Most days it can feel impossible to work through your entire to-do list at the office. Between emails, notifications, phone calls, and co-workers stopping by your desk to chat it can seem overwhelming to tackle what you need to during the day. Here are a few tips I have picked up to manage my time more effectively at work to ensure I am fully present for my family when I return to my favorite role as Mom.
1. Have a Plan.
To prevent your day becoming a constant source of anxiety and uncompleted projects, I use a planner. At the end of every day, I compose my plan for tomorrow. I have learned that if I keep my day to 4 primary goals, I am most successful. I also leave time in my day for the unexpected as we all know that things come up and you have to switch gears. The planner I have recently fallen in love with is the TUL Discbound planner. The discbound planner allows you to insert and remove pages easily and relocate them to another area in the planner. It has been a game changer. I also am a big fan of Etsy for digital download planner pages. I took this concept and worked with a graphic designer to build a custom planner for the recruiting industry. Be on the lookout as I plan to launch this planner template to other firms in the coming months.
2. Calendar Blocking.
I live by my outlook calendar color codes. I have a color associated with every task from phone screens to marketing calls to reference checks. For me it helps me visualize how my day is going to be scheduled. It is also an easy way to review the week and see how you spent your time (assuming you stick to your plan) and what you should do more or less of. Don’t forget to make time for goal setting and planning. The old saying of plan to fail if you fail to plan!
3. Do The Hard Things First.
This is so easily said. Trust me some days, I have to coax myself into making cold calls or sharing the bad news to a candidate that isn’t getting the offer. All the things that take the most energy to get into a workflow state of mind, should come first. Get them done when your fresh in the morning and get them off your list.
4. Eliminate Distractions.
We’re all addicted to our phones. It is an epidemic and I am not excluded. There are so many notifications and messages and emails and general access to things that will break our concentration. Do yourself a favor. Put the device on airplane mode or turn it off or just put it in your drawer. Decide what you are going to work on (by using that planning idea above) and get going. My favorite tip is to set a timer (not on your phone) and work on that project until the timer goes off. Have you heard of the Pomodoro technique? Don’t get up until that timer beeps.
5. Stop thinking about the hours you need to work and start thinking about what tasks you need to get done.
I realize this won’t work so well for every professional environment but it is a noteworthy concept. As the Founder of The Jule Group, I created this company due to a need for more flexibility in the way that I work. It has now grown into a collection of senior finance professionals that too need more flexibility. If we change the mindset to accomplish what we need to get done vs. needing to be physically present from 8-5 for optics reasons wouldn’t we all be prone to completing our daily goals quicker?
By implementing and sticking to these five time management principles, I have found myself able to get more done at work and be fully present in other aspects of life. If you are looking for senior level accounting contract roles that will allow for greater flexibility without sacrificing your career and education, grab a time in my calendar HERE.
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