5 Tips for Better Time Management

When you spend your life in the business world, you come across a lot of different articles about how to effectively manage your time. Many of these tips are pretty similar (be flexible, budget your day ahead of time, etc.), but I’ve come across a few tips over the years that work well for me and really make a difference.

Here are some of my favorite tips for Better! time management:

Avoid your smartphone for note taking if possible. Carrying around a pen and paper may seem old fashioned, but it has a several benefits. For one, it’s clunkier than having a smartphone in your pocket, which makes it difficult to ignore. For another, it doesn’t have apps and web browsing capabilities to distract you during brainstorming or note-taking sessions. Smart phones and tablets can be ‘distraction boxes’. Plain white paper and a pen can focus the mind.

Plan out your entire day, not just your to-do list for work. When you create your to-do list, include everything you have to do for that day that takes up time, including eating meals, showering, exercising, personal phone calls, etc. If you want to more effectively manage your time, you can’t just focus on your business life; you have to consider everything in your life that takes time.

Stop checking your email so often. The more often you check your email throughout the day, the more it’ll distract you from more important tasks. Rather than compulsively checking your email every few minutes, schedule points throughout the day during which you can check your emails and respond to them. Most messages can wait longer than a few minutes before they require your attention.

Keep a clean workspace. If you’re like me, you’ll work much better in a clean, orderly space. I like to keep only one task at a time on my desk. The rest are organized nearby but out of my line of sight while I work. I know where everything is, and the other piles don’t distract me from my work.

Prioritize your tasks. As you make your to-do list and determine how much time each task will take, make sure that you rank these tasks in order of importance. You should take care of the highest priority tasks first before moving on to those farther down your list. Common sense, but not usually common practice.

My goal is always Better! Sustainably Better! practices and habits. Why not examine your own time management and make minor Better! choices like the ones outlined here right this minute.

John J. Hall, CPA

John J. Hall, CPA, is an author, speaker and results expert who presents around the world at conventions, corporate meetings and association events.

Throughout his 35-year career as a business consultant, corporate executive and professional speaker, John has helped organizations and individuals achieve measurable results. He inspires audience members in corporations, not-for-profit organizations and professional associations to step up, take action and “do what you can.”