The time management is paramount in any job. Of all the soft skillsis probably the most necessary regardless of your sector of activity.
In an increasingly fast-paced world, it is all too easy not to get everything done. In sectors such as our digital marketingIn addition, we find that there are always things to do.
There are always new SEO guidelines what to apply, optimisation options in a piece of content, new articles to read to keep up to date, etc... It can be overwhelming.
Add it to routine tasks such as answering emails, managing invoices, leading work teams, etc... and the time management can become a problem.
Personally, I think I am a very organised person at work. I could say strict. In fact, I amNever in my life have I ever been late for a deadlineand I note with astonishment that delays are the norm.
So I thought about tell you my tips on how to manage my time properly and arrive at the right time. In my case, these tips are the product of my experience and are shaped by my own personality.
I have never needed to read an article like this one and when I read several to see if I could find something I wasn't doing and be able to tell it, I realised that I already had it built in.
That's why I'm not going to talk about time management methodologies. There are, and maybe they can help you.
But, personally, I think that the most useful thing is to assimilate certain routines and ways of working, without timers or fixed times set in advance, because before I start I am going to give you my main key: adapting the workflow to the particular conditions we have that dayThe rest, concentration, unforeseen events, etc...
Here we go.
1. Prioritise, yes, but not always.
Let us not deceive ourselves, prioritising is important. Obviously, if you have to do ten tasks for one day, it is better to do the most important one as soon as possible. It will save you stress and you will have a clear conscience.
If you fail to time management of that day, at least you will have finished what you needed to finish.
A lot of people - also a lot of tools prioritise their tasks in order of priority. High, medium and low is usually the most common, but you can adapt it to what suits you best. In my case, the classification does not work for me because I have pretty much internalised what is most relevant, but it can be a good first step to start with.
However, it seems to me that even more important is the management of small secondary tasks. I read a while ago that it is called the "two-minute rule". Officially, the rule tells you not to procrastinate on an incoming task that doesn't take more than two minutes.
I will say that it doesn't matter if there are two, three or five. The important thing is that if you get an email, a WhatsApp or whatever asking you for a task that you can solve in a moment, get on with it.
Here I would like to make a nuance. Never interrupt your work if you are in the middle of a major task.. The point is, if you have already been interrupted by the notification of the new task, use that break to get on with it instead of returning to the main task.
You get it out of the way in a jiffy and prevent it from piling up. And you get back to your priority task with something less to do when you're done.
2. Plan for contingencies
Crucial. Make it a point to remember that there will always be unforeseen events when you make your task planning. And as there will be unforeseen events, save part of your working hours to deal with them.
The amount of time will depend on your job. For example, in my job there may be between 20 and 30% of unplanned tasks in a normal working day. And there are always peaks that can reach 50%.
When the pandemicfor example, the contingency management took up 90% of my day. In that case, I had no choice but to put in more overtime than necessary, but if you set aside some of your time to manage these unforeseen events, it won't be a problem in your day-to-day life.
Again, the key here is the adaptability. One day there may be nothing and another day you may take half of your working day. On the day when there is nothing, you advance your work and on the day you are at 50% you add your percentage of that day to the percentage you had pending from the previous day. Result: you are on time for everything you have to do.
If you don't take unforeseen events into account, you can't possibly be on time. Because unforeseen events can actually be foreseen. And you don't need to foresee them in detail.
3. Using the right tool
Another key aspect in the time management is the memory management. The more tasks you have, the harder it is to remember them all. First, don't try to remember everything. No matter how good your memory is, you will forget something at some point.
Second, help yourself with a tool. If you don't want to use a project management tool such as Trello o Asanayou can use your own Google Calendar or even a diary and an analogue notebook.
The important thing is that you have everything in order and that the tasks do not get lost, which is why virtual tools are the most recommendable. This way you can change the date, relate one task to another, establish collaborations with your colleagues, etc...
This is not to the detriment of use your own analogue tool. I, for example, work mainly with Asana and with my analogue diary. The satisfaction I get from ticking task completed with my pen does not come from clicking on task completed with my mouse, so I live with both models.
I also have a notebook for conceptualising. Although there are process and idea mapping toolsPersonally, I find it much better to take my eyes off the screen for five minutes and gather my thoughts on paper. Again, it's a matter of choosing what works best for you. Either way, it will help you.
I will also tell you to take advantage of the process automation tools whenever you can. At first it will mean spending more time, but in the medium term it will be an incredible improvement. Make the most of it.
4. Do not set impossible deadlines
Another important aspect for maintaining work motivation are deadlines. Never commit to a deadline that you cannot meet.
It is a basic element when it comes to defining SMART objectivesthat are realistic and time-bound. Setting yourself a deadline that you can't meet will only work against you and, also, the customer satisfaction.
When setting deadlines, it is essential to bear in mind point two. Don't do this with regard to your regular or routine work, but also bear in mind that some of your actual time will have to be spent putting out fires or dealing with unforeseen events.
In addition, it is always advisable to have a little extra time. Arriving early is always better than arriving late and often the only real difference between the two options is your own. planning.
PersonallyI always try to have my fixed and routine tasks ready a week before the scheduled date.. It is not always possible, but it gives me a wide enough margin to be able to manage various problems. From holidays, holidays or illnesses to customer or supplier absences...
In this respect, it is also important to avoiding external interference. A client will always want as much speed as possible, but strategically a certain periodicity may be more advisable. At least in digital marketing, there is always a part of pedagogy that will also require part of our time.
5. Learn to delegate
Learning to delegate It is hard work, but it is necessary. The first thing to assume is that everyone has their own way of working. The work you delegate may not be done in exactly the same way as you would do it.
And absolutely nothing happens. Think that you don't do the work in the same way as the person who delegated something to you before would have done it. The important thing here is meeting deadlines and targets.
Depending on your position, there will come a time when you will you may even have to delegate those tasks that seem most important to you. It will be the only way to be on time with other priorities. Or, sometimes, the only way for the person to whom you delegate to learn and be able to take on that responsibility.
As in the case of automations, explaining how to do a task, resolving doubts, etc... may initially take more time than doing it yourself. It's OK because is time that we will more than make up for in the future..
In order to be more effective, creates written procedures o record a video tutorial with a screen recorder. This way you don't need to repeat the process each time and it will work for more than one person.
In any case, questions will arise. Build time for resolving these doubts into your task planning.
Once you see that I have it working properly without you having to do it yourself, you will breathe easier.
6. Give a time frame for each task and stick to it.
Tasks require time. Although the time for each task is never exact, we can predict it in advance. Take into account the time involved in each task when planning your schedule.
But not only that, also take into account the amount of effort involved and the best day of the week and time slot to do it.
For example, my moment of higher productivity is in the mornings. In the afternoons my performance is much lower. What do I do? To begin with, I am lucky enough to have flexible hoursSo I start work every day as soon as possible.
The flexible hours It also means I don't have to rely on my alarm clock, so I wake up fully rested and ready to give 100%. (I haven't added sleeping well to the list, but I could have - if you don't sleep well, everything will go wrong).
I leave the heavier tasks for the first moment (with one exception that I will comment on later) and continue with the medium tasks, to finish the day with the lighter ones: non-urgent emails, social media programming, work meetings, reports, etc...
For example, a typical day would start with writing an article, continue by designing a SEO content strategy or by making a keyword research and end up with routine management tasks.
Likewise, take into account the energies of the week. I, like everyone else, am much more tired on Fridays. So I I am left with the most pleasant tasks within my daily complexity scale. If I have to write an article, on Friday I write the one I like the most, if I have to do keyword research, I write the one on the subject that is most interesting to me. On Tuesdays, the most difficult ones.
7. Analyse (without obsessing) the times per task.
Many automatic clocking-in tools also allow you to keep track of your time by task. For example, I use an ERP called Holded. I start a clock when I start a task and stop it when I finish, assigning it to a client and giving a description of the type of task.
For example: article writing, SEO optimisation, social media, web design, reporting, meetings, etc...
In this way, then I can analyse how much time I spend per client and also how much each task costs me.. This is important for ensuring the profitability of projects and also to find out how it can be optimised.
The results can be very enlightening. And not only when you see which aspects take up more of your time than necessary and should be optimised, but also when it comes to prioritising tasks based on objectives.
You may, for example, waste a large part of your time working with a client in endless and unproductive meetings. Then you need to explain, in a pedagogical way, that the project would be much better served by invest that time in tasks that will make a difference.
Internally, it will allow you to see which aspects require some thought in order to optimise the time you spend on it. For this we may need to external assistanceIt is not always easy to know if we are working slowly or if it is the time the task requires.
8. Take a break when necessary
The articles on time management place great emphasis on avoiding distractions. Of course, it is important, but it is also important not to become obsessed with it.
Today, almost all smartphones and web browsers have a distraction-free mode. You may activate it and not be able to use the apps or pages that entertain you during your working day.
As I sometimes have to use social networks for work reasons, it is one of the exceptions I make to start with the hardest part first. I take off the networking, put on the no distractions and that's it.
Anyway, I wanted to emphasise the need to take a break when your body asks for it. It is physically impossible to have absolute concentration for eight hours.
As I don't smoke or drink coffee or coffee substitutes, I often just use it to taking your eyes off the computerI can get up and move around for four or five minutes. Or just close your eyes for a minute and breathe deeply. You oxygenate your brain and come back much more focused.
I think it is important do not regard these breaks as wasted time.. If you don't have them, your performance and productivity will be lower than if you do. So listen to your body.
9. Discard unnecessary or irrelevant tasks.
Another point is know how to discard. Tasks can become endless, so prioritisation should also include discarding tasks that are not relevant.
Sometimes the task may have been requested by the client. Here, again, we come back to the pedagogical work. The possible benefit or cost of doing the eliminated task and what it would cost to replace it in order to do it must be transferred.
Time management is also related to the profitability. Of course, in the medium and long term. But if a task is not going to help profitability in any way or in a way that is significant for the time and effort involved, it is better to spend our time on something else.
Of course, cost-effectiveness must be measured in a broad manner, taking into account aspects of branding, talent retention, customer experienceetc... and not only of pure economic benefit from the sale of the product and/or service.
10. Be realistic
Last, but not least, it is necessary to be realistic. Maybe your problem is not the time management but the workload. If you have a higher workload than you can handle, once you have established that you cannot optimise the processes, it is time to look for a solution.
Delegating work o redistribute it may be a first approach. Also the need for more talent within the department.
If none of the options is possible, another option is to review prices and coverage. You may have to raise your prices in order to cover costs or reduce the service. Another formula is increase services to raise the pricebut taking into account the extra time needed to be profitable.
If the price your service requires to be profitable is not profitable for your client, then there is a problem in your business model. Adapt it.
So much for my top ten tips for the time management. I hope they have been of some use to you and I take this opportunity to ask: what are yours?
