Constant multitasking has become the norm in every area of life, from consuming content to doing work. This is especially true in the workplace. It’s not uncommon to switch back and forth multiple times between email inboxes, chat channels, video conferences, project management software, and document or spreadsheet files—all within the same 30-minute span. All that swiveling (combined with the occasional scroll on social media) can snowball into a major loss of valuable time at work.
Time management is one of those key skill sets that teams place a high premium on, but often fall short of maintaining. In this installment of The Productivity Box, we want to introduce you to time-blocking—a technique that will help you and your team reclaim the workday.
Time management is key to productivity. Yet, according to a recent poll, 82 percent of workers don’t have a clear system to manage their time effectively. As a result, the average employee spends about 1.5 hours each day on tasks that are irrelevant and non-essential to their role. This is where work habits come into play.
The moment your feet touch the floor each morning, you begin to set the tone for your entire day. So it’s worth asking yourself: Does my morning routine fuel productivity? Or does it just prime my brain for distraction and procrastination? Do I start the morning with intentional practices that energize and motivate me? Or do I scroll mindlessly on social media and create unnecessary anxiety?
Time management is one of the skills that everyone is constantly trying to improve. Most people have a difficult time getting ahold of it, but even those who seem to have it all under control could still do better.
Regardless of what priorities and responsibilities dominate our schedules on a daily basis, time is a resource that all of us must learn to manage. How we make the most of each 24-hour cycle determines how much we will accomplish and how productive we can be.
Our modern American culture glorifies busyness. In fact, the Journal of Consumer Research has found that “Those devoting more time to work and less time to leisure are often viewed as having more status.” But even the most packed schedule is not an automatic sign of productivity. A long to-do list might look impressive at first. However, the number of tasks, deadlines and appointments on your calendar does not always mean those obligations are done with excellence.
Vacation is that time of the year when you finally relax and disconnect from daily stress. And most people can’t wait for it! However, some can’t really afford it either due to a lack of money or time. While workers in Europe are entitled to up to 30 days of paid vacation time every year, in the U.S. companies are totally free to choose whether they want to give their workforce any paid vacation at all.
Look around at any airport and you’ll see people surrounding outlets, sitting on their laptops and phones. According to the State of the Remote Job Marketplace report, 43 percent of the workforce works remotely at least some of the time. A major perk of distributed work is the ability to be traveling while on the clock.
Managing time in an effective way is a challenge that most people struggle with on a daily basis. There is always too much to be done and time never seems to be enough. While we can’t stretch the length of the day for you, we can definitely help you make the most of the time you already have. Read forward to learn some time management strategies that will hopefully improve your work life and not only.
