7 Simple Ways to Improve Your Time Management Skills
Learning how to manage your time effectively is the key to success, especially in the events industry. Time management is something that everyone should master in both their professional and person life. It’s the process of planning and balancing your responsibilities and tasks. By prioritizing you are ensuring that all of your highly important responsibilities will get done first, and in a timely manner. Below are some tips and tricks that are sure to make you a time management expert!
1. Prioritize: People that are able to distinguish between highly important tasks and tasks that can be done later are shown to be some of the most successful. Make a list of what tasks you have to get done and then number them by how important they are. By seeing what you have to get done and ordering what’s important and what isn’t, you are already ahead of the game and that much closer to a successful, stress-free week!
2. Create To-Do Lists: Once you prioritize your tasks, make a list of what needs to be done this week, next week, and so on. Try writing things down in your calendar or set reminders for yourself. By doing this, you will be sure to get everything done in time. Again, make sure that these tasks are all based on importance.
3. Ask for Help: If you have tasks that you can get assistance with, don’t be afraid to do so. Allowing others to help you can be hard, especially if you’re a perfectionist like me, but sometimes it’s necessary. Delegating tasks to others and asking for help does not show weakness, it shows that you’re using your resources to your full advantage.
4. Avoid Multi-tasking: Although it seems that multi-tasking allows you to get more things done in less time, it doesn’t. Multi-tasking takes your attention and focus away from the task at hand. Stay focused on one task and get it done to the best of your ability. By doing this you’ll begin to see that tasks will get done quicker and flow with ease.
5. Don’t Be Afraid to Say “No”: Many people have a problem with saying “no”; I’m guilty of this and have quickly realized that saying “no” is OK. Over-committing yourself to things will make you stressed and take your focus away from the more important tasks at hand. If it’s not in your priorities/doesn’t help you achieve your goals, don’t be afraid to say “no”.
6. Deadlines are Crucial: Make sure that you set deadlines for the tasks that you have. This will give you the boost that you need to get things done in a timely manner. Knowing when everything needs to be done will give you the push that you need to stay focused and get the job done.
7. Take Breaks! When you’re focusing intently on something it’s important to walk away from it for a bit and rejuvenate yourself. Don’t take this as an opportunity to start another task, take this as an opportunity to relax and give yourself a little time to clear your mind. When you’re ready, come back to your work and crank out what you have left with motivation and focus!