Effective time management can not only help one be more productive at work, but can also help one strike the right balance between personal commitments and family time. Discipline and cultivating the ability to prioritise work is key, finds Anumeha Chaturvedi.
1 Prioritise Work A day usually comes with unexpected curveballs that may not be that significant but eat up a majority of your time, says Rishi Bhatnagar, director — staffing at Sapient Global Markets. It is important to prioritise tasks in spite of those additional activities and to avoid getting distracted by unnecessary email conversations. “Focus on your to-dos,” he says.
2 Alter Off-Work Habits Subtle lifestyle changes like hitting bed early, a change in diet plans, exercising or meditation can help one focus better and can make one better at managing time for work as well as family, feels Anant Krishnan, a marketing manager.
3 Plan Milestones, not Tasks Professionals should not think of work as a bunch of daily tasks or activities but as an initiative with a logical start and finish line with certain milestones, says Bhatnagar. “This way you will not have tick marked a list of tasks at the end of the day without working towards that milestone,” he says.
4 Make Time for Important Tasks Elizabeth Grace Saunders, author of ‘The 3 Secrets to Effective Time Investment: How to Achieve More Success With Less Stress’, suggests allocating specific hours to certain tasks. One can then accordingly take out time from the less important activities if the important tasks take longer than expected.
5 Review and Reorder Reviewing and taking stock of the week gone by can help one correct one’s schedules or possible lapses. “Make time to review your day, week or month to assess whether or not something needs to change in order to be more effective,” says Bhatnagar.
(The Economic Times, Mumbai, 31-12-2013)
1 Prioritise Work A day usually comes with unexpected curveballs that may not be that significant but eat up a majority of your time, says Rishi Bhatnagar, director — staffing at Sapient Global Markets. It is important to prioritise tasks in spite of those additional activities and to avoid getting distracted by unnecessary email conversations. “Focus on your to-dos,” he says.
2 Alter Off-Work Habits Subtle lifestyle changes like hitting bed early, a change in diet plans, exercising or meditation can help one focus better and can make one better at managing time for work as well as family, feels Anant Krishnan, a marketing manager.
3 Plan Milestones, not Tasks Professionals should not think of work as a bunch of daily tasks or activities but as an initiative with a logical start and finish line with certain milestones, says Bhatnagar. “This way you will not have tick marked a list of tasks at the end of the day without working towards that milestone,” he says.
4 Make Time for Important Tasks Elizabeth Grace Saunders, author of ‘The 3 Secrets to Effective Time Investment: How to Achieve More Success With Less Stress’, suggests allocating specific hours to certain tasks. One can then accordingly take out time from the less important activities if the important tasks take longer than expected.
5 Review and Reorder Reviewing and taking stock of the week gone by can help one correct one’s schedules or possible lapses. “Make time to review your day, week or month to assess whether or not something needs to change in order to be more effective,” says Bhatnagar.
(The Economic Times, Mumbai, 31-12-2013)
