Time flies, not just for you and me but also for other people. We decide at night to complete a project on time and meet a specific deadline, but we can't. Some projects are delayed due to procrastination, while others are piling up as we didn't complete the first one.

It's the story of many people in the office. So, it would be best if you learned how to do effective time management at the workplace. Without proficiently managing your time, you won't be able to stay productive. Remember, if you don't show a good image at the workplace and keep pending the task, promotional news won't knock at your door. 

Why is Time Management Important?

Every employee needs to manage time at work. Here are some factors that make time management at the workplace quite important. 

No Stress/Tension: You can't leave office work pending for a long time. If you do so, then ultimately, you experience stress and hypertension. Both aspects affect your quality of life and sleep. People face health issues as they are overwhelmed by uncompleted or time-sensitive projects.

Promotional Aspect: The manager keeps an eye on employees. If you don't submit a project on time or miss a vital project deadline, it's regarded as unprofessionalism. If you want to get a promotion on the job, you must showcase a professional image.

Understand: Why is workplace Safety Important?

Balanced Life: If you don't ultimately work in the office, you will have to do it at home. Your personal life will suffer, and you might not get time to vent and relax. You need to focus on time management to live a balanced life. Remember, you aren't a machine that needs to work all the time. You are a human being who needs a social life, interactions, parties, and relaxation.

Less Procrastination: Many of us keep delaying a project until its final date arrives. This kind of procrastination makes us less productive and holds us back in our career development process. If you want to do something about your career growth, you will have to focus on time management at the workplace. When you have a schedule to follow, you complete everything before you feel anxiety or stress. Procrastination elimination from your life helps you grow personally and professionally.

Know: How Procrastination is holding you back in your Career?

You should know that celebrities and leaders have a routine. Their assistants keep track of time and do anything to stay productive by effective time management. So, it can lead to ultimate success either in personal or professional life if you follow the same route.
 

How to Do Effective Time Management at Workplace

Here are some tips you need to follow.

Perform Routine Audit 

The first thing to keep everything to understand is the main reason for ineffective time management. Take a bird's eye view of your whole day at home and in the office so you would be able to pinpoint problem areas. 

Check what projects are adding less value in your life and giving no return.

Know where you are spending time and getting no profit.

If a personal issue is overwhelming you, then sort it out. Sometimes, you can't focus on work as your personal life is at stake.

Maybe you spend more time on social media or responding to people and less time on work at hand.

There is a possibility that instant messages are becoming the main distraction.

With a routine audit, you can quickly get a clear picture of your routine at home and office. Get an idea of the root cause behind time-lapse and then start nipping the evil in the bud.

Make a To-Do List  

Writing it in black and white is an effective method of dealing with time management issues in your work life. If you want to stick with time, then make a list of tasks you should complete on time.

When making a to-do list, make sure that you set time as per priority. Keep most important and urgent tasks on top followed by most important, less critical/non-urgent tasks. Give more time to more critical tasks and less time to less critical tasks.

After making this list, try to keep it alongside you. Once you complete a task, tick the box and move to the next job. This way, you would be able to complete it all without going under stress.

Please Don't Multitask

It might sound tempting to attend a call and make a report, but this kind of attitude is never helpful. You will become overwhelmed with lots of duties and tasks. For completing a task in the best manner, you need to put complete focus on it. 

Handling multiple times at a time will drain your energy completely. The most important thing is to complete one task and then work on another one. If you follow this, your energy won't get depleted fast. This formula lets you complete more tasks in less time. Simply try it.

Avoid Distractions

If your job nature requires you to stay active on social media and respond to calls and emails, then you need to work around all these things to stay productive. However, when your work doesn't require any such things, they are nothing but big distractions. 

The main idea is to put the phone on silent, sign out of your social media account or simply keep the phone in the drawer. In this manner, your complete focus will be on the task at hand. Typically, lots of calls, messages, and emails consume your time. It becomes hard for you to stay focused on your work. 

Avoid distraction for effective time management at the workplace.

Put Everything in Order

An organized person is always more successful in his life than an unorganized one. Generally, when you wake up, you have to spend hours finding the best dress shirt or locating your wallet- which you have tossed away at night somewhere.

When you are working in an office, it happens that you mistakenly keep a file somewhere. As this file is essential for a given task, you have to spend an all-time searching operation.

If you want to avoid all such issues, you should have to keep everything in proper order at home and the office. 

Keep your desk clutter-free. A neat desk lets you focus more as it won't have unnecessary distractions.

Press your dress a day before and organize your closet. Whatever you need should be put in a special drawer at home. 

Make sure all files have an organization system.

Don't be careless about your important things like wallet, keys, files, etc.

Take Frequent Break

One of the most effective ways of time management at the workplace is to take frequent breaks. After completing a big project, you need to take a few-minute break. Read a good story, watch a funny video or listen to soft songs, etc. 

The purpose of the break is to energize yourself. Once you resume your depleted energy, it becomes easier to re-focus and complete the task.

Delegate

In case a task requires more than one person, don't hesitate to ask for help from your colleague. Two minds are better than one. You should delegate your tasks to complete them on time. Delegation is the best way of time management, especially when a project has a deadline. 

No matter how efficient or expert you are, you can't handle it all. 

Read: Why manager must delegate work?

If your colleagues request some tasks and don't have time, don't be afraid to say no. It's because you are responsible for your project. Yes, if you have some time, then you can take more tasks into your hand. 

Create Work-Life Balance

A practical method of time management at the workplace is to create a work-life balance. If you have some issues in your personal life, then resolve them first. Often, personal life issues make a primary problem at work, and you don't take an interest in the office, and completing your tasks becomes difficult.

Remember, every problem has a solution. Instead of diving into issues, you should try to seek answers. Once you are satisfied at home, it's easy to stay focused at work as no life distractions hold your energy and mind.

Ask from Experts/Mentor

When it becomes impossible to do effective time management at work, you should better seek expert help. Some other people are doing the same job as you. Ask them about their secret sauce and formula. They won't mind sharing it. Another idea is to read posts about productivity and time management. You might get some tips that work in your scenario.

Use Time Management Apps 

We live in the digital age, so it's better to rely on some time management applications. They are known to keep track of time and send alerts so your head stays within your office game and won't get distracted. 

Set some timers, use a calendar with a To-do list to complete the project on time. Explore 18 best time management apps

Conclusion

Time management is vital to stay productive on the job and enjoy some promotions. Try to embrace all these tips I shared in your life; it would help you create a perfect work-life balance and attain your most important career goals without doing much.