Time is something you can’t ever get back…or can you? Although we might not be able to change the past and how we managed our time yesterday, last week, or last year, it is absolutely something we can manage better now and in the future. And if take proactive steps to manage your time better, you ARE in effect changing your future (past).
Some workaholics work so many hours because they legitimately have so much work only they can do and they just don’t have enough hours in the day to complete them. From my experience however, this is a bunch of BS. If I’m the only person in the world who can do something, I guarantee you I’m just not trying hard enough to get help. Building a team and delegating effectively are essentials to growing as a business leader.
But this post is simply about applying some basic techniques that can help you get some valuable time back. If you are a workaholic or recovering workaholic, and getting the most from your work hours is important to you, then try these three simple time management hacks to improve your productivity.
Time Management Tip Number 1: Block or Ignore Social Media During the Work Day
If you have the willpower, you can just decide to not look at social media except at breaks, lunchtime, or at the end of the day. Or better yet, you can use a simple technique to block notifications from social media, by simply putting your phone or computer in airplane mode or turning off wife/cellular connections when you need to focus and get more work done.
Time Management Tip Number 2: Turn OFF all notifications on your phone or computer
Instead of peaking or responding to every ding, ping, blip, your phone makes, just turn off those notifications. Add something to your calendar that you can feel in control of. Add a calendar entry at 11:45am that says “check social media”. And give yourself 15 minutes to engage and then put it away for the rest of the day. That way, you are empowering yourself to check social media on your own time…not when other people want you to check it.
Time Management Tip Number 3: Get an Accountability Partner
Sometimes, we just need someone to help us. We could all benefit from having someone to checkin from time to time and ask how we are doing at managing our time better. YOU could benefit from knowing someone is going to be asking you some hard questions and expecting honesty in return…”How many times did you check Facebook today?” “How many hours did you work today because you spent 2 hours throughout the day numbing out online?”
Let US help you by being your accountability partner. We can provide many more tips and suggestions and most importantly, we can checkin and help keep you honest about using your working hours productively.