The keys to planning and effective time management

It’s very common to hear phrases like “I don’t have enough time”, “I wish there were more hours in the day”, “the morning just flew by”, “I’m cutting it close with this deadline”… And I could go on until I’d filled a whole manual with phrases about today’s topic: time management.

Without a doubt, this is a topic that interests many of us, whether we are entrepreneurs, have our own company or work for others.

“Effective time management at work helps us organize our day-to-day so we complete planned tasks, meet deadlines and considerably increase productivity.”

Next, we will see what time management really consists of, how we can plan efficiently by establishing priorities and the tools you could use to help you achieve it.

We’ll walk you through it all here at Mailrelay.

Time management at work and for companies

One of the most limited and valuable resources for a company is time. It shapes the activities carried out, the strategy, production, achievements and revenue (among other things).

“Time management is the great ally of productivity and, therefore, of the profitability of any business or company.”

Therefore, investing in time management and priority management is a smart decision, to say the least. Some of its most relevant advantages are:

● Achieve goals in less time. When time is managed properly, goals are framed within a previously defined timeframe. This keeps them from dragging on and being postponed indefinitely.

● Reduce stress in the workplace. Working against the clock causes many stressful situations. Business owners, entrepreneurs and employees alike know what it means to miss a deadline agreed with a client. Either way, failing to plan your time and set priorities ends up causing stress and discomfort.

● Build self-confidence. One of the most noticeable benefits in our day-to-day is the confidence we gain in ourselves. Seeing that we get through all our tasks and meet our deadlines gives us a boost of energy that turns into confidence and self-assurance.

● Enjoy work every day. As a result, starting a new workday each morning becomes more pleasant. Going to work with a smile is possible.

● Enjoy each project or task more. Has it ever happened to you that you started working on a project you loved, but poor time planning made you end up hating it? Time management helps us enjoy all of it more.

● Build highly productive teams. Working faster without compromising the quality of the results is many people’s dream. Time management is key to achieving this, making our workdays more effective.

● Make conscious decisions. Being aware of the time each activity or phase of a project needs leads us to make responsible decisions. This means organizing our work better so we don’t lose effectiveness. On the other hand, once we have removed the stress caused by a lack of time from the equation, we are in a better position to make decisions.

● Avoid procrastination. Finally, planning your time properly and setting priorities makes procrastination disappear. If every activity has time allotted to it, it will be impossible not to deliver on what was agreed.

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Time management and priority management

A lack of time often leads us to put off certain tasks, activities or projects until “tomorrow”. The problem comes when that “tomorrow” turns into “3 years later”.

In this respect, time management and priority management play a key role. Thanks to them, you’ll be able to stop procrastinating and turn a project, a personal dream or a goal you’ve set for your business into reality.

Keys to planning your time by setting priorities

Setting priorities is one of the best ways to avoid forgetting a task, putting it off and reaching the deadline having barely worked on it.

However, it is not always easy to set clear priorities and stick to them. You’ve probably already tried it and seen that time management takes dedication and, above all, a lot of willpower.

After all, there’s no point in setting priorities if we then skip them. With that in mind, I want to share 4 keys that help me organize my day-to-day, planning my time better by setting priorities.

Make a commitment

When I speak of commitment, I am not simply referring to publicly commenting on our intention to apply a specific plan to better manage time (within a company or in our own work). The commitment I mean goes further…

“It’s about making a commitment to ourselves. Letting down a family member or friend hurts, but it hurts even more when the person you let down is yourself.”

When you have goals, it is essential to set up a time management plan, but also to commit to sticking to it 100%. This is what then translates into a high level of satisfaction.

Define habits for each task

When facing day-to-day tasks, it is essential to cultivate habits or methods that help you execute them in order of priority and without procrastinating on any of them. For example, I usually prioritize them in this order:

1.- Tasks that are urgent for customers. This includes all the tasks whose deadlines are hot on our heels. Some might call this “putting out fires,” but I personally can focus on new goals better when my current customers are happy.

2.- Tasks that are under control and can be solved quickly. The ones we can cross off the list with minimal effort. As with deadlines, checking off tasks that were half done or almost under control gives a satisfaction that drives you to keep going.

3.- Tasks that require more time commitment. My recommendation is to leave these for last, as they are more cumbersome and will inevitably require new habits to improve productivity, such as taking mental breaks to keep the flow going, keeping up to date with continuous and/or occasional training, or setting up team dynamics to delegate.

Design a realistic plan

By realistic, I mean a plan you can actually stick to, given the time available and the effort each task requires. At this stage, we may overestimate our time when planning.

In other words, it is very common to plan a day thinking that we are going to be able to complete 5 tasks, but in the end we only finish 3.

This doesn’t mean we aren’t productive; it may simply be that the plan wasn’t right. That’s why you need to measure times and really take into account how long each task in the plan takes.

Invest in tools

Finally, another major key to proper time management is using tools specially designed to help us prioritize and plan.

There are tools for everything: organizing your time, projects, tasks or teams, sorting out ideas, calculating hours spent… In short, they are the solution that lets us take control (as far as possible).

Try the Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique, created by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s, splits work into 25-minute blocks of focus, called “pomodoros”, separated by 5-minute breaks. After four blocks, you take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes. It helps you avoid distractions and find out how long each task really takes you.

Time management tools

As I just mentioned, there are very useful tools for managing your time, organizing your day-to-day, planning projects or setting priorities.

They help us save time, be more productive, better organize our daily lives and stop procrastinating. Once you integrate them into your day-to-day, you’ll notice the difference. What’s more, you’ll probably find it hard to go back to working without them.

Let’s see those tools!

Google Calendar

Google has tools for everything, so it couldn’t be missing from this list. As its name suggests, this solution is based on a digital calendar with multiple features:

● Organize meetings and events.

● Invite other users to these meetings.

● Generate the video call link right then and there.

● Block time slots for certain tasks.

● Share calendars with the team.

Trello

It is one of the simplest time management tools, but it is extremely useful. It allows you to organize tasks in order of priority, classify them by projects, set alarms to notify you of upcoming deadlines and work collaboratively with other people, assigning them tasks.

It gives you a broad view of the project. At a glance, we can see which tasks have been completed, which are in progress and which are still pending.

Toggl

If what you need is to understand how much time each task or project requires, in order to later calculate its profitability or use this data to better plan time by establishing priorities, you should check this tool.

You will have to open a project and create the tasks you want to measure. Every time you’re about to start one of them, you’ll need to open the tool and start the timer. When you finish, do the same to stop it.

Basecamp

As soon as you access this tool, you will see a dashboard where all your projects will be organized. Within each project, you will find a list of tasks. And for each task, you can include a description, deadlines and the people involved.

It is a very good solution for companies with large teams. In the calendar view, you can check what phase of the project you are in and all the unfinished tasks. In addition, it facilitates communication between all the company’s workers through its bulletin boards.

Teamwork

This one is similar to the previous one, but it stands out for helping you keep track of expenses for each project.

In other words, in addition to having a complete vision of how the project is going and what phase it is in, it is possible to control the associated costs. It is a great ally of productivity, but also of profitability in companies.

Hootsuite

When it comes to time management, we’re also interested in tools that help us improve our productivity. That is, completing more tasks in less time, and Hootsuite helps us save time managing social media.

If you have a company or business, it’s probably something you’re already doing. With tools like this, you will be able to schedule and track your posts very easily.

Mailrelay

In line with the above, Mailrelay is also a tool that helps us save time. With it, we can schedule our bulk email sends, automate campaigns and view metrics easily.

Also, with its visual editor, we can create professional emails without spending time designing them through tedious HTML code.

Asana

It could be said that this application is similar to several of the previous ones such as Basecamp or Teamwork, but it has a particularity that makes it stand out and it is related to time management and priorities.

It includes a feature that allows you to easily prioritize tasks to improve productivity and efficiency at work. The perfect tool for working with teams!

Monday

Once again, this is a tool designed to improve team productivity and time management in companies. Its features include setting due dates and assigning tasks to other members.

It is also possible to access an overview of the status of tasks and projects from its main panel. We can also see what tasks are pending for the next few days.

Holded

Finally, I want to tell you about a tool that saves a lot of time, especially for those people on the team who work in the administrative department.

With Holded you can create invoices, reconcile bank accounts, track expenses and payments, keep records and handle other tasks in just a few clicks. That is, tasks that are normally done manually and that require a lot of time, can be easily executed with this application.

*My advice: Choose the tools that truly save you time, help you be more productive and help you prioritize tasks. Skip the ones that are complex, confusing or require an excessive learning curve.

To conclude… some examples of time management

In order to give you examples of time management, we need to think about the day-to-day of a specific business. For example:

● A web development company. In this case, it would be essential to have a process broken down into stages and, within each stage, to break down the tasks to be carried out. Some of the tools that can work best here are Asana, Basecamp, Teamwork or Monday.

● A freelancer or independent professional. In their day-to-day, apps like Trello, Toggl and Google Calendar may suit them better. With Trello they can organize the projects they’re involved in, with Toggl keep track of the time each task takes, and with Google Calendar organize their day-to-day in time blocks.

As you can see, we could give many examples of time management. What I advise you is to review your particular case and, thus, choose those solutions that best suit your goals and daily needs.

If you own a company or small business, I definitely recommend working with tools like those already mentioned. Your staff will be better organized, they will know what their priorities are and they will feel more comfortable in their role.

The benefits are sure to follow soon! Remember that time management is the path to those long-awaited results. Or hadn’t you thought of it that way?

Organizing your tasks on a Kanban board is one of the most visual ways to apply these tips.