Whether you’re entering the workforce, taking on added responsibilities due to a change in title, or moving up in the military, it is common to initially experience challenges with time management and organization skills. To be productive as possible in the workplace, it is vital to build effective time management and organization skills.
Improving Time Management Skills
Improving your time management skills is essential; it enables you to meet deadlines and reduces the stress of falling behind. There are several good techniques to develop better time management skills.
One way is to use technology as much as possible. Using the calendar features on Outlook and smartphones is a good way to organize your daily tasks in a timely, logical manner.
Blocking out distractions is equally important. Often, we don’t realize how much time we spend surfing websites or social media platforms.
One strategy that I have found to be helpful was to create an hourly time log of my workday. I listed the activities and tasks that I completed on a normal workday and wrote out how much time I spent on each activity.
From there, I saw what activities were unnecessarily taking up my time and eliminated them from my daily activities. That strategy provided me with more time to focus on more important tasks.
I have also found it helpful to create a checklist of daily tasks to complete. Once I have my list, I prioritize the list using a letter and numbering system. For example, the most important task is labeled A1. The next most important tasks are labeled A2, A3, B1, B2, B3, C1 and so on.
I begin my workday with the A1 task and gradually work my way through the list, so that the most important tasks are completed first. Reviewing the checklist enables me to see my progress through the day and if changes are needed to my routine to ensure that I get all of my tasks completed. For example, if it is lunchtime and I am only on the A2 task, I consider working through lunch.
As a supervisor, I have also found that delegating tasks to subordinates and empowering them to make decisions is helpful in time management. Working well as a team and building collaboration in the workplace is also useful. If everyone has buy-in for getting daily tasks done, there is more likely to be cohesiveness in the workplace and a higher level of productivity.
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Building More Effective Organizational Skills
Organizational skills are equally important for workers to develop because many jobs have multiple responsibilities, and technology can be a useful aid. Technology enables users to not only compartmentalize tasks in easy-to-access electronic folders, but it can also be used to organize online meetings with coworkers and supervisors. For instance, software such as Skype, Zoom and Microsoft Teams can all be used to organize meetings.
I have to admit that I was a skeptic of Microsoft Teams at first. However, I have found that this software is a very helpful tool in both time management and organization.
For example, different teams and folders can be set up within Microsoft Teams according to Solutions2Share, and an organization’s documents and files can be organized by project or team. This format can be helpful when employees manage multiple projects or responsibilities; they can keep files separated and labeled according to their priorities and objectives.
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Time Management and Organizational Skills Must Be Developed over Time
Time management and organizational skills are typically strengthened over time. They are essential to fostering productivity and reducing stress, so developing these useful skills is a must for everyone in the workplace.
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