Don’t Make These 3 Time Management Mistakes!

Time is a limited resource, and you’re probably reading this post because you juggle multiple responsibilities and want to manage that resource wisely. Sometimes making innocent time management mistakes is the difference between working overtime (again) and making it home for dinner with your family. Time management is important to our overall well-being. Be careful not to make any of these common mistakes.

Mistake #1: Not Controlling Your Focus

Smartphones, Internet browsing, gossip, social media, and even email – these distractions eat up our time before we even realize how much time has passed. Distractions destroy productivity. Keep in mind that while you are procrastinating by giving into these distractions, you are preventing yourself from getting more important things done.

How to be more focused:

• Identify your two most important tasks when you get to work. Write them down, and be tenacious about avoiding distractions until they are done. (I do this one, and it’s great for me.)
• Work in blocks. Some find it easier to work in 60 or 90-minute blocks because fatigue is one of the major factors in losing focus. Reward yourself with a few minutes to check social media, take a walk or have a snack when your block time ends.
• Schedule the distractions. Some find success in scheduling time to answer emails a few times a day instead of every time an email lands in their inbox. Others use features on their phones to shut off all notifications, and only check their phones at lunch or on breaks.

Mistake #2: Not Delegating Tasks

Some people think that to do something right, they have to do it themselves. But if you try to do everything by yourself, you’re going to feel overworked. When you have too much work to do, you are going to feel stressed out.

When you give people a chance to help you, they may surprise you. It might cost you a little training, procedures, and guidance initially, but the reward of not having that pesky task on your back anymore is worth it.

There may be someone who is willing to take some of your nonessential tasks off your back to build their own skills. Think about what type of tasks are stealing your time that is not adding value to the work you do that has more impact on the company, and learn to delegate tasks.

Mistake #3: Not Reassessing your Workload from Time to Time

A funny thing happens over the span of a person’s career, business needs change. New tasks get added to your workday, some tasks continue to be performed out of habit even though someone else may be (or should be) covering them.

If you are not reassessing your workload from time to time, you are missing an opportunity to really question whether the tasks you are performing every day are still relevant to business needs. Moreover, you may have slowly taken on new tasks without realizing just how much weight you were accepting. It might be time to delegate or ask your supervisor to reassign some things.

Time management is just a matter of improving your skills. And the more you learn, the better your time management will be. The bonus is having more time to spend on the things you really enjoy!

Avoid Time Management Mistakes by Learning a System to Solve Problems at your Facility

TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis is a system that professionals around the world follow with ease to fix problems in the workplace. A systematic way of looking at problems is time-saving because you follow a process to the solution. A great place to start is our 2-Day TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis Course. Learn how the TapRooT® System will help you save time and money and create a safer, more productive workplace for all.