Do you have time to handle all the projects that you have?
Not mentioning the documentation tasks that are waiting for you?
Or are you having trouble finding time to get things done?
Most of us, if not all, struggle in this area. So, to help manage your time more efficiently, here are some simple rules.
1. Drucker’s Declaration
“Do the first things first, and second things not at all.”
Note the “first things first”.
At the end of the day, write down a list of the most important things, maximum of six, that you need to do for the next day and prioritise them by importance. With the most important as number 1 and so on.
On the next day, you take care of the FIRST THING FIRST. Once done, cross the task off the list and then move on to the next one, which will now become the “first thing”. If you have an unfinished task, roll it over to the next day.
The Drucker’s Declaration helps you to not get overwhelmed with tasks, and focus more on what you’re doing. This will also help you to not jump over to minor issues during the day, since you have already decided which tasks are more important.
2. Pareto’s Principle
“80% of the outcomes result from 20% of the causes.”
For example, if 20% of the issues at work causes 80% of the delays, then it’s better to focus on those 20% and get that 80% of things done than focus on 80% of the problem that will only give you 20% of the benefit.
Wasting 80% of your time on meaningless things is the main cause of time management problems. You have too many things that distract you and hold you back from really doing what needs to be done.
Think of your time as money. Imagine that you’re physically holding that money and the unimportant thing you wanted to do, which one would you prefer to hold onto? Budget your time as if you’re budgeting money. What are you spending it on now? Where do you want to spend it? Can it be delegated?
Whether it’s a positive outcome or a negative, 20% of what you do gives you 80% result. And 80% of your work will only reap you 20% of the benefit. So, which one would you want more?
3. Parkinson’s Law
“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”
If you’re into cramming, then this law is for you. Parkinson’s Law came from not following the Pareto and Drucker rules.
It’s almost similar to the Law of Demand which is “the lower the price of a commodity, the greater the quantity demanded.” So the more time you procrastinate, the less time you’ll have to do actual work, and vice versa.
It cannot be helped that there will be times where you just don’t want to do anything until the deadline is almost near. You know it yourself that you want to improve and get those things done quickly, but “maybe later, I have until next week to do it”.
So what to do?
Give yourself shorter deadlines, don’t wait. If you’re used to working under pressure, then go ahead and pressure yourself.
And since you feel you have a tighter deadline, and you know you can’t do everything in time, alone… then go and ask for help.
Yes, delegate tasks if you can. Don’t be afraid to do so. Realize that some people in your team might do things better than you do, that’s why you hired them in the first place.
4. Campbell’s Commandment
“Done is better than perfect.”
“Perfect” is a very satisfying word for some people. It gives them euphoria to do something perfectly. However, how long would it usually take to do something perfect?
Pretty long, I would say.
I know this because I used to have this problem pretty bad. I wanted everything perfect.
However, it causes frustration and a lot of wasted time to do things over and over again until they are “perfect”.
But progress is better than perfection.
Progress might be just small steps, but it will definitely give you what you want to achieve.
Sometimes, good enough IS good enough.. There are a lot of times where we can make decisions without deliberating it more. This saves you time from having too many meetings on every little issue that comes your way, just to ensure perfection.
Do your best with your task, finish it and then let it go until such time that you have you have a better method of improving it. It doesn’t mean that you should do things “half-baked” though, especially when it comes to customer satisfaction. Make a draft, set it in action, then improve on that draft as you go.
Go and choose a rule that works for you, or you can combine them. The important thing is to get things done. Otherwise, you’ll go nowhere and keep on regretting the time you’ve wasted.
