We all have challenges and difficulties when it comes to time management. We try to complete everything and leave some time to enjoy ourselves without working. We often see people who just seem to do it all on time. They submit everything well before the deadlines, and they are always ready to respond to inquiries. But how do they do this? Well, there are several ways you can implement to become more efficient in your time management. You can use different methods that will definitely make you more productive, and you will not need a lot of hours and overtime to do that.
Use of Written Communication
Nowadays, it might seem that we all rely on written communication. However, this is far from true. There are still businesses and companies who call you for business proposals which are, many times, very ineffective. Several reasons make phone communication very inconvenient. Firstly, you have to find a convenient environment (far from noise and people). Secondly, you will not have enough time to think about what you are talking about. So, say you are hearing about a business proposal, and you will not have the right amount of time to decide about it.
Thirdly, you do not have everything in written form, so it might lose some of your time calling the customer/partner back to ask about specific issues. In writing, you will have everything in one email, and you can always go back to it. Also, you are going to save a lot of your time and be more effective with your time management. Finally, when you get something in an email, you can multitask while reading the email, which cannot be done if you are on a phone call.
Being Available
Most of the time, being available is synonymous with working all the time for people. However, this is not true. The key to being productive at work and be efficient in your time management is not working all the time. It is rather to be available for any questions/parts of the project throughout the day. This means that it is much easier to deal with some issue as soon as you get it than to let things pile up for you and deal with all of them in another day.
Some people do not check their emails throughout the whole weekend. Well, think about it. If you checked it, you could have issues that could be solved in 20 minutes, and you would have less work to do when you go back to work. So, taking 20-30 minutes to solve issues immediately will go a long way for your time management issues.
Outsourcing
Lots of people try to do everything by themselves because they feel like they will do the job most effectively. However, time management can be effective only by outsourcing jobs and not doing everything by yourself. For example, if you find different people within your company and business, you can divide the job based on their qualifications. This will raise productivity and make your time management more efficient.
This does not mean that you have to outsource everything. You have to take to keep the most important part of your operations. So, the decision-making process and strategic planning must be still in your hands. If you feel like you are not good at these, you can outsource these too. Basically, it is all about effective job division, which can lead to huge results.
Increase Personal Branding
This means that you have to use the time to increase your popularity. If you will be known in your field to many businesses and people, they will contact you, and you will not have to sell your work. It is much easier to deal with your current clients, carry out exceptional services and this will lead to a positive branding of your name. This will help you get more customers, and they will contact you first.
If you decide to go after the big clients, you will lose a lot of time. This is because they rarely respond to requests and messages. You could save that time and spend it more effectively with clients with who you are actually working.
Final Thoughts
The saying ‘time is money’ still holds. Managing your time is the most important aspect of your job. The way you spend it will determine your results. Effective time management does not mean that you have to work non-stop or a lot of hours. You can be productive and time-efficient working a few hours a week by being available and using efficient methods.