Time management is an important topic in any corporate environment – not only for company success but also for us as employees. Knowing how to make use of our time in the best way possible can help us to achieve goals, reduces procrastination, and increases productivity. Here at CLIQ, we make use of several practices and types of planning that help us get our work done without unnecessary interruptions and distractions. We have compiled a few of our best time management and productivity tips and tricks in this article, which might give you some new inspiration.
1. Take some time at the beginning of each week to coordinate with your team and go over tasks for the upcoming week.
Keeping track of everything you need to accomplish in a week can be challenging. At CLIQ, we encourage recurring team meetings at the beginning of each week to coordinate upcoming and ongoing projects and their deadlines. That way, the whole team has an overview of not only their own tasks but also the tasks of the other team members. Knowing what your colleagues are working on can drastically improve communication between team members, as well as help in the planning of collaborative projects. These meetings are also a great opportunity to catch up on personal matters, which builds team spirit and helps you understand your colleagues on a personal level.
2. Create a rough schedule for your day.
If you have multiple tasks to complete in a day, it makes sense to take a few minutes in the morning to create a rough schedule for the upcoming workday. You do not need to exactly plan out every minute of your day but having an idea of when you want to finish which task is often very helpful. To help motivate yourself you can even trick yourself a little bit by scheduling each task a few minutes longer than you think it will take. And: finishing before the scheduled time is always rewarding and motivating.
3. Write up a workflow for repetitive tasks.
If you have a lot of tasks that you need to complete regularly, it can be helpful to write down all the steps you need to follow. This can save you time in several ways. Firstly, it cuts out the time you spend trying to remember what you are supposed to do next. Secondly, it helps you internalise the processes by which each task is completed, which in the long run saves you the time that you would have spent looking them up on your workflow. And finally, it saves time when you delegate tasks. You will not have to spend time explaining the task to your colleague, but you can instead refer them to your pre-written workflow, which will guide them through all necessary steps.
4. Take smart breaks.
It might sound counter-intuitive, but taking the occasional break during work can increase your productivity. Especially when doing creative tasks, you can often hit a wall and feel like you are not progressing at all. Taking a short break of even just 5 minutes can help you refocus and get your mind off negative thoughts.
5. Have company-wide home office days.
If your company has a work-from-home policy, it is recommendable to ensure that most co-workers work from home at the same time. At CLIQ, we work with a hybrid model. Of course, employees can always come to the office when they want to, but many take advantage of the home office days to work on projects where they need time without external distraction.
At CLIQ, we try to implement these practices as best we can, and we can feel the results every day in our work. Not all of these tricks are going to work for everyone, but may you are able to implement some to help ease your own time management and take away a little bit of stress.
