manage their time to be more effective.

The first step in time management for entrepreneurs is to identify key uses of their time. For instance, what percent of your time is spent answering phone calls (both personal and professional), having company meetings, traveling to meetings, finding information, managing your team, etc.?

After identifying the key uses of time, entrepreneurs must determine whether these uses maximize the value of their time. For example, questions must be answered such as whether more value is added to the organization if the entrepreneur spent less time traveling and more time managing the team.

In addition to figuring out the best uses of their time, entrepreneurs must follow several tried and true time management tips including the following: 1. Not ensuring that everything is perfect. Great organizations perform the critical tasks expertly. However, it is impossible to be great at every imaginable aspect of a business. Entrepreneurs must focus their time on the critical activities.

2. Saying “no”. While it’s always nice to be the hero and adhere to everyone’s wants and desires, doing so takes up an unreasonable amount of time. Entrepreneurs must be willing to say no to actions/plans that do not add as much value to the organization as other actions/plans.

3. Prioritizing. Since there are only a limited number of hours in the day, not only must entrepreneurs say “no” to certain activities, but they must be vigilant in prioritizing those activities that add the most value and which best allow the organization to execute on its simple business plan template .

A critical component to a successful time management plan is a solid business plan. The business plan lays out the critical elements that the business must accomplish and what the action plan is to get there. The time management plan should be overlaid on this. That is, it should force the entrepreneur to plan and prioritize their time to best meet the goals set forth in the business plan.

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How To Create a Time Management Plan in 6 Easy Steps

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Have you ever felt like time slips through your fingers, leaving you wondering where it all went?

Well, you're not alone.

Surprisingly, 82% of people haven't embraced the magic of a personal time management system yet, one research shows.

It's not just a concern - it's a missed opportunity to improve your day and your efficiency - whether you're a busy CEO, a manager drowning in work, or a regular employee.

But hey, no worries!

Today, we will show you how to design a simple, effective time management plan in 6 easy steps.

Together, we'll create a plan that will make every moment count. ⏰✨

What is a time management plan?

A time management plan is a structured approach to organizing and allocating your time effectively to achieve specific goals and tasks. 

It involves prioritizing activities, setting deadlines, and creating a schedule that optimizes productivity. The plan helps individuals or teams make the most of their available time, minimize procrastination, and enhance overall efficiency. 

Implementing a time management plan is crucial for meeting deadlines, reducing stress, and achieving a better work-life balance.

The advantages of using an effective time management plan

Once nicely crafted, a time management plan can be invaluable for your daily work operations.

Let's have a look at how beneficial it could be for your business together:

Increased productivity

A well-organized time management plan enhances productivity . It happens thanks to helping individuals or teams focus on tasks efficiently. The plan ensures that time is spent on high-priority activities. As such, it leads to more work accomplished in less time.

Improved deadline management

With a structured plan, meeting deadlines becomes more manageable. Prioritizing tasks and allocating specific time slots aids in meeting crucial timelines, as well as reducing the stress associated with last-minute rushes.

Enhanced awareness of task timeframes

Effective time management encourages a better understanding of how much time different tasks require. This awareness lets individuals allocate appropriate time intervals. The result? It's easy to prevent overcommitment and unrealistic expectations.

Higher quality of work

Allocating sufficient time to each task allows for a more thoughtful and thorough approach to work. People who manage their time effectively can expect a higher quality of work. Reduced time pressure fosters careful consideration, creativity, and attention to detail.

How to create a time management plan

Here's a step-by-step guide to help you make the most of your time with a plan like ours:

Step 1: track your time to find out how much time it takes to complete tasks

Begin by assessing how you currently use your time. Identify tasks , their durations, and potential time wasters. This can be achieved with a reliable time-tracking solution . This insight is vital for improving time management skills.

When it comes to creating an effective time management plan, Unrubble stands out as an excellent solution.

What makes it so great? Well, first off, it's designed to fit seamlessly into any workflow. With a commitment to serving teams of all shapes and sizes, Unrubble provides tools that adapt to your unique needs.

Setting up and using Unrubble is a breeze, making it easy right from the start. This means you can focus on what really matters in your job without wrestling with complicated setups.

Now, let's talk precision. Unrubble's time tracking feature is like having a super-accurate stopwatch for your team. It doesn't just count hours - it tracks overtime , and lateness, and sorts out any discrepancies with spot-on accuracy. 

Scheduling becomes a joy with powerful wizards, real-time notifications, and features like copying, pasting, and dragging. Managing time off is a breeze too, with a request system that covers absences, work-from-home , and business trips.

What's more, Unrubble gets rid of the headaches of timesheets by providing real-time data and integrated reporting. Now that's how you wave 'au revoir' to tedious spreadsheet work. And if you're worried about integrating with other tools, fear not. Unrubble effortlessly syncs with popular payroll platforms, kissing paperwork and reports a sweet goodbye.

And here's the cool part: you can use it wherever you go. Whether through the web app, your browser, or using the free mobile app , Unrubble has got your back. With cutting-edge face recognition and anti-spoofing detection, you're not just tracking time - you're doing it securely.

But wait - it doesn't stop there. Unrubble keeps your team in the loop with a free employee self-service app . That's how everyone stays informed in real time. And guess what? Teams are loving it! Just check out what some of the users are saying.

So, if you're on the hunt for a time tracking solution that's easy, precise, and fits your needs like a glove, it's time to start Unrubble-ing . Give it a try and see the difference it makes for yourself.

Step 2: create a task list for yourself

Compile a comprehensive to-do list. List tasks in order of priority and complexity. Break down larger tasks into smaller, manageable steps for better focus .

Step 3: set limits and deadlines for each task

Allocate specific time blocks for each task. Setting limits and deadlines fosters a sense of urgency, as well as encourages efficient completion of tasks. Use a time management tool to assist in this process.

Step 4: leave extra time for unpredicted blocks

Account for unforeseen interruptions or delays. The way to accomplish this is by allocating extra time in your schedule. This buffer helps manage unexpected challenges without disrupting your entire daily plan .

Step 5: begin the work, one task at a time

Implement time-blocking techniques . Dedicate specific blocks to individual tasks. This will let you minimize multitasking and improve your time management. Focus on completing one task before moving on to the next.

Step 6: Evaluate at the end and make improvements if needed

Regularly assess your time management plan. Identify areas of improvement and adjust your strategies. Continual evaluation ensures ongoing efficiency.

With these six simple steps, you're ready to craft a killer time management plan. Remember to follow the steps carefully, and your success will be guaranteed! 

Is time tracking essential to manage your time effectively?

As you could probably notice, time tracking is a significant portion of the "time management plan" cake. 

Now, is it really that big of a deal?

The answer is - absolutely! Tracking time is super important for making the most of your day. 

When you keep tabs on what you're doing, it's like turning on a light in a dark room. You see:

• where your time is going,
• notice when you're at your best, and
• figure out where you might be wasting time.

It all helps you set goals that actually make sense, not just wishful thinking. 

Plus, it keeps you honest. Your time log tells you if you're sticking to your plans or getting sidetracked.

Prioritizing becomes easier because you can see what really matters. It's not just about work either - it helps you balance your whole life. 

Think of it as a tool for making smart choices, so you're not just busy but doing stuff that really counts.

Manage your time and schedule like a pro

And there you have it—your toolkit for mastering time and scheduling like a pro! 

Armed with our time management tips, you're set to turn work into a piece of cake—literally and figuratively.

Remember, a well-crafted time plan isn't just a schedule - it's your key to productivity, meeting deadlines effortlessly, and savoring the sweet taste of success.

So, are you ready to discover the full potential of your time?

Get into effective time management with Unrubble today - your partner in winning the clock!

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Time management tips for small business owners

Make the most of your time and relieve stress with our expert time management tips.

• February 11, 2021
• Business Tips

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CEO, manager, HR, receptionist… Having your own business often means wearing many hats. When there aren’t enough hours in the day, try these time management tips to make multitasking easier.

Plan your week ahead

Planning your week is the key to good time management – whether you’re a one-person business working from home , or a growing start-up. Creating a schedule for your week allows you to plan ahead and structure your time so that you can prioritize and re-prioritize tasks – all while cutting down on your stress levels, to boot.

Small business time management can be tricky, so start with the essentials. Deadlines and urgent jobs should define how you organize tasks across your week. For example, if you’ve got a big deliverable on Thursday, make the days leading up to it production days, and leave non-urgent but important tasks like admin and meetings for Friday. Be ready to reorganize your schedule if priorities suddenly change, too. Think of it as a ‘Plan A’ or a work in progress rather than something set in stone.

1. Group tasks by project or type

One of the most effective time management strategies when it comes to planning your week is to group tasks. It can be helpful to arrange similar or related activities together on a single day, so that you’re not hopping from one thing to another, and can focus on the specific goals you need to achieve. 

For example, you might dedicate a whole day to working on marketing tasks like social media and writing your newsletter, as the tasks will relate to each other and you can apply your creative flow to several things at once. Keep in mind this time management approach works for methodical jobs too. You might spend an afternoon doing invoices, which will be quicker in a batch because the same steps are repeated and you’ll get faster as you go along.

2. Create a day-by-day schedule

A proper structure is the backbone of a planned week, and there are lots of ready-made templates available online that you can download and fill in to itemize your days. These can work for individuals or whole teams. A good template should give equal weight to each day, and have enough space to write a few words about each task or target – not too much though, or it just becomes cluttered.

If you’re a one-person business and you like to plan on paper, you could start getting organized with a Notebook  to keep track of your week and make sure your schedule is always at hand.

3. Plan for distraction

It’s not realistic to plan productivity and focus for every hour of every day, so don’t set your business’ time management strategy up to fail. The best time management systems are all about balance! Instead, expect to be distracted, disrupted and confronted by unexpected challenges and opportunities. When you’re planning for the week ahead, add ‘interruption time’ – a proportion of the day when you don’t expect to spend every moment getting work done.

So although your office hours might be 9 til 5 with an hour for lunch, you can realistically deduct an hour from the total. Don’t think of that as wasted time, however – what feels like a frustrating delay will help you refresh your mind and might even be the moment inspiration strikes.

4. Dive into deep work

The idea of deep work is that you’re consciously focusing on your task and training your attention away from distractions. To achieve that, you need to be able to carve out time when you’ll be free of meetings and other commitments, able to focus fully on one task.

Put time for deep work into your weekly schedule, and support your intentions by blocking this time off from distractions and interruptions. A ‘do not disturb’ sign and an email auto-reply are a good start to apply this time management strategy .

Organize your day’s work

What does a typical workday look like for small business owners? A common answer is that there is no typical day – various and exciting activities are a hallmark of life as an entrepreneur. That doesn’t mean you can’t organize your time, however. A daily plan is valuable even if it changes, as it can help you keep track of priorities, deadlines and your progress on longer-term goals. As with your weekly approach, the trick is to have a fluid schedule that can flex and adapt to new things, rather than a rigid timetable.

Here are a few more time management tips to help you plan how to spend your day.

1. Keep priorities in check with a to-do list

A business time management classic, the to-do is a list of the things you want or need to get done within your day, organized according to priority. The most urgent and important things should be at the top, and less important or postponable things towards the bottom. But keep in mind, a long to-do list will just cause you unnecessary stress. Some experts recommend keeping a daily to-do list down to 6 items, and others advise as few as 3.

To keep track of what you accomplish during the day, use a checklist and tick off what you’ve completed as you go along. You can even make your very own tailor-made to-do list in your MOO Notebook .

2. Target your efforts with time-blocking

Time blocking is a time management technique that many small business owners find useful. It’s the practice of chunking out your work into dedicated sections of time – the opposite of multitasking, where attention is spread inefficiently across multiple activities at once. The idea is that by focusing on one thing at a time, you can dedicate attention and energy to each task and get it done more quickly and to a higher standard. A great way to approach work if you’re wondering how to manage time as a business owner.

To time-block your day, you need to schedule the hours you have available and assign them to items in your to-do list. For effective time management , you won’t necessarily do the most important thing on the list first thing in the morning. Instead, you should assign your top task to the part of the day when you know you’ll be most productive. If you’re a morning person, that could be first thing. If you’re a night-owl, late afternoon might be when you really hit your stride.

If you tend to feel sleepy after lunch – most of us do –, spend that time doing necessary but low-effort things like paperwork or timesheets.

3. Separate daily and weekly planning

If you’re wondering how to manage time in business, separate daily from weekly objectives. This is a good habit to start effective time management . It’s important to know the difference between a daily and weekly schedule, as each one is valuable to your business in its own way. Your daily schedule will include ‘business as usual’ goals like answering emails and phone calls, attending daily team stand-ups and other routine tasks. They take up time during your day and need to be accounted for, but you don’t need to put them on a weekly planner.

Your weekly schedule gives you a wider view of your work life and allows you to manage tasks across the week. What happens in your daily schedule can impact the weekly one – for example if you need to roll a task over from one day to another because it took longer than planned to achieve.

3 productivity tips for good time management

We’ve all had those days where we look up at 4pm and say ‘where did the time go? I’ve got deadlines approaching!’ To keep those moments to a minimum, here are some ways to establish good time management .

1. Recognize your distractors

We’re all prone to getting side-tracked from our goals, and thanks to the digital distractions of modern life, staying focused is more challenging than ever. Notice the things that claim your attention most often. It could be having too many interesting browser tabs open on your screen, so that you drift off-task and start reading a blog or news story. Or it may be that your phone is taking your mind off work by flashing or vibrating each time you get a message in a group chat.

Once you’ve spotted the things that are repeatedly stealing your attention, you can take steps to eliminate them until you accomplish your task. For effective time management, throw your phone in a drawer, close every tab except the one you need for your work task, or put on headphones if you’re tempted to spend time chatting. Over time, good habits like these will become automatic.

2. Be wary of trying to do too much at once

It’s one of the most important time management tips for business owners to avoid burnout. If the things cutting your productivity down are less to do with losing focus and more to do with interruption, you might be spreading yourself too thin. It’s common for people heading up growing businesses to have a lot of competing demands on their time. Being busy is good, but it’s important to be aware that you could reach a point where you’re tiring yourself out but not achieving the results to justify it.

Remind yourself to notice the difference between being stressed and busy and being highly productive. A good time management system should help you relieve stress and make things more…manageable. Look at what you achieved as well as how hard you’ve worked, and make sure you’re getting the positive outcomes you deserve for your effort. Managing a small business can be incredibly stressful. Resolving to work smarter rather than harder can also make you feel more in control and is better for your mental health.

3. Take time to recharge

On a similar note, it’s true that productivity requires rest as well as hard work. It’s an crucial part of time management for business owners as it’s key to protect your mental health. If your schedule involves a few hours work and several periods of rest, you’re in company with some of the greatest achievers in history. Charles Darwin, for example, required an afternoon nap and took leisurely walks outdoors during a work day. It proved an effective time management technique !

Manage your time spent in front of a screen – you should be taking a screen break of five or ten minutes every hour , according to the UK Government’s Health and Safety Executive. Little and often is the best way to take breaks, as this will help you feel more refreshed. Some periods of deliberate rest during your work schedule will give you the time and space to reflect on your goals, develop ideas and allow your brain to make new connections between things you’ve learned or observed. Don’t be afraid to take your foot off the gas – you could accomplish great things on a day when you thought you were chilling out doing nothing.

How to boost your efficiency

What is efficiency.

Isn’t efficiency the same thing as productivity? In fact, they’re very different, and can even work against each other at times. To put it simply:

• Productivity is about the volume of work you produce, and efficiency is about the quality of that work. So if your company makes cookies, your productivity is the number of items you can bake in a day.
• Efficiency is how delicious they are when your customer bites into them, how much energy it took to bake them, or how much you had to spend on ingredients to get great results.

It probably goes without saying that productivity and efficiency are both essential for any business, and they can have a strong impact on one another. The idea of productive efficiency is used in some businesses, meaning that the two things are measured at once. In these scenarios the managers are measuring the total number of products completed in a given time, and deducting inefficient products from that total. So if some products fall below a certain quality threshold, they’re not counted.

This business time management tip is easiest to understand in a manufacturing situation, where a business has physical products that can pass or fail. But it can apply on a small scale too, including companies that provide services rather than products. The key to measuring efficiency this way is to define a quality standard that you want to stick to, whether it’s customer satisfaction, timely delivery or reviews and ratings. If your units of work (be it projects, products or something else) don’t meet the standard, they’re ignored.

How can I be more efficient?

Improving efficiency is a strategic job that often means slowing down and taking a step back from your work. If you’re interested in making efficiency your superpower, start looking at the way you’re doing things and seeing where you can make improvements to your methods, habits and behaviours to get better results.

One example that applies to entrepreneurs in all walks of life is sleep. Getting a solid 8 or 9 hours sleep every night can improve your concentration, motivation, mood and ability to learn . If you’re a one-person business, prioritizing sleep is a way of optimizing your most valuable resource – yourself. You can make your brain more efficient by giving it enough sleep, so that the quality of the work you do is high, it takes fewer hours, and you have more time for your passion projects .

From a business time management perspective, your goals will be to achieve the best quality work you can within your deadlines – and with any luck, upping your productivity at the same time. Here are some ways you can boost efficiency in a small business:

1. Avoid multitasking

It might feel necessary, but resist the urge to hop between multiple activities during the working day as much as possible. It takes time to refocus on a task when you switch to and from it, so try to chunk work into organized blocks as much as you can. Time-blocking wins again!

2. Optimize your environment

Make sure your workspace is geared for focus by minimizing distractions, noise and stress. Have your workstation – or workstations – set up for comfortable, sustainable posture and freedom of movement. Organize people, tools and materials physically in your workspace so that it’s easy to get tasks done without rearranging everything and everyone. It’s all about saving time and effort.   

3. Delegate tasks to others

If you manage a team, use them wisely. Chances are, you don’t actually need to be in every single meeting! Be aware of your own strengths and weaknesses as well as theirs, so you can assign tasks that take up too much of your time to someone who can do them faster. This applies to specialism and experience too. If you have a statistics whiz on your team, they’re the person who should be tackling your website analytics, not the business owner whose time is better spent on leadership strategy or creative development. Time management in business requires assigning the right people to the right jobs. If you work alone, consider hiring a freelancer or partnering with someone who could help lighten your workload and bring new skills to the table.

4. Use technology to automate

Automating routine tasks will do wonders for your work life. Using chatbots to answer customer service queries, or employing software to handle bookings and sales, is a great time-saver for busy humans.

Hopefully our time management tips will help you to make the most of your precious work hours. Ready to make your weekly schedule? Treat yourself to a beautiful new Notebook for all your creative projects and daily to-dos.

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How to make a time management plan in 6 easy steps

Many people tend to work for long hours due to distraction, procrastination, and poor time management.   

And the only way to revert to healthy work hours and get things done efficiently is to master the skill of time management.

But how do you start managing time? Simple: by creating a solid time management plan .

In this article, we’ll discuss how to create an effective time management plan for your needs. We’ll also reveal nine simple tips for better time management.

This article contains:

(Click on the links below to jump to a specific section)

Step 1: List down your tasks

Step 2: prioritize tasks, step 3: schedule tasks, step 4: schedule discretionary time, step 5: note your distractions, step 6: invest in time management tools, 1. time yourself, 2. practice time blocking, 3. employ rapid planning method, 4. spend your mornings on mits, 5. learn to say no, 6. stop multitasking, 7. adopt the swiss cheese method, 8. master the 80-20 rule, 9. stick to an early deadline.

Let’s begin!

6 steps to develop a great time management plan

Here’s a 6-step guide to create a good time management plan that’ll help you make the most of your time:

Every time management plan starts with the fundamental step of listing down all the tasks that need your attention. 

While doing this, have a clear idea of what you’d like to achieve from your daily and weekly schedule.

If you have a complex task, you can use project management tools such as a work breakdown structure (WBS) to help you out. The tool takes into account project costs, deliverables, and team coordination while breaking down large projects into manageable tasks. 

This way, you can break and divide your complex tasks into smaller tasks among your team members. With WBS, teams can work in tandem, ensure their project is within budget, and identify milestones.

Additionally, the task list should also include tasks that would help you achieve your long term goal.

For example, if you’re an employee and art is your hobby, your to do list should contain work projects as well as your creative sessions. This way, you can create an effective time management plan that’ll give you enough time to follow work and personal life goals without tiring yourself.

Also, remember to keep updating the task list throughout the day as you come across new tasks. 

Not all tasks share the exact due dates or difficulty levels. That’s why it’s important to prioritize tasks according to their urgency or complexity levels.  

The Eisenhower Matrix is a framework you can follow while prioritizing tasks to help distinguish important tasks from unimportant ones.

According to the matrix, you can define activities into four categories:

Another time management technique to prioritize tasks is to follow the Mark Twain-inspired ‘ eat the frog ’ method. Some challenging tasks may take more time than necessary and tackling them first thing each morning is the best way to move forward in the project. 

This technique will rewire your brain to believe that you can easily handle complex tasks. So every time you take one on, you become better at dealing with challenges! 

To create a daily or weekly schedule that you’re most likely to follow, set a time limit for every task on your list. 

For example, you can schedule 10 minutes to return important calls, an hour for project research, 20 minutes for meetings, and so on. 

When you finish a task under a specific time duration, even the most unpleasant one becomes easier to do. So scheduling tasks into time slots will help you stay organized, efficient, and focussed on your work – without getting overwhelmed by your long to-do lists.

Additionally, take note of your productive hours. For instance, some people are most productive in the morning while others work better post-noon. If you too have a specific window, schedule important tasks in those hours to get them done faster.

Discretionary time refers to the free time that’s not assigned to any task. It includes the planned discretionary time and time gaps in your planner.

For example, if your meeting ends an hour earlier than predicted, you have a discretionary time of one hour. You can either schedule this extra time to complete your tasks or use it to take a break, meditate, review your schedule, check emails, etc.

But always remember, unexpected events are bound to happen. Setting aside some free time will prepare you for the unanticipated task. 

Distractions can keep you from giving your best at work. They can be small habits that go unnoticed, like frequently checking notifications or social media , procrastinating, etc. 

As a result, it’s important to anticipate and list your distractions, including unavoidable personal commitments, while you schedule your project task. 

This way, you can create an efficient time management plan around these commitments and mindfully eliminate your distractions. 

With the right tools, you can check your progress on a project task without manually tracking time, helping you focus fully on work. 

Time management tools like Time Doctor can help you time and track your working hours to ensure you’re using it productively.

What is Time Doctor?

Time Doctor is a powerful productivity and time management tool preferred by large businesses like Ericsson as well as small ones like Thrive Market. 

Here are Time Doctor’s unique features that’ll help you create a time management plan:

• The time tracker tracks how much time you spend on monthly, weekly, and daily tasks. Time Doctor’s idle time tracker will also alert you on your inactive minutes.
• The comprehensive reports and analytics provide detailed insights into how you spend your scheduled hours and automate administrative tasks like billing, attendance, etc.
• The work scheduling feature lets you create and edit work schedules within the app.
• The app and website report feature show the applications and sites used during work hours.
• The Chrome extension offers integrations with other platforms such as Asana , ZohoProjects , GitHub , etc. The extension inserts a button in the third-party app for you to start tracking time.

Now, let’s check out some helpful tips and tricks to enhance the effectiveness of your time management plan.

9 simple and effective time management tips

Here are some time management tips and fixes to improve your management skills:

Time your daily tasks to estimate the duration of each activity instead of scheduling them blindly.   

This’ll also tell you if you’re spending too much time on certain projects. You can then consciously reduce your time to accommodate more tasks.

If you aren’t sure about your time estimates, compare similar tasks from the past to get an idea.

For example, if it takes you an hour to make a 30-minute presentation, you can predict that it’ll take around two hours to make an hour-long presentation.

Time blocking is a management technique that lets you divide your day into small blocks of time. Each time block is assigned a specific task from the to-do list on a priority basis. And you should only focus on the planned activity during a time block.

To employ this technique, you’ll need a complete list of prioritized tasks from which you can schedule work to different time blocks. 

You’ll not only schedule tasks but also have the motivation to finish them since each time block acts as a deadline – pushing you to work faster. 

Besides, this technique also eliminates procrastination and distractions as you have a defined start and finish point for a task, helping you focus better.

The Rapid Planning Method (RPM) calls for a result-oriented, purpose-driven, and massive action time management plan.

According to the RPM process, you need to ask yourself these three questions before taking up an assignment:

• What do you really want?
• Why does it matter to you?
• How will you achieve it?

These questions will help you manage time, sharpen your time management skills, and work strategically towards achieving the desired goal in your life.

MIT refers to the Most Important Task that requires immediate attention.

Most people finish smaller tasks first, thinking it’ll save time. But this only drains them before they even get to the important task of the day. As a result, they’d take more time to complete their task lists.

Instead, start your workday with at least three MITs from your to do list. This way, you can complete your priority tasks, avoid last-minute rushes, and be more productive.

Many believe it’s selfish to say ‘no.’ But it’s an invaluable time management skill that’ll give you enough time to focus on important tasks.

Saying yes to more work, meetings, family gatherings, etc., than you can take on may seem the easiest option. But you’ll be overwhelmed due to the heavy workload, experience increased stress levels, and suffer burnout . 

For example, if you already have back-to-back meetings to attend and your colleague asks you to take one of theirs too, say no. If you say yes, you’ll have to prepare for both in less time, compromising the quality of the tasks at the last minute. 

Instead, request your colleague to find someone with extra time to spare to take over the new meeting. 

Multitasking may sound like a good time management strategy to get more done within a period. 

However, research shows that multitasking affects your productivity by decreasing your workflow, attention span, and overall performance.

Most of the time, when you think that you’re getting many things done simultaneously, you may be blindly shifting your focus from one task to another. 

Multitasking will take your focus away from important tasks that need your full attention and affect your problem solving skills, thereby reducing your productivity.

Psychologists call this the ‘ task switch cost .’ 

It refers to the negative effects of switching between tasks, such as a distraction, increased stress levels, slower working pace, etc. – resulting in poor time management.

For instance, if you’re trying to read a book while talking on the phone, you may likely have to reread the book if you’re focusing on the call and vice-versa.

So take a few minutes at the start of each workday to create an effective time management plan and tackle your scheduled tasks one by one to work efficiently.

You often come across high-priority tasks that overwhelm you, forcing you to avoid them or procrastinate. 

The best time management technique to counter this problem is the Swiss Cheese Method. If you have an important task, make small holes in it by breaking it down into smaller tasks – just like the Swiss Cheese.

These instant tasks should take no longer than five minutes. And before you know it, you would’ve completed the entire task!  

The 80-20 rule (or the Pareto Principle) is the minor imbalance you need to create a good time management plan. 

According to the rule, 80% of your results come from just 20% of your efforts or time. 

For example:

• 80% of your sales may come from 20% of your products.
• 80% of decisions are made in 20% of your meeting slots.

This means that 20% of your tasks contribute around 80% of your success. But the key is in finding the right tasks to prioritize to achieve the results you want.

It may be difficult to distinguish such critical tasks from the urgent but unimportant ones that give us a fake feeling of progress. These tasks take a significant amount of time, giving us little time to tackle the important things. 

Instead, use the 80-20 rule while prioritizing each weekly or daily schedule to help filter out the unimportant tasks. You can then employ the additional resources to focus on a specific task that’ll create a real impact.

Sometimes you may miscalculate the time needed for an activity, making it difficult to complete tasks on time.

To avoid this, set yourself an early deadline or create a good time management plan where you complete your tasks a day before the due dates.  

At the end of the day, it’ll save you from unnecessary pressure and help you achieve your goal.

Wrapping up

Nobody wants to work around the clock. 

So, to enjoy that much-deserved me-time, you need a well-prioritized time management plan to help you focus and enhance your productivity. 

Use the tips covered in this article to create a solid time management plan and take control of your time. And finally, combine your plan and techniques with the right time management tool like Time Doctor. 

Sign up for Time Doctor’s free trial today and save time, hit deadlines like a pro, and maintain a healthy work-life balance!

View a free demo of Time Doctor

Vaishali Badgujar is a Content and SEO specialist at Time Doctor, an employee-friendly time-tracking system that boosts productivity.

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How to Create a Time Management Plan to Maximize Productivity

Learn how to create a time management plan, why it’s beneficial, and how Motion can streamline the process.

Since only  12% of people  have a dedicated time management system, it's no wonder that  45% of projects  aren't completed on time.

Without a good plan to manage your time, you'll likely miss deadlines, overlook important tasks, and fall short of your strategic goals.

A time management plan helps you plan your time better. By giving yourself dedicated timeslots, you can prioritize tasks to hit deadlines.

Read on to learn how to create a time management plan that works. Discover top strategies for maintaining your plan and learn how Motion can streamline the process.

What’s a time management plan?

A time management plan  is a structured approach to planning how you spend your time each day.

It’s a map of time blocks to help you prioritize and organize daily tasks so you know where to focus.

With your time mapped out, you’ll know exactly what to do at the right time so everything fits in.

Time management plans work best if you:

• Need to split big projects into accomplishable tasks and prioritize these tasks
• Have multiple projects running at once
• Manage multiple clients at once

Why is a time management plan so important? The benefits

Effective time management techniques can help you schedule time to meet realistic goals and attend to urgent tasks.

Here’s why you need a time management plan to streamline your workflow.

Improved productivity and focus

Workers agree that time management systems work.

90% say they  increase productivity , and 86% say they improve focus.

‎A time management plan tells you exactly what you should do and when. That way, you don’t waste energy switching between projects or juggling multiple tasks at once.

Plus, it helps you stay flexible.

With a clear task schedule, it's easier to work out which tasks (or clients) to reschedule if something urgent pops up unexpectedly.

Better decision-making

As you get the hang of your time management plan, you’ll start to notice patterns in how you work.

You might notice that Friday meetings often run over.

In your next plan, you block extra time for those meetings.

By consciously organizing tasks into blocks of time, it’s easier to see how long tasks realistically take.

This helps you make better decisions on how to organize your time.

Get more done

Everyone understands how work stress affects their performance. Nobody does their best work under mountains of pressure.

You burn out, forget tasks, and your work habits become inconsistent.

A notable  91% of workers  agree that better time management reduces stress levels at work.

A time management plan helps you remember everything you need to do and when you need to do it.

This reduces the mental energy you waste on figuring out where to start.

As your time management strategies improve, you'll start to standardize how you commit your time.

You'll have a better grasp of how long meetings and tasks take, so it's easier to plan and prioritize to meet deadlines consistently.

How to create an effective time management plan in 9 steps

The ideal weekly schedule ensures you complete all critical tasks within the time limit and still have time to move your business forward.

Follow these steps to create a time management plan that slots everything in its place.

1. Audit your current schedule

Start by keeping track of where your time really goes.

Jot down everything.

Think about project tasks and admin work. Consider appointments, meetings, and steps you're taking for bigger business goals.

Understanding how each task eats into your day, week, or month is crucial.

This isn't just about guessing. It's about getting real data.

For a helping hand, consider using a time-tracking app.

They’re very helpful at showing you where you’re misjudging time.  Check out some great time-tracking apps here .

2. Set clearly-defined SMART goals

Now, shape your goals. But, keep them  SMART — specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound .

Think about what you want to achieve in the long, medium, and short term.

Your goals need to be crystal clear  and  have a deadline.

‎For instance,  in the next quarter , you might decide to:

• Wrap up three client projects
• Implement a new accounting software
• Consistently hold a daily 10-minute team meeting

Setting these SMART goals ensures your time management strategies are tied to measurable results.

3. Prioritize goals to organize tasks

Next,  rank your goals by their importance and urgency .

Prioritizing goals helps you figure out which deserve the most time and attention. That way, you can realistically plan how you’ll commit to each goal — daily, weekly, or monthly.

4. Break down the work into actionable tasks

Slice up those big complex tasks into smaller tasks that you can knock out in a few hours or, at most, a day.

This approach makes even the most daunting projects feel less like a mountain and more like a series of small, climbable hills.

You set yourself up for achievable wins and consistent progress.

5. Allocate time blocks

Now, decide how much time each task gets.

Look back at your time-tracking audit.

You spend 60% of your time on client work, 10% on administrative tasks, and 10% on meetings. That leaves you 20% for business development.

Block out set times in your calendar for these activities.

For example, you might dedicate Tuesday mornings to admin or all day Friday to business development.

By allocating  specific time blocks , you give each goal the focus it needs.

Rather take the guesswork out of organizing your schedule? Let  Motion's AI-powered scheduling  handle the heavy lifting for you.

6. Input detailed tasks

With your time blocks set, you need to fill them with work from your task list.

Detail every step you need to complete to reach your deliverables. Consider deadlines and priorities and slot these tasks into your time blocks accordingly.

Let’s look at this in action.

‎‎ Imagine a hairdresser who plans to boost clientele by 10% in three months, using Fridays for business development.

Fridays might involve tasks for a 3-month social media campaign. The tasks might include:

• Social ad training
• Creating and scheduling content
• Engaging with the audience

Each task is a step towards the larger goal, neatly fitted into an allocated time block.

7. Eliminate time sucks

You’ll immediately improve time management by identifying and removing time sucks.

This is a continuous process where you look for tasks that don't add value.

This could be a redundant monthly meeting when daily check-ins suffice. Or in-person client meetings when digital appointments would save travel time.

Also, consider inefficient processes. Time gets eaten up by cumbersome workflows.

Find tools to automate repetitive tasks to reduce admin and help you make timely decisions.

8. Plan for flexibility

Always be ready to shuffle tasks if priorities shift.

Flexibility is key in time management. If you can’t accommodate unexpected changes, you’ll drop the ball.

Have a plan for how you'll reprioritize if something urgent needs doing.

If you’re using Motion, its intelligent algorithms will automatically accommodate changing urgencies and reshuffle your calendar so everything still fits.

9. Keep your plan updated

Regularly refresh your time management plan.

Plan in a regular time block to update it.

This way, you're ready with a fresh, relevant plan for the next period, keeping your goals and tasks aligned with evolving priorities and outcomes.

Tips for creating a successful time management plan

Here’s some advice on using this effective strategy to optimize your daily schedule and consistently complete tasks on time.

Focus your efforts

Concentrate your time and attention on the right task at the right time. Here are a few techniques to help you do this:

• 80-20 rule:  Focus on the high-priority tasks that provide the most significant outcomes. Pareto’s Principle says that 20% of your efforts yield 80% of results. So you might focus on your highest-paying 20% of clients, as they likely generate around 80% of your profits.
• Pomodoro technique:  To maintain focus, work in short bursts with breaks. Try working 25-minute periods with 5-minute breaks.  The Pomodoro Technique , developed by Francesco Cirillo, helps maintain consistent productivity.
• Eisenhower matrix:  Distinguish urgent tasks from important ones. Do urgent, important jobs immediately. Schedule non-urgent, important activities. Delegate urgent, unimportant tasks. Delete anything that’s not urgent or important.
• Limit task switching:  Multitasking kills productivity. Research shows that  focusing on one task  at a time is more efficient.
• Block distractions:  Set specific email or social media times so they don’t interrupt your productive hours.

Be realistic about what’s achievable

We tend to overestimate time. We don’t commit to adequate time frames and then panic to fit everything in when the rubber meets the road.

Try this instead:

• Continuously audit time:  Build on your original time audit. Keep a consistent record and add tasks you’ve forgotten or fix unrealistic time blocks.
• Plan for urgent changes:  Reserve time blocks for unexpected changes. Either keep a time block free or block a session you can move.
• Plan from patterns to details:  Create time blocks for your broader projects and goals, then drill down to add detailed tasks.
• Account for planning fallacy : Planning fallacy is when you underestimate the time you’ll need. Always plan based on your audit, and add some wiggle room.
• Avoid over-scheduling:  Leave some 'white space' to buffer your schedule. These moments help if things overrun or provide quick breaks.

Use software

Time management tools can streamline scheduling, organize tasks, and automate changes.

With Motion, you cut out manual planning by 90%.

The powerful AI algorithms create your optimal personalized schedule, accommodating all your business activities in a manageable way.

Motion will automatically reorganize your time if priorities change without compromising deadlines or over-committing.

You can even synchronize schedules across teams so everyone’s on the same page.

Motion keeps your time management plan running smoothly

A time management plan helps you organize your time to reach your goals and meet deadlines.

But, to be effective, your time plan must stay up-to-date. This can be time-consuming in and by itself.

Streamline this process with Motion.

Use Motion’s AI-powered scheduling and reprioritization to optimize your timetable so you hit every deadline without ever missing a meeting again.

Try Motion today  to create an intelligent schedule flexible to your needs.

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• Complete Guide to Time Management

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It has often been said that time is our “most scarce resource”. Therefore, we all must invest in – and use it – prudently. When you think about it, all of us have basically the same amount of time. But you will still find many people saying they “do not have enough time”, or they “need more time”. Why is it that some people have no problems accomplishing their tasks in a specified amount of time, and others’ do?

© Shutterstock.com | Dmytro Zinkevych

In this article, you’ll learn about 1) time management basics , 2) what good time management is , and 3) tips on how to become better at time management.

TIME MANAGEMENT BASICS

Look at any established organization, and you are likely to find the following concerns explicitly addressed: human resources management for personnel recruitment, selection and hiring, financial management for budgeting , operations and performance analysis, and capital management for seeking funding and investments.

If you look for an aspect dedicated specifically to time management, you might end up being disappointed.

Time management is that discipline that focuses on planning the amount or length of time that will be spent on specific activities, often with the goal of increasing effectiveness and efficiency. Its earliest roots can be traced back to when Frederick Taylor developed his scientific management techniques for improving the productivity of workers on the job. Of course, the concept of time management has evolved, making it more systematic and logical in its approaches.

In business, time management refers to the allocation and distribution of time among activities that demand it, depending on a specific set of priorities. In this sense, time management may also be referred to as the “budgeting” of time, such that the right amount of time is allocated to the right task or activity.

It is to be noted that time itself will not, and cannot, be managed; what you manage is how you use that time that you have, with the full knowledge that it is limited.

Time Management as a Skill

Other than as a discipline, time management is also described as a skill or the ability to plan and consequently control the amount of time you spend in accomplishing your tasks. It boils down to how skilled a person is in his analysis of how his hours are spent on a specific activity. It also tells a lot about his ability to prioritize his tasks in an effort to maximize efficiency and effectiveness.

As a skill, time management is something that can be mastered with consistent practice and further developed over time (no pun intended). Once this skill has been mastered, our work and personal lives will be more organized, much easier to handle, more efficient, and definitely happier.

Two Focuses of Time Management

Let’s get this straight: time management is not about getting EVERYTHING done. There are two specific points that time management includes:

• Getting MORE THINGS done: You have a limited amount of time. Thus, you have to manage it so that you will be able to get a lot more work done within that limited time. In the past, when you used to barely finish two tasks in one hour, perhaps you can find a way to be able to finish three or four in the same amount of time. You can do that through time management.
• Getting the RIGHT THINGS done: It is possible that you may end up doing something other than what you originally set out to do. You planned to finish Task 1 in one hour. However, in the middle of that hour, your attention got diverted and you also started working on Task 2. When the hour was up, you ended up not finishing Task 1, and actually even had another (Task 2) pending. As a result, you did not finish anything. With time management, you may have been able to finish Task 1 before the hour was even up, and got a head start on Task 2.

Why is Time Management Important?

We have all established that time is a resource that must be managed. But to what end or purpose? What do we hope to gain from managing time?

• To simplify things. You are practically dealing with clutter if you do not make an effort to organize your time. By setting up a timetable for you to follow, it is simply a matter of sticking to the plan and not getting sidetracked.
• To add structure to your day or life , in general. Again, there is less clutter, and everything is more organized. With a timetable or a plan in place, you are better able to see where you stand at the moment, where you aim to be at the end of the day, and how you will be able to get there.
• To increase efficiency. Work will definitely be facilitated, because there is less clutter to deal with. You can focus on the important things, the things that need the most attention, and leave the rest for later.
• To increase productivity. If you have a firm hold on your time and how you use it, you will be able to get more work done or show higher output. This is an offshoot of improved efficiency.

GOOD TIME MANAGEMENT

The concept of good time management encompasses the following:

1. Effective Planning

The activities that will be done for the day must be planned earlier. This could be done through something as simple as a list of things “To-Do”, or it could be as elaborate or as detailed as in an Task Plan. The tasks should be listed in order of priority, with the most important activities listed first. Include the time allocated for each task or activity. You will use that list as your guide on the order of how you should accomplish them.

2. Setting Goals

When planning, you should always have a goal in sight. What objectives do you wish to accomplish by performing those tasks or activities? These targets are what will guide you along, to bring you to the right direction. When setting objectives, make sure that they are clear, realistic and attainable.

3. Targeting Deadlines

Set deadlines and stick to them. Earlier, when you were planning, you set a time frame for each activity. There should be a deadline for the activity to be completed. A sign of good time management is being able to accomplish your tasks well before the targeted deadline.

4. Delegation of Duties and Responsibilities

As much as you want to, there are simply things that you cannot do by yourself. Sometimes, you have to ask for help or assistance. If you are a team leader in a certain time-bound project, you cannot do everything alone. You have team members that are there to work with you. Part of time management is the ability to delegate responsibilities, in accordance with each individual’s qualifications, skills set, and specialization. This will ensure that the tasks will be carried out more smoothly and definitely more quickly.

5. Prioritization of Activities

There are simply tasks that require more attention than others. By listing them down, you can easily classify the ones that have to be urgently dealt with and those that may be left for later. Your job here is to make the distinction, so the work can be assigned more effectively, and time can be allocated more efficiently to those tasks that are high priority.

6. Spending time properly

Time management is also about “spending the right time on the right activity”. You may have been able to identify the high priority tasks, but you may also allot more than the required amount of time to it. In contrast, you may have decided that one task is of low priority, and only assigned a couple of hours for it to be worked on when it actually requires around a day or two.

TIPS FOR DEVELOPING GOOD TIME MANAGEMENT

A little introspection is required if you want to evaluate your current time management practices and determine whether you need to make changes or carry on as usual. Of course, when doing this, a bigger degree of objectivity is expected or required. There are several exercises that you can find, especially online, on how to evaluate your time management attitudes and practices, but they have pretty much the same gist.

1. Evaluate yourself.

In short, you have to ask yourself how important time is to you, personally and professionally. You have to identify your reasons for wanting to manage your time better. Is it so you can earn more money? Do you want to manage your time better so you can gain more recognition at work and get that promotion you were always aiming for? Or do you want to manage your time so you can have more time later for leisure activities? More often than not, your personal goals and priorities will coincide with your short-term objectives when it comes to accomplishing things.

By evaluating yourself, you will also come across some points that you are not satisfied with. Perhaps you are spending too much time on activities that do not really provide benefits. You may also realize that you are not putting a lot of time and attention on something that requires it.

2. Assess your behavior when it comes to using your time.

What do you do to manage time? Do you keep track on how much time you spent on one activity? Are you religiously sticking to the To-Do lists that you do? Do you even make these lists? Do you have a tendency to leave tasks unfinished when you feel like you do not have enough time in the day, and leave it for another day?

You have to identify the behaviors that you think are right, or those that work best for you. On the other hand, you also have to determine the behaviors that you find questionable and find the reasons for it. Maybe it is the wrong task, in the first place, so you can look for another.

3. Determine your “prime time”.

It is a fact that not all people function in the same manner. Some are more productive at certain times of the day than others. This is where the concepts of “morning person” and “night owls” are considered. It is a matter of identifying the time of the day where your energy levels are high. Most likely, that is also your most productive time, or your “prime time”. By assigning the high-priority and complex tasks or the tasks that require a lot of attention during your prime time, you are increasing the probability that these tasks will be completed or accomplished without any problems.

4. Set your goals.

You have to know what you are working towards. Without a goal, you are just aimlessly working, with no direction at all. It would be a good idea to set both short-term and long-term goals. Write them down so you can read them later on for reinforcement. Then you can tick off the short-term goals once they have been achieved.

TIME MANAGEMENT TIPS

Earlier we talked about some of the things that can be done in order to exercise good and effective time management. Here are tips that may help you develop and improve your time management skills, whether in the workplace or in your personal life.

• Stay organized. This includes being neat and orderly in your workplace. Often, keeping stacks of papers and documents on your desk will make finding anything more time-consuming. Label the documents properly and neatly pile them in an area where you can easily retrieve and return them after using them. This may also require having to clean up from time to time. Throw away the things that you no longer need. Not only do they take up space unnecessarily, but the clutter will also take more time to wade through.
• Take advantage of your prime time. This is your most productive time, so make sure that you do the more complex tasks in this interval. The routine and repetitive work may be scheduled on your periods of lower energy. It is also advisable to do your planning during your prime time, because your mind will be fresher and clearer when creating your timetable. You may also identify two hours of the day as your prime time. Find a way to be able to stretch that period into three or four hours. The longer your prime time is, the more productive you will be.
• Learn the art of delegation. Take responsibility for your actions, but you should also learn to say no, to ask for help, and to assign responsibilities and tasks to others, especially when they are the more qualified or skilled people to do them. This will save you – and them – a lot of time that you can use for other activities.
• Learn how to stay focused. Distractions are huge time wasters. You may have your day all planned out, but when distractions strike – and you let them – then you were just throwing precious time away. Be focused on the task at hand. Be strong against these distractions, no matter how tempting and strong they are.
• Do not disrespect time by misusing it. You know that you have something that you must accomplish, but you still get up and wander aimlessly, even making idle chit-chat and gossiping around. That is already time misspent. Chances are, you will go back to your work and end up rushing through it because you already used up considerable time doing something else completely unrelated. The result is likely to be work haphazardly done.
• Use time management tools. Fortunately, there are a number of tools that can be used for time management (including time tracking software ), ranging from old-school tools such as planners and organizers to more high-tech implements and devices, including mobile applications and software. Energizers or energy boosters also help, such as caffeine, but make sure to take them in moderation.
• Take breaks and relax once in a while. Stay healthy. Time management does not mean cramming all work into your day. Taking a break and relaxing is also part of good time management, because you are giving yourself time to breathe, regroup and recoup your energy, so you can take on the next tasks in your schedule efficiently and effectively. Being tired or exhausted will only end up in more mistakes, so your work will be inefficient, and that defeats the purpose of time management. Staying healthy and fit is also a given if you want to be able to do more. If you are sick or weak in body, you’d end up lying in bed and accomplishing nothing.
• Change your habits and lifestyle. This is probably the hardest thing for anyone to do. After all, when they are used to doing one thing, and then they have to change things, it’s bound to have an impact on other aspects of their lives. One of the best changes one can make in their lifestyle is to make good time management a habit and a way of life. Granted, this cannot be done overnight; it is bound to take some time. However, once you get started, you can simply continue on.

Time management is not really about managing time. At the end of the day, it is about managing ourselves and how we use time. A lot of things can be said about a person from the way he or she uses her time. Furthermore, the chances of achieving goals become much higher with good time management.

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Importance of Time Management for Business Owners

Business owners can, and should, cultivate a workplace that values time management. Here are some tips for business owners to improve time management in the workplace.

Why Time Management is Essential for Leadership

Business owners and managers lead by example . The values and work ethic displayed by a company's decision makers have a direct influence on company culture, and many times, on a business' profitability. Time management improves the efficiency and effectiveness of a business, and business owners should continuously work on developing, or improving, their own time management skills.

Time Management Benefits

Time management is one of the most important skills to have, but it is often a concept that many businesses, and people, struggle with. Small businesses, in particular, cannot afford to waste time with bad time management and inefficiency. However, the benefits of good time management practices are immeasurable. Businesses that utilize good time management are better positioned to consistently deliver their product, or service, on-time.

Good time management also means that a business is able to solve problems that arise without it significantly impacting day-to-day operations. This is essential for businesses that rely on constant output to increase ROI - a planned, structured schedule provides extra time for problem-solving or unforeseen circumstances.

Prioritizing each item on your to-do list will help you stay focused on hitting your day-to-day, and overall, goals. Ask yourself, "What absolutely needs to be done by the end of the day?" Rank each item by its importance - or deadline - and start working down the list. If anything unexpected comes up during the day, you can feel better knowing that the most time-sensitive tasks have already been addressed.

This is essential for both business owners, and employees. Establishing clear-cut goals will help you measure the success of your work and effectively track progress that you have made toward that goal. As a company, you should be asking questions like "Where do we want to be next year, at this time? How much revenue do we need to make next month to stay on track?"

The answers to your questions should form measurable, tangible goals that you can communicate to your employees. Time management means that you are not only productive with your time, but your productivity is focused on achieving your company's goals.

Planning ahead today saves you time, and unnecessary stress, tomorrow. Once you have established your goals, you can also start working on a feasible timeline to reach them.

An important part of planning is to be realistic about what you can achieve and how quickly you can work through that timeline. Don't fall into the trap of being overly-ambitious with every deadline - although time is money, ensuring that you have enough time to deliver a high-quality product, or service, should always be a top priority. Never meeting deadlines can discourage your employees as well, so be sure to set reasonable goals and communicate to your team exactly what needs to be accomplished to meet them.

As a business owner, your time is often divided between day-to-day operations and big-picture responsibilities. Knowing when it's appropriate to delegate some of those tasks to other team members can save you quite a bit of time. It's also a great opportunity to motivate your employees with increased responsibilities and challenges.

A great way to approach what should, and shouldn't be delegated, is to estimate the time it would take for someone else to complete the task. Would it involve extra training? Would I spend more time reviewing their work than the time it would take me to do it myself? These are all questions that you should be asking before making the decision to delegate.

Using Software for Time Management

Time management, like many things, can be much easier when utilizing helpful tools. Time management systems, like employee time tracker apps , provide a simple, straightforward way to manage your staff schedules. Cloud-based time tracking systems allow you to manage your employees' schedules, as well as your own, right from your smartphone or desktop.

Tracking time on a shared interface also allows business owners to demonstrate transparency and teamwork. With the ability to quickly manage schedules and assign tasks, you can rest assured that your employees know what is expected of them, and you can ensure that every employee is pulling equal weight in the company's success.

Test Before You Buy

Finding the best solution for managing your time often requires a bit of trial and error. What works for one business owner may not necessarily work for another, and we encourage you to try out a few different techniques to find one that truly helps you manage your time.

At Orbital Shift, we offer a 14-day free trial to give you an opportunity to use our workforce management software risk-free, with no hidden fees or charges. We know the value of time management for business owners, and we want you to experience our software before you make the decision to fully utilize it for your organization.

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Mastering Time Management: Top Strategies for Small Business Effective Results

Lack of time for family, the constant pursuit of money, worries about whether you'll be able to do everything in time, no time for hobbies…. Do you know it? Do you have the same? I know what you mean. When you run your own business on your own, it's not easy. Today I've prepared a guide on how to manage your time effectively so that your business grows without emotional losses for you! Curious? Let's get started!

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What is time management?

Time management is the skillful use of available hours, and organizing and scheduling activities to obtain desired goals. It can bring many benefits in various fields. First and foremost, it is reflected in increased productivity and reduced stress and feelings of being overwhelmed by responsibilities. 

Good organization makes it easier to meet deadlines and prioritize tasks. Proper time management also helps owners of large and small businesses to implement their plans. In employees, in turn, it allows them to maintain a work-life balance, translating into more time to deepen relationships with loved ones or develop their passions.

The basis is to maintain a work-life balance, which will designate time for private and professional matters. Indication of specific hours and workstations allows you to maintain order, thus imitating office work.

Effective time management requires a schedule, i.e., a plan that takes into account the most important tasks to be performed. Setting small goals will make it easier to evaluate performance, which should be done by, for example, monitoring the time in which a given task was completed.

The benefits of time management

Planning and organizing time.

Every entrepreneur should have clear goals that he wants to achieve in his business. Therefore, it is important to consider what tasks need to be done to achieve these goals and what their deadlines are. It is also worth identifying the tasks that require the most time and effort and those that can be delegated to other employees. Another significant part of planning is prioritizing tasks so that you can focus on the influential tasks and put off the less indispensable ones for later.

Technologies and tools for time management

Nowadays, many technologies and tools can help you manage your time in an online small business. Among them is project management software that allows you to track progress and remind you of task deadlines. Many mobile apps and tools make it easier to plan your day and prevent wasted time. The introduction of IT systems, such as CRM or ERP, will also make time and task management much easier.

Managing priorities in a small business

Not every task is of equal value and importance to the business. Therefore, an entrepreneur needs to be able to effectively prioritize tasks based on their impact on achieving business goals. For small businesses, it is often not possible to complete all tasks in time. 

Effective task delegation and a team approach

Some tasks may be too time-consuming for one person. Then consider delegating them to other employees or teams. It is important to give employees clear instructions on how to perform tasks and allow them to make decisions on their own. When delegating tasks, it is also worth considering the skills and experience of employees.

Maintain a work-life balance

Overwork and excessive responsibilities can lead to exhaustion and decreased productivity. An entrepreneur needs to take care of his or her health and work-life balance. It's worth remembering to take vacations and weekends off, and to allow employees rest and time for themselves.

What are our most common distractions at work?

Sometimes we think that work overwhelms us, we try to do everything at once, wanting to save time, and it turns out that we are late with everything. Why?

The answer is simple, we are often guilty of this ourselves, because:

• we procrastinate the completion of tasks over time,
• we lack self-discipline,
• we perform several tasks at the same time, so we are not able to perform any of them well,
• we are unable to concentrate on a particular task,
• we lack motivation,
• we are unable to indicate which tasks are more important and which can wait,
• we have a mess of documentation and workspace, and this is one of the
• cardinal sins of management,
• we want to do everything ourselves,
• we are often lost in impatience,
• we are sometimes inaccurate, which is usually due to haste.

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How to effectively manage your time?

We do not have the power to stop the clocks of the whole world, so unfortunately we do not influence on the running time. Instead, we can manage our time effectively.

What can you do to use this time effectively? It all depends on you.

Managing your time is strongly related to the definition of management:

• Planning, meaning what do you have to do?
• Organizing, meaning how do you want to do it?
• Motivating, meaning why are you doing it?
• Controlling, i.e. does everything go according to your plan

Answer these questions, and then think about what you learned about yourself this way, and how you will manage your time in the future.

Remember — if you manage your time effectively, you will find that you will have enough time to do things you have so far put off or things that will give you a lot of satisfaction and positive emotions. You decide what you do with your time!

How to plan your day effectively?

Time management requires self-development, self-control, and self-discipline. The process itself is not easy, so it needs constant modification, analyzing the results, and finding its own most effective way. A method that works for one employee will not always work for another. Therefore, it is crucial to establish a hierarchy of tasks — divided into urgent and non-urgent. A priority list will increase the chance of timeliness and indicate which tasks will need more time to complete.

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Time management strategies for small business owner

Basic time management methods include activities related to prioritizing the most important tasks, dividing larger projects into smaller steps, reducing distractions and multitasking, planning, and taking time for quality rest. Advanced time management techniques facilitate more structured planning of different types of duties. The Eisenhower Matrix will help you use your time effectively.

It consists of 4 categories: urgent and significant (tasks that require immediate action); indispensable but not urgent (things you can schedule for later); urgent but not critical (things that should be delegated to someone else) and neither urgent nor essential (tasks that we can eliminate from our schedule). 

We also learn how to manage time from Tony Robbins, who developed a technique called the Rapid Planning Method (RPM), which helps you focus on the most significant things in life. This method consists of 3 questions that must be answered before starting a task: "What do I want?", "What is my goal?" and "What do I need to do?". By giving thoughtful answers, you can create a clear plan of action that will help you use your time effectively and achieve your varied goals. RPM is designed to inspire action that matters in your life. 

Time management is not easy, exactly like delegating tasks and planning. The responsibilities of a small business entrepreneur are not easy, but we believe that with our tips, your day will become more productive and your business will grow. Good luck!

What are some effective time management techniques for small businesses?

Some effective time management techniques for small businesses include creating to-do lists, prioritizing tasks, delegating responsibilities, and using time tracking tools.

How can I improve my time management skills?

 You can improve your time management skills by focusing on one task at a time, setting specific time blocks for different activities, and utilizing time management tips such as setting time limits for each task.

What are the benefits of mastering time management for small business owners?

Mastering time management can lead to increased productivity, reduced stress, better control of your time, and the ability to accomplish tasks in less time.

How can I prioritize tasks effectively as a small business owner?

Prioritize tasks based on deadlines, importance, and impact on your business. Focus on completing high-priority tasks first to maximize your productivity.

What are some common time management habits of successful small business owners?

Successful small business owners often use time effectively by scheduling tasks during their biological prime time, working on one task at a time, and setting specific times for different activities.

How can I delegate tasks efficiently to save time?

Delegate tasks that others can do effectively, communicate clear instructions, and provide necessary resources to ensure successful delegation and save time for more important tasks.

What are some popular time management strategies and techniques for small business owners?

Some popular time management strategies and techniques include creating a schedule, setting specific time blocks for tasks, using time tracking tools, and mastering the art of prioritization.

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The Ultimate Guide to Time Management: 10 Strategies for Better Productivity

Rosie Landry

Are you feeling overwhelmed with too many tasks and not enough time ? I’ve been there, which is why I put together this guide to time management.

Table of Contents

After extensive research and trial of various techniques, I’ve pulled together ten strategies that will help you take control of your days. Prepare yourself for a compelling journey toward better productivity and less stress !

Key Takeaways

• Conduct a time audit to understand how you spend your time and identify areas where you can cut back on wasted moments.
• Set priorities based on your goals, deadlines, and overall productivity impact.
• Use planning tools like calendars or task managers to stay organized and create clear roadmaps for accomplishing tasks.
• Get organized by keeping track of commitments, establishing prioritization systems, and creating structured schedules.
• Schedule tasks appropriately by allocating specific time slots for different activities based on energy levels and natural rhythms.
• Delegate tasks to others to free up your time for high-priority responsibilities and leverage the strengths of others.
• Stop procrastinating by breaking projects into smaller steps and using techniques like the Pomodoro Technique.
• Manage time-wasters by identifying them, setting boundaries, utilizing technology wisely, and taking regular breaks.
• Avoid multitasking to increase focus and efficiency in completing tasks one at a time.
• Staying healthy through adequate sleep, nutritious meals, exercise, and stress management enhances productivity.

10 Strategies for Better Productivity List

These strategies can help you improve productivity and maximize your time and resources. Remember to experiment and find the best strategies for your unique needs and work style.

Key Strategies for Better Time Management

Know how you spend your time, set priorities, use a planning tool, get organized, and schedule appropriately.

Know How You Spend Your Time

Keeping track of your time is crucial for effective management. Many of us are oblivious to how we typically spend our hours and minutes daily. Surprisingly, even minor activities can become significant time consumers when accumulated.

Conducting a simple time audit helps unveil these hidden black holes in your schedule, which might be draining precious moments away from more critical tasks. You need to jot down what you’re doing at regular intervals in the day for about a week or two.

The process isn’t tedious as it sounds; numerous apps and tools make the job easier today! This transparency lets you spot patterns and identify potential areas where you can cut back wasted time, thereby allowing you to redesign your daily routines with improved focus on priorities!

Set Priorities

Setting priorities is a crucial step in effective time management . Determining what tasks are most important and need to be done first ensures that your time and energy are focused on the right things.

To set priorities, start by identifying your goals and objectives. What do you want to achieve? Once you have a clear vision of what you’re aiming for , it becomes easier to determine which tasks align with those goals.

It’s also important to consider deadlines and the impact each task will have on your overall productivity. By setting priorities, you can make sure that you’re spending your precious time on tasks that truly matter and will bring you closer to reaching your objectives.

Use a Planning Tool

Using a planning tool is crucial for effective time management. It helps you stay organized and prioritize tasks , ensuring that you make the most of your day. By using a task manager or planner, you can easily track your goals, set deadlines, and break down tasks into smaller steps.

This allows you to create a clear roadmap for what needs to be accomplished and helps prevent overwhelm . With a planning tool at hand, you can confidently manage your time and achieve greater productivity in both your personal and professional life .

Get Organized

To maximize your productivity and make the most of your time, it’s essential to get organized . Organizing your tasks and responsibilities effectively ensures that nothing falls through the cracks and everything gets done efficiently.

Start by using a task manager or a planning tool to keep track of all your commitments and deadlines. This will give you a clear overview of what must be done and when. Additionally, establish a system for prioritizing tasks based on their importance and urgency.

This will help you stay focused on what truly matters. Lastly, create daily schedules or time blocks for specific activities or projects. By having a structured plan, you’ll feel more in control of your time and increase your chances of achieving your goals efficiently.

Schedule Appropriately

Scheduling your time appropriately is crucial for effective time management. You can ensure that everything gets done efficiently and on time by allocating specific time slots for different tasks and activities.

Using a planning tool like a calendar or task manager can help you stay organized and prioritize your responsibilities. It’s also important to consider your energy levels and natural rhythms when scheduling tasks – tackle the most challenging or important ones during times when you’re at peak productivity .

By scheduling appropriately, you’ll be able to make the most of your day and achieve your goals more effectively.

Delegate: Get Help from Others

Delegating tasks to others is a valuable strategy for improving time management and boosting productivity. By sharing responsibilities with capable individuals, you can free up your own time to focus on high-priority tasks.

Delegation also allows you to leverage the strengths and expertise of others, leading to more efficient outcomes. It’s important to remember that you don’t have to do everything yourself – by involving others in the process, you can achieve more while also building trust and collaboration within your team or organization.

So don’t be afraid to delegate when it makes sense, as it can significantly enhance your ability to manage time effectively and accomplish your goals.

Overcoming Time Management Challenges

Stop procrastinating, manage time-wasters, avoid multitasking, and stay healthy to overcome time management challenges.

Stop Procrastinating

One important step is to stop procrastinating to be more productive and make the most of your time. Procrastination can lead to wasted hours and missed opportunities. Take action now instead of putting off tasks or waiting for the “perfect” moment.

Break larger projects into smaller, manageable steps and tackle them individually. Use techniques like the Pomodoro Technique , where you work in focused bursts with short breaks in between.

Starting immediately and staying disciplined can overcome procrastination and accomplish more each day.

Manage Time-Wasters

We all know that time-wasters can be a major productivity roadblock. To overcome this challenge, here are some effective strategies to manage time-wasters:

• Identify your biggest time – wasting activities and commit to reducing or eliminating them.
• Set clear boundaries with colleagues, friends, and family to minimize interruptions during work hours.
• Use technology wisely by turning off notifications and silencing distracting apps on your phone or computer.
• Prioritize tasks based on their importance and urgency to avoid getting caught up in less significant activities.
• Break large projects into smaller, manageable tasks to prevent feeling overwhelmed and wasting time on unnecessary details.
• Take regular breaks to refresh your mind and prevent burnout, but make sure you stick to a set time limit for each break.
• Practice saying “no” when necessary to avoid taking on additional commitments that will only consume your valuable time.
• Stay organized by keeping your workspace clutter – free and using tools like calendars, planners, or digital task managers to stay on top of deadlines and appointments.
• Delegate tasks whenever possible to free up more time for the things that truly require your attention.
• Finally, learn to say goodbye to perfectionism – striving for perfection can waste precious time that could be better spent on completing important tasks.

Avoid Multi-tasking

Multi-tasking may seem like the key to getting more done in less time, but it can hinder your productivity . Trying to do multiple things simultaneously divides your attention and makes it harder for you to focus on each task.

Instead of juggling multiple tasks simultaneously, try focusing on one thing at a time. This will allow you to give your full attention and energy to each task, increasing your efficiency. and reducing mistakes.

So, next time you find yourself tempted to multi-task, remember that focusing on one task at a time is the path to better productivity.

Stay Healthy

Maintaining good health is crucial for effective time management. We are better equipped to handle our tasks and responsibilities when we prioritize our physical and mental well-being.

Taking care of ourselves includes getting enough sleep , eating nutritious meals , and exercising regularly . It’s also essential to manage stress levels by practicing relaxation techniques or finding activities that bring joy and promote balance.

By prioritizing our health, we can optimize productivity and achieve a more fulfilling life.

The Importance of Productivity and Efficiency

Productivity and efficiency are crucial for individuals as they enable us to accomplish more tasks in less time, leading to a sense of accomplishment and increased job satisfaction.

In addition, teams and organizations benefit from productivity and efficiency by increasing overall output, meeting deadlines more effectively, and achieving higher quality results.

Benefits for Individuals

Mastering time management brings a multitude of benefits for individuals. By effectively managing your time, you can experience reduced stress levels , increased productivity , and improved work-life balance .

You’ll have a better sense of control over your day and be able to prioritize tasks based on their importance. With proper time management strategies in place, you can achieve your goals and feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of each day.

Efficiently utilizing your time allows you to make the most out of every opportunity that comes your way, ultimately leading to a happier and more fulfilling life.

Benefits for Teams and Organizations

Effective time management is not only beneficial for individuals, but also for teams and organizations. When a team or organization implements strong time management strategies, it can lead to increased productivity , improved efficiency , and better overall performance .

By prioritizing tasks and setting realistic goals, teams can ensure that they work on the most important projects and meet deadlines effectively. This helps in maximizing output and achieving desired results.

Additionally, effective time management allows teams to streamline workflows , avoid bottlenecks, and eliminate unnecessary tasks or activities. It also promotes collaboration by ensuring that team members have clear expectations of their roles and responsibilities within the organization.

How to Improve Attention Management and Focus

You can try several techniques to improve attention management and focus. Eliminate distractions by creating a quiet work environment and turning off notifications on your devices.

Practice mindfulness and meditation to enhance your ability to stay present and focused. Break tasks into smaller, manageable chunks to prevent overwhelm and maintain concentration.

Prioritize your most important tasks first to ensure you give them your full attention. Finally, take regular breaks throughout the day to recharge your brain and maintain productivity levels.

Techniques for Enhancing Focus

Enhancing focus is crucial for better time management and productivity. Here are some techniques to help improve your ability to concentrate:

• Eliminate distractions : Minimize interruptions by turning off notifications, closing unnecessary tabs, and finding a quiet workspace.
• Practice deep work : Set aside time for focused, uninterrupted work on important tasks.
• Break tasks into smaller steps : Breaking down larger tasks into manageable chunks can make them less overwhelming and easier to focus on.
• Use the Pomodoro Technique: Work in short bursts of focused activity (usually 25 minutes) followed by short breaks to maintain concentration.
• Prioritize single-tasking : Instead of trying to juggle multiple tasks at once, give your full attention to one task at a time for increased efficiency.
• Create a conducive environment : Set up a clean, organized workspace that promotes concentration and minimizes distractions.
• Take regular breaks : Incorporate breaks into your work routine to recharge and prevent mental fatigue.
• Practice mindfulness or meditation : These practices can help improve focus by training the mind to stay present and reduce distractions.
• Use visualization techniques : Visualize the successful completion of your tasks to enhance motivation and maintain focus.
• Manage stress levels : High-stress levels can hinder concentration, so find healthy ways to manage stress, such as exercise or relaxation techniques.

Avoiding Distractions

Avoiding distractions is crucial for maintaining focus and maximizing productivity. Here are some strategies to help you stay on track:

• Designate a distraction-free workspace : Create a dedicated area where you can work without interruptions or temptations.
• Turn off notifications : Silence your phone and computer notifications to minimize distractions from incoming messages and social media updates.
• Set specific time blocks : Allocate specific periods for focused work and avoid engaging in unrelated activities during those times.
• Use website blockers : Install browser extensions that block access to distracting websites or limit your time spent on them.
• Practice the Pomodoro Technique: Break your work into 25-minute intervals, known as “pomodoros,” followed by short breaks to refresh your mind.
• Prioritize tasks : Identify and tackle the most important tasks first, minimizing the chances of getting sidetracked by less significant ones.
• Communicate boundaries : Let others know when you need uninterrupted time, whether it’s closing the door or setting specific office hours.

Conclusion on Guide to Time Management 💭

M astering time management is crucial for maximizing productivity and efficiency . Individuals can stay organized and focused on their goals by employing strategies such as setting priorities, using planning tools, and delegating tasks.

With these techniques in hand, you’ll be well-equipped to take control of your time and achieve success in both your personal and professional life.

FAQs on Guide to Time Management

1. how can i improve my time management skills.

You can improve your time management skills by prioritizing tasks, setting realistic goals, creating a schedule or to-do list, minimizing distractions, and practicing effective time allocation.

2. Is it possible to manage my time better without feeling overwhelmed?

Yes, it is possible to manage your time better without feeling overwhelmed by breaking tasks into smaller, manageable chunks, taking breaks when needed, and delegating or seeking help when necessary.

3. What are some strategies for avoiding procrastination?

To avoid procrastination, you can use strategies such as setting deadlines for yourself, breaking tasks into small steps with clear timelines, eliminating distractions from your workspace, and rewarding yourself after completing tasks.

4. Can technology help with time management?

Yes, technology can be helpful in managing your time more effectively. There are various apps and tools available that can assist with task tracking, reminders/alerts for important deadlines or appointments,

and organizing schedules efficiently

About the author

I’m Rosie Landry, your friendly guide through the exciting world of practical management here on this blog. Here, I delve into everything from practical tips to complex theories of time management, combining scientific research with real-life applications. When I’m not writing about time management, you can find me with my nose in a gripping mystery novel, creating culinary delights, or out exploring nature with my faithful golden retriever, Marley. Join me as we discover how to take control of our time and enhance our lives together. If you need to reach out, do so here.

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A Brief Guide to Time Management

Benefits of time management, list of tips for effective time management, implications of poor time management, related readings, time management.

Planning and controlling how much time to spend on specific activities

Time management is the process of planning and controlling how much time to spend on specific activities. Good time management enables an individual to complete more in a shorter period of time, lowers stress, and leads to career success .

The ability to manage your time effectively is important. Good time management leads to improved efficiency and productivity, less stress, and more success in life. Here are some benefits of managing time effectively:

1. Stress relief

Making and following a task schedule reduces anxiety. As you check off items on your “to-do” list, you can see that you are making tangible progress. This helps you avoid feeling stressed out with worry about whether you’re getting things done.

2. More time

Good time management gives you extra time to spend in your daily life. People who can time-manage effectively enjoy having more time to spend on hobbies or other personal pursuits.

3. More opportunities

Managing time well leads to more opportunities and less time wasted on trivial activities. Good time management skills are key qualities that employers look for. The ability to prioritize and schedule work is extremely desirable for any organization .

4. Ability to realize goals

Individuals who practice good time management are able to better achieve goals and objectives, and do so in a shorter length of time.

After considering the benefits of time management, let’s look at some ways to manage time effectively:

1. Set goals correctly

Set goals that are achievable and measurable. Use the SMART method when setting goals. In essence, make sure the goals you set are S pecific, M easurable, A ttainable, R elevant, and T imely.

2. Prioritize wisely

Prioritize tasks based on importance and urgency. For example, look at your daily tasks and determine which are:

• Important and urgent: Do these tasks right away.
• Important but not urgent: Decide when to do these tasks.
• Urgent but not important: Delegate these tasks if possible.
• Not urgent and not important: Set these aside to do later.

3. Set a time limit to complete a task

Setting time constraints for completing tasks helps you be more focused and efficient. Making the small extra effort to decide on how much time you need to allot for each task can also help you recognize potential problems before they arise. That way you can make plans for dealing with them.

For example, assume you need to write up five reviews in time for a meeting. However, you realize that you’ll only be able to get four of them done in the time remaining before the meeting. If you become aware of this fact well in advance, you may be able to easily delegate writing up one of the reviews to someone else.

However, if you hadn’t bothered to do a time check on your tasks beforehand, you might have ended up not realizing your time problem until just an hour before the meeting. At that point, it might be considerably more difficult to find someone to delegate one of the reviews to, and more difficult for them to fit the task into their day, too.

4. Take a break between tasks

When doing a lot of tasks without a break, it is harder to stay focused and motivated. Allow some downtime between tasks to clear your head and refresh yourself. Consider grabbing a brief nap, going for a short walk, or meditating.

5. Organize yourself

Utilize your calendar for more long-term time management. Write down the deadlines for projects, or for tasks that are part of completing the overall project. Think about which days might be best to dedicate to specific tasks. For example, you might need to plan a meeting to discuss cash flow on a day when you know the company CFO is available.

6. Remove non-essential tasks/activities

It is important to remove excess activities or tasks. Determine what is significant and what deserves your time. Removing non-essential tasks/activities frees up more of your time to be spent on genuinely important things.

7. Plan ahead

Make sure you start every day with a clear idea of what you need to do – what needs to get done THAT DAY. Consider making it a habit to, at the end of each workday, go ahead and write out your “to-do” list for the next workday. That way you can hit the ground running the next morning.

Let’s also consider the consequences of poor time management.

1. Poor workflow

The inability to plan ahead and stick to goals means poor efficiency. For example, if there are several important tasks to complete, an effective plan would be to complete related tasks together or sequentially. However, if you don’t plan ahead, you could end up having to jump back and forth, or backtrack, in doing your work. That translates to reduced efficiency and lower productivity.

2. Wasted time

Poor time management results in wasted time. For example, by talking to friends on social media while doing an assignment, you are distracting yourself and wasting time.

3. Loss of control

By not knowing what the next task is, you suffer from loss of control of your life. That can contribute to higher stress levels and anxiety.

4. Poor quality of work

Poor time management typically makes the quality of your work suffer. For example, having to rush to complete tasks at the last minute usually compromises quality.

5. Poor reputation

If clients or your employer cannot rely on you to complete tasks in a timely manner, their expectations and perceptions of you are adversely affected. If a client cannot rely on you to get something done on time, they will likely take their business elsewhere.

Thank you for reading CFI’s guide to time management. CFI is a global provider of financial modeling courses and  financial analyst certification . To help you become a world-class financial analyst and advance your career, these additional free CFI resources will be helpful:

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How to make a Time Management Plan in 6 Easy Steps & Tips

Having strong  time management skills  is crucial for being efficient and productive in all aspects of life – both personally and professionally. By creating a well-thought-out time management plan, you can maximize your daily tasks, minimize stress, and successfully reach your goals.

In this comprehensive guide, we will outline seven simple steps to help you craft your own time management plan, as well as provide ten practical tips for improving your  time management abilities .

So, let’s dive in and boost our time management skills together!

7 Steps to Develop a Great Time Management Plan

Step 1: set clear goals.

Start by setting clear goals. This is crucial for effective time management .  When you have clear goals, it becomes easier to plan and manage your time and resources efficiently. Follow these tips for setting effective goals:

• Be specific: Make sure your goals are clearly and precisely defined. Vagueness can cause misunderstandings and hinder productivity.
• Be measurable: Set tangible standards for tracking your progress. Keeping track of your achievements keeps you motivated and on track.
• Achievable: Make your goals attainable, but also challenging. Setting unrealistic goals can actually decrease motivation.
• Relevant: It is important to align your goals with your values and long-term objectives. This gives your tasks greater meaning and purpose.
• Time-bound: Set deadlines for each goal to make them time-bound. This adds a sense of urgency and helps prevent procrastination.

Step 2: Prioritize Tasks

After listing your goals, the crucial next step is to prioritize your tasks. It’s important to recognize that not all tasks hold the same weight – there are those that are more pressing and vital than others. This is where prioritizing comes into play, as it allows you to concentrate on the tasks that truly align with your objectives.

To assist with this process, utilizing techniques such as the Eisenhower Box can prove to be extremely beneficial. This particular method categorizes tasks into four distinct groups:

• Urgent and Important : Do these tasks immediately.
• Important but Not Urgent : Schedule these tasks for later.
• Urgent but Not Important : Delegate these if possible.
• Neither Urgent nor Important : Consider dropping these tasks.

Remember, effective prioritization is a cornerstone of successful time planning and management.

Step 3: Create a Schedule

To ensure  efficient time management,  it is crucial to create a schedule. Utilizing tools such as calendars or planners can assist in outlining your tasks. Take a look at these helpful tips for successful scheduling:

• Allocate Time Blocks: When planning your day, it’s important to allocate designated time blocks for each task. Take into account your most productive times of the day and assign tasks accordingly.
• Be Realistic: It’s crucial to be realistic and not overload your schedule, so be sure to leave time for breaks and unexpected interruptions.
• Consistency: Additionally, maintaining a consistent routine can be helpful in establishing productive habits.

Scheduling is a crucial aspect of planning and time management, helping you stay organized and focused.

Step 4: Set Deadlines

Setting deadlines is important for   maintaining a sense of urgency . Here’s why they are important:

• Prevent Procrastination: Deadlines discourage delaying tasks.
• Improve Focus: Use deadlines to focus your efforts on completing tasks.
• Improve organization: Being aware of deadlines can greatly benefit your overall schedule and time management.

Deadlines should be realistic, giving you enough time to complete tasks without undue stress.

Step 5: Avoid Multitasking

Multitasking can be a productivity killer. It’s important to focus on one task at a time. Here’s why:

• Improved Quality: Giving undivided attention to a single task ensures high-quality work. 
• Reduced Stress: Trying to handle multiple tasks simultaneously can lead to overwhelmed and stressed-out feelings. 
• Efficiency: Multitasking often results in spending more time with fewer outputs.

Hence, focusing on one task at a time is a crucial element in mastering effective time management.

Step 6: Review and Adjust

It is crucial to regularly review and adjust your  time management plan . Take time to reflect on what strategies are working well and which ones could use improvement. Remain open to making changes in order to increase productivity and effectiveness.

Keep track of any distractions and actively work to minimize them. Remember, this step is a crucial part of the continuous process of managing your time effectively.

Step 7: Invest in Time Management Tools

The Importance of  Time Management Tools

Investing in time management tools is a key step in enhancing your ability to manage time effectively. These tools offer several benefits:

• Streamlined Organization: Keep track of all your tasks, deadlines, and schedules in one convenient location. 
• Efficiency and Productivity: With the ability to automate certain tasks, these tools free up valuable time for more important activities.
• Insightful Tracking: Gain valuable insights: Many tools offer in-depth analysis of your time usage, empowering you to make smart decisions when it comes to task prioritization and allocation. 
• Accountability: Some tools include features that promote focus and accountability, ensuring that you meet your deadlines.

What is Time Champ?

Time Champ is a powerful time and productivity-tracking software preferred by many business organizations to improve their time management and employee productivity.

Time Champ’s Time Management Features

Time Champ is designed with features that cater to various aspects of time management:

• Time Champ’s Time Tracking feature will help you to know how much time you spend on different tasks on a daily weekly and monthly basis. By gaining a better understanding of how time is being utilized, proper planning and time management become achievable.
• Time Champ’s Task and Project management features  allow you to manage your tasks and work items efficiently.
• Time Champ can track which applications and websites are used most frequently. This information can be used to identify potential distractions and optimize the allocation of time towards more productive tasks.
• The task scheduling feature lets you create and edit work times and schedules.
• The system notifies users when they’ve been idle for a set period. This helps in maintaining focus and reducing time spent on unproductive activities.

This valuable tool not only provides insights into time usage, but also aids in effective planning and prioritization for maximum productivity. With  Time Champ , managing time effectively becomes effortless, whether on an individual or team level, and helps keep goals in alignment with personal or organizational objectives.

10 Simple and Effective Time Management Tips

1. practice time blocking.

Time blocking is a highly effective strategy that involves breaking up your day into designated time blocks, with each block devoted to a specific task or set of tasks.

So, for example, instead of trying to tackle everything at once, you may set aside 9-10 AM specifically for handling emails, followed by a focused block of time from 10-12 for more demanding work like writing reports.

By intentionally structuring your day in this way, you can  optimize your productivity   and give each task the proper attention it needs.

This results in a streamlined approach to daily planning and harmonious alignment of your schedule and time management.

2. Batching

Batching involves categorizing similar tasks together, such as setting aside dedicated time to respond to emails rather than intermittently throughout the day.

This approach minimizes the cognitive burden of switching between tasks, ultimately improving productivity.

Incorporating this practical step into your time management routine  is particularly beneficial for routine tasks.

3. Spend Your Mornings on MITs

Begin your day by directing your attention towards the Most Important Tasks (MITs). As a project manager, this could involve prioritizing the day’s critical deliverables as soon as you start your morning.

By doing this, you guarantee that these vital tasks receive your highest levels of energy and concentration, which coincides with successful time management tactics.

4. Employ the Rapid Planning Method (RPM)

RPM stands for Results, Purpose, and Massive Action Plan. It’s about focusing on the outcome you want to achieve (Result), understanding why it’s important (Purpose), and then listing the steps needed to get there (Massive Action Plan).

For instance, if your goal is to improve team productivity, your RPM might include identifying key performance indicators, setting clear team objectives, and scheduling regular follow-ups.

5. Getting Things Done (GTD)

GTD, or “Getting Things Done,” is a powerful strategy for   managing your time and increasing productivity .  By externalizing all your tasks and breaking them down into actionable work items, you can prevent the feeling of being overwhelmed and ensure that nothing falls through the cracks.

For instance, if you have a large project on your plate, GTD advises breaking it into manageable tasks such as “research,” “draft outline,” and “write first draft.”

This not only helps you stay on track, but also allows for a sense of accomplishment as you progress through each task.

6. Learn to Say No

Learning to say no is crucial in time management . If a new task doesn’t align with your current priorities or goals, it’s okay to turn it down.

For example, if you’re asked to take on an additional project while you’re already swamped with critical deadlines, politely decline or suggest a later timeline.

Make a conscious effort to avoid multitasking. While it may give the illusion of productivity, it actually hinders the quality and efficiency of your work.

7. Stop Multitasking

For instance, if you’re working on a report, resist the temptation to check emails or respond to messages simultaneously.

8. Adopt the Swiss Cheese Method

One effective approach is to divide challenging tasks into smaller, achievable portions, akin to creating holes in Swiss cheese.

For instance, if faced with a lengthy report, begin by spending just 15 minutes outlining a single section. These incremental efforts accumulate, ultimately making the task seem less intimidating.

9. The 2-Minute Rule

According to the 2-Minute Rule, any task that can be completed in under two minutes should be tackled right away. This key component of the GTD approach promotes efficiency by  swiftly taking care of small tasks , thus avoiding a buildup of unfinished work.

10. The 80/20 Rule (Pareto Principle)

The Pareto Principle suggests that 80% of results come from 20% of efforts. Identify tasks that yield the most significant results and focus more on them.

For instance, if you find that a specific type of client meeting generates the most sales, prioritize scheduling more of these meetings.

To wrap it up, mastering your time management skills is an ongoing process that requires constant refinement.

With a clear vision of your objectives, effective prioritization, a well-organized schedule, realistic timelines, and focused attention on one task at a time, you can dramatically boost your productivity and effectiveness.

Don’t forget the added advantage of utilizing tools like time management tools Time Champ, which can help streamline your efforts by offering user-friendly features for tracking and managing tasks, resulting in improved  time management strategies.

We encourage you to try Time Champ’s automatic employee attendance management system to further enhance your time management skills. It’s designed to help you monitor employee productivity, making it easier to plan and manage time effectively within your organization.

Frequently Asked Questions

To make use of time effectively, prioritize tasks based on their impact, avoid multitasking, set clear goals, use time management tools to keep track of your tasks and deadlines, and regularly review your progress.

A time plan is a detailed schedule outlining how one intends to manage their time effectively. It involves setting goals, prioritizing tasks, and allocating time to complete these tasks.

Effective time management involves setting clear goals, prioritizing your tasks, creating a structured schedule, focusing on one task at a time, and regularly reviewing and adjusting your plans to improve efficiency and productivity.

The 7 steps of time management typically include setting clear goals, prioritizing tasks, creating a schedule, setting deadlines, avoiding multitasking, reviewing and adjusting your plan, and investing in time management tools.

Time planning refers to the process of organizing and allocating your time to different activities based on their importance and urgency. It involves creating schedules and setting deadlines to achieve your objectives efficiently.

To plan your day effectively, start by identifying your Most Important Tasks (MITs), schedule them during your most productive hours, use time blocking to allocate specific time slots for each task, and ensure to include breaks to avoid burnout.

Time Champ enhances employee productivity by offering features like time tracking, real-time reporting, and idle alerts. These tools help employees and managers identify time spent on various tasks, allowing for more focused work and better allocation of resources. By monitoring activities and providing actionable insights, Time Champ aids in minimizing distractions and maximizing productivity.

Effective management planning techniques include setting SMART goals, prioritizing tasks using methods like the Eisenhower Matrix, time blocking, and regular review and adjustment of plans. Utilizing tools like Time Champ for tracking and analyzing time can also significantly contribute to more effective management planning.

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What Is A Project Management Plan And How To Create One

Updated: Jun 12, 2024, 11:45am

Table of Contents

What is a project management plan, 6 parts of a project management plan, before you create a plan, how to create a project management plan in 7 steps, bottom line, frequently asked questions (faqs).

A project management plan offers a blueprint to stakeholders and end-users surrounding the execution of an upcoming project. While it takes time to put it together, the process is worth it. It helps to reduce risks, create buy-in, gather your team’s expertise, align communication and ensure resource availability. This guide outlines what a project management plan is and its benefits, and then offers an easy step-by-step guide on how to create one.

A project management plan is a set of documents that outline the how, when and what-ifs of a project’s execution. It overviews the project’s value proposition, execution steps, resources, communication tools and protocols, risks, stakeholders (and their roles) and the deliverables involved in a project’s completion. Its documents include an executive summary, Gantt and team charts, risk assessment and communication- and resource-management subplans.

What Is a Project Management Plan Used For?

A project management plan serves as a blueprint or roadmap to the ultimate success of your project. It does so by aligning talent, buy-in, manpower, resources, risk management and high-quality communication around your plan. It also ensures everyone knows their responsibilities, which tasks are involved and when deadlines are so the project stays on track for quality on-time completion.

Here is a closer look at project management plan use cases:

• Buy-in . Your plan ensures all stakeholders are on board, so that they’re prepared to be productive.
• Expertise. A plan helps to ensure you have enough people to expertly own the activities needed to complete the project.
• Risk management. Putting together your plan helps you to assess the risks that may come up through the trajectory of project execution and how to prevent or mitigate them.
• Communication and collaboration. Your planning process ensures poor communication does not negatively impact the project’s outcome. It does so by getting everyone on the same page regarding communication tools, schedules, preferences and protocols.
• Milestones. As you plan your project, you ensure your team agrees on the necessary milestones to complete it successfully. Doing so ensures your team is ready to be productive instantly come project initiation and that scope creep does not impact the project negatively.
• Resource management. Through your planning process, you assess the resources needed to complete the project and their availability. Resources may include funds and raw materials, for example. Doing so ensures resource availability and that insufficient resources do not derail or stop the project altogether.

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A project management plan should include an executive summary, timeline or Gantt chart, resource management subplan, risk assessment, communication subplan and team chart. Here is an overview of each of these parts:

• Executive summary. An executive summary provides an overview of the project’s value proposition, the problem it addresses and its resolution, budget breakdown, milestones and deliverables.
• Timeline or Gantt chart. Many project management plans include a Gantt chart that shows both the dates the project begins and ends and all start and end dates for the milestones that lead to the completion of the project. It should also point out any dependent and independent activities.
• Risk assessment. A risk assessment should list all of the potential obstacles that could impact the completion of the project or the quality of its deliverables negatively. It also outlines the triggers that could cause these risks and how the risks can be mitigated or avoided altogether.
• Team chart. The team chart shows all the people who will be involved in completing the project, their roles and their communication preferences.
• Communication subplan. This subplan offers an overview of what tools will be used for communication, the communication assets and schedules that will be used to keep the project progressing and on track, communication protocols stakeholders should follow and team members’ communication preferences.
• Resource management subplan. This subplan should list what resources may be needed to complete the project. Essential resources may include raw materials, digital tools and funding. It should then offer a breakdown of what materials will be needed for each milestone, a way to ensure their availability and ways to track resources throughout project execution.

Before you begin writing your plan, take a few minutes to prepare. Doing so may involve defining what is at stake should the project not go well, identifying the milestones needed for successful completion, selecting key talent to complete your project, selecting and signing up for the tools that will make the plan creation process easy and efficient and defining the end beneficiary of your project. Below is a closer look at each of these preparation steps.

Failure Risk Assessment

Defining what would happen if the project were not completed successfully can guide you later as you motivate your execution team and formulate your plan’s and your project’s value proposition. This perspective tells all stakeholders how important their roles are.

Milestone Identification

One way to ensure you select the proper team members for plan creation and execution is to define the milestones for which they will be responsible. Once you have identified the milestones, you can identify the needed expertise and then the talent that holds that expertise.

Talent Selection

As you write your plan, it is essential to gather expertise from the team members who will execute it. Doing so could mean the success or failure of your project. Identifying these stakeholders now means you can get them involved sooner for higher collective knowledge during the planning process.

Tool selection

When planning your project, you will need to use charts, graphics and reports to record the necessary information. Graphic design tools like Canva and project management software like monday.com or Wrike can help.

Beneficiary or End-user Identification

Nothing can set you up for success in project completion like understanding what the end-user or project beneficiary needs in the final deliverable. Understanding this requires an understanding of that end-user or beneficiary. Take some time to listen to their needs, wants and hopes surrounding your project before beginning to plan a project that will impact and, hopefully, delight them ultimately.

To create a project management plan, first put together a high overview of the basics of your project, including the project’s scope, schedule and budget. Next, build on those basics to write an executive summary. Then, add a project timeline, risk assessment, stakeholder chart, communication plan and resource management plan to your executive summary. Lastly, gather and incorporate stakeholders’ insights to perfect and create buy-in for your plan.

1. Identify Baselines for Your Project

Your project’s baselines should first focus on the project’s scope, then the project’s schedule and, finally, its budget. The result should be a high overview that will inform the rest of your planning process. To complete this step, answer the following questions:

• What is a summary of the project’s deliverables, including the expected features in order of priority?
• What important milestones will help us complete this project?
• What should the project not focus on? (set some scope boundaries)
• When is the project scheduled to begin?
• When should the project be complete?
• How much do we have to spend on this project? If it is a project that needs to be completed for a client, what budget do we have to spend on it while still making a set profit margin?

2. Write an Executive Summary

An executive summary should include a definition of your project, your project’s value proposition, including the problem your project addresses and its solution, milestones and their deliverables, scope limits―and the consequences for changing these limits―goals and financial breakdown. Use the answers to the questions posed in step one to put together your executive summary.

As the face of your project before stakeholders, your executive summary should be visually appealing and succinct. Columns and visuals should break it up to make it easy to read quickly. One great tool for creating an attractive and succinct summary is a Canva executive summary template. You can customize a template to match your brand and add your content, then either download your executive summary or share it in link form.

To begin, sign up for Canva for free, then use the search box titled “What will you design?” for “executive summary” and press “enter.” Click the appropriate template for your purposes and brand, then use the tools on the left-hand side of the enlarged template to customize its colors, text and images. Add pages by clicking the plus sign at the top right-hand corner of the template and proceed to add text and customizations to complete your summary.

3. Plot Your Project’s Timeline

The best way to plot your project’s timeline is with a Gantt chart. A Gantt chart is a visual representation of what activities you plan to begin and complete and when. These activities are usually small chunks or milestones of your completed project. They also formulate the scope of your project, helping to reduce scope creep later on. Gantt charts are often the easiest to use to plot your timeline.

It is important to note expected dependencies on your Gantt chart. A dependency happens when one activity on a timeline must be completed before team members can go on to the next one. For example, a prototype needs to be completed before a focus group analysis of the prototype can take place. Thus, these two activities are dependent. Also note independent activities that can be completed even as other activities are underway, thereby saving time.

Pro tip: An easy way to note dependencies and independent activities is via color-coding. Arrows drawn on your Gantt chart can also help to pinpoint dependencies.

While Canva does offer Gantt charts to plot your project’s timeline, there are also platforms that specialize in producing Gantt chart software . Not only can this software help you put together your Gantt chart, but it can then help you stay on track with its timeline and avoid scope creep once your project begins via task descriptions and automations. If paying for such a service isn’t in your project’s budget, you can also create a Gantt chart in Excel or Google Sheets.

Gantt chart from monday.com

4. Define Stakeholder Roles

With your project activities recorded on your timeline, define who will be responsible for each activity. Your plan serves as a guiding star to all stakeholders involved in your project, so it’s best to record responsible parties in an intuitive chart. Create a project team chart to show who will be involved in completing the project and for which activities each is responsible. For collaboration ease, also note who each person is accountable to and their contact information.

Canva offers organizational or team chart templates you can use to customize for the needs of your project. Search “organizational chart” using the search bar in your Canva account. Click the chart that best suits your project and brand needs. Then, use the design menu to upload pictures of your team members, customize colors and replace template text to offer the data your stakeholders need for easy collaboration during the life of your project.

An example of a Canva organizational chart template to be adapted to create a project team chart.

5. Perform a Risk Assessment

Your risk assessment should begin with a list of obstacles that could impact your team’s ability to complete the project on time negatively at all and with the desired quality. It should then create a plan for each risk by addressing what might trigger the risk, steps that lend to risk prevention and how to mitigate a risk should it happen. Finally, it should assign stakeholders to manage risk triggers, prevention and mitigation. Some teams use a SWOT analysis to help identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in this stage.

To dive into each risk, answer the following questions:

• What could happen that would negatively impact the project?
• At what point in the project timeline is this risk most likely to happen?
• How likely is the risk to happen?
• What events or factors would trigger this risk?
• What steps can be taken to reduce the chances of this risk taking place? How can we avoid this trigger or these triggers?
• What would be the expected outcome should the risk happen anyway?
• How could we mitigate a negative outcome should the risk take place?
• Who would be the best person to manage each risk’s triggers, prevention or mitigation?

As you assigned responsible parties for each project activity, you likely selected people who had expertise in the areas in which their assigned activities fall. For example, if you assigned the graphic design of a marketing project to a team member, that person is likely a graphic designer. Their expertise is invaluable in assessing graphic design risks and their prevention and mitigation steps. Lean on your team for this expertise, and then implement their suggestions.

6. Create Key Subplans

Two key subplans you should include in your project management plan are a resource and communications management plan. Your resource sub plan should list what resources are needed to complete your project and their availability. Your communications plan should include how your team will communicate one-on-one and team-wide.

Resource Management Plan

A resource subplan can be completed in project management software. You can create columns for estimated expenses and other needed resources broken down by milestones, such as raw products and talent. Other customizable resource reports are available within the software and automatically kept up to date. Wrike, for example, offers customizable reports where you can track resource availability and export reports to include in your plan.

An example of Wrike’s customizable resource reports

Communications Management Plan

While it may seem inconsequential compared to your risk assessment and resource plan, poor communication is the primary reason most projects experience scope gaps and project failure, according to a PMI study . Poor communication can, therefore, derail all your other planning efforts.

As such, your communications management plan should be detailed and address what, when and how information will be shared during your project. Details should focus on what needs to be communicated and at what intervals during the project execution, stakeholders’ communication preferences, a communication schedule for virtual meetings or phone calls that occur at planned intervals, who will review tasks, to whom task completions should be reported and what platforms or tools should be used for communication purposes.

Pro tip: For best results, look at the communication tools available in your project management software. Alternatively, consider what communication-tool integrations it offers. For example, most project management software offer integrations with Slack. Using available tools within your software will allow ease of collaboration and the communication visibility your team needs to stay on the same page and on track.

7. Gather and Incorporate Feedback From Stakeholders

The team you have chosen to own the activities on your project timeline are uniquely capable of doing so. As such, they are likely to have recommendations you might not think about to make your project more successful. Moreover, if their insights are incorporated into the plan, they are more likely to enthusiastically follow it. So, get your team together and go over the details of your plan. Learn from them and incorporate their insights.

In addition, present your plan to the end-user or client for whom you are executing the project. Make sure they agree to the project scope and its deliverables. Make their preferred changes now so you don’t have to make them later. Discuss what will happen if they change their minds later―extra fees, for example―so that scope creep does not impact your project’s successful execution, on-time completion or quality final deliverable negatively.

Creating a project management plan is the first critical step to ensuring a quality project execution and completion. Without it, you risk project derailment, a blown budget, an unrealized value proposition and a potentially frustrated end-user. With it, you enjoy buy-in, resource availability, budget adherence, a quality and expertly-driven final deliverable and a delighted end-user. We hope this guide sets you on a trajectory to enjoy all of these benefits.

What are the six parts of a project management plan?

At minimum, a project management plan includes an executive summary, timeline or Gantt chart , stakeholder or team chart, risk assessment, communications subplan and resource subplan.

How do I write a project management plan?

To write a project management plan, begin by identifying your project baselines, then write an executive summary, create your timeline and team charts, perform and write a risk assessment and write your communications and resource subplans. Finally, present your plan to all involved stakeholders to gather and incorporate their insights, suggestions and feedback, and then finalize agreement around your plan.

What is the main purpose of a project management plan?

A project management plan lays out the details and steps necessary to reduce confusion, create confidence and prevent obstacles and risks during project execution. It does so by providing a clear outline and value proposition of the project, assigning essential roles, outlining milestones and the final deliverable, identifying and taking steps to prevent risks, ensuring clear communication guidelines and ensuring the availability of essential resources.

What is project management methodology?

A project management methodology is a set of principles, values and processes that determine how a team will complete a project. It dictates factors such as the methods of communication within and outside of the project team—as well as the level of planning, design and documentation—timelines and modes of assessment.

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With over a decade of experience as a small business technology consultant, Alana breaks down technical concepts to help small businesses take advantage of the tools available to them to create internal efficiencies and compete in their markets. Her work has been featured by business brands such as Adobe, WorkFusion, AT&T, SEMRush, Fit Small Business, USA Today Blueprint, Content Marketing Institute, Towards Data Science and Business2Community.

Cassie is a deputy editor collaborating with teams around the world while living in the beautiful hills of Kentucky. Focusing on bringing growth to small businesses, she is passionate about economic development and has held positions on the boards of directors of two non-profit organizations seeking to revitalize her former railroad town. Prior to joining the team at Forbes Advisor, Cassie was a content operations manager and copywriting manager.