Supported by Ebizmore
Bridge Loans
Fast and Easy
Ebizmore for all your investment real estate financing needs.
Learn More – Do More – Earn More with ebizmore
Learn * Download Forms * Submit
Register Now
or
Ebizmore, Inc.At Hive, we’ve got a series called “7 Hours With” where we talk to leaders in their field about their roles, work style, and their best project management and productivity tips. Since Hive is all about productivity and managing projects, having these insights is valuable in helping us improve our product and expand our reach.
As a culmination of our first nine interviews, we’ve gathered a ton of tips talking to people who work at places like LinkedIn, Fabletics, and Harry’s—here’s a breakdown of the top four productivity and project management hacks we learned throughout our interviews.
Juliana Jaoudi, LinkedIn’s senior director of marketing solutions, had great perspective on work-life balance. One of our favorite quotes from her was “It’s actually not really work-life balance, it’s just work and life.” This may seem obvious, but many people operate inside of a strict 9-5, no-exceptions timeline.
“I like to leave my brain open to have excellent ideas outside of working hours. If you love what you’re doing, you’re able to live in this fluid space where it’s OK if there’s something that filters in on a weekend, or at night. And it works the other way too — maybe on a Wednesday afternoon you just have to turn work off because you need self care. That’s OK too.”
That type of schedule and flexible work environment allows people to really dig into work and maintain high levels of productivity when they need to, and remember that turning off the laptop is OK.
PureWow’s Rachel Bowie is a huge fan of time blocking (a time management technique) for personal and professional to-dos. She finds that blocking off her calendar into these small chunks really helps keep her accountable and productive throughout the day—especially since she’s got an adorable two year old at home!
“I’m a huge fan of time blocking when it comes to items on my to-do list. I actually keep a running Google doc of everything I want to get done in a day that I update every night before bed. I break each day out in sections: “before work,” “work,” and “after work,” then I categorize within those areas by separating to-do’s that take a ton of time and those that I can do quickly. I occasionally keep paper lists, too—and jot down to-do’s in various notebooks and on post-it’s throughout the day—but the Google doc is the place I funnel everything into since it’s so easy to update in real time (my day pivots a lot).”
We also spoke to the CEO and founder of FireHydrant, Robert Ross, who employs the Pomodoro technique of time tracking to his more technical work:
“This technique is basically working in 25 minute increments followed by 5 minute breaks. After 4 intervals I take a 15 minute break, and I work for two 25 minute sections with a 10 minute break every hour. Writing code is actually very mentally demanding, so you have to give your brain a bit of a break to keep it on track. You can’t run a car at full speed for an hour—you have to give it a break or you’re going to blow a fuse.”
Harry’s Sebastian Hayto gave us a few great productivity tips, including labeling all of his emails as they filter into his inbox. But our favorite was his focus on monthly off-sites for his team.
“I hold at least one half or full day offsite per month to brainstorm new business opportunities and generally have fun. I find that it really bolsters productivity. This frequency might seem excessive, but I’ve found that they not only lead to some of the best ideas, but are also great for team bonding—they seriously make a difference.”
It’s statistically proven that a bonded team have improved project management skills and overall productivity, so we thought this was a brilliant idea. Why not ingrain time for bonding into the people’s monthly schedule?
In a world of incessant messages, emails and other pesky interruptions, notifications can become a huge productivity killer. This includes everything from social media, which the average person spends 3.2 hours on per day, and random Slack notifications from your office Fantasy Football team.
When we talked to Katy Donahue, Head of Operations and Strategy at Fabletics, she explained how she helpful she’s found eliminating notifications:
“I’ve turned off all email notifications on my desktop and mobile—it started as an experiment and I kept with it when it seriously increased my productivity.”
And this same sentiment was echoed by FireHydrant’s Robert Ross, who also mentioned how important it was for him to turn off his notifications:
“On Mac, you can change your notification settings very granularly. In the world of Slack, every message is a distraction and can pull you out of flow. When you’re changing windows you can see the number of messages on Slack, and you’re drawn to the notifications missed. You almost get Slack FOMO. But you can actually turn off that notification bubble, so you’re none the wiser if there are messages in Slack that you haven’t seen yet. You have to very explicitly open Slack to see them. I’ve done that for email too. The reality is that people don’t need you to respond in 5 minutes.”
Plus, the statistics are there to back up this notification elimination—it turns out these distractions could actually cut productivity by 40%. Who wants that?
So, what do you think about the above strategies? Have you tried any out yourself? Let us know in the comments below, and feel free to recommend additional strategies that you think we should know test.
The Digital Project Manager is reader-supported. When you click through links on our site, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
Author:
The Digital Project Manager
The Fact is that 95% of Small Business was not Prepared for the Pandemic.
More Than An Accounting Service!
Consultant * CFO *Partner
Your Success is Our Number 1 Focus.
Bank & CC reconciliation,
Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
Financial Reports
Payroll
QuickBooks catchup/cleanup
Invoicing
Compliance reporting
QuickBooks Online
Much, much, more.
+++Business Credit Builder
Save up to $24,000 per year!
Keeping You On Top Of Your Game
Time is our most precious commodity and a currency to spend. As my own research on lateness has highlighted, time management involves managing complex relationships and conflicts within ourselves – as well as with others.
In an ordinary workplace, we are helped in our time management by the fact that our access to many temptations is limited. We don’t have to constantly monitor ourselves as our colleagues or bosses are likely to be doing so. While we might bemoan our lack of choice about what we do and when – such as attending a two-hour meeting – we can also be relieved of the need to make choices about what to do next.
But when working from home, temptations abound which can eat up our time. Food is in the fridge or can be bought in a quick trip to the shops. Excitement of all kinds can be easily accessed through social media, websites or games which will arouse, enrage, shock, entertain, amuse or enthral us. For some, the temptations to use their time “badly”, particularly online, can be very seductive. At any moment there is a delicate balance of power within: between our creative, constructive side and the side which seeks easier gratification and mindlessness.
Real work is often scary, and the responsibility can frighten us. Difficult tasks remain vague if we don’t actually start them. Procrastination is not a good way to manage anxiety, but it is a very common option. Putting things off keeps the anxiety going of course, but also keeps the possibility alive that the task will get done well – at some point in the future.
At work, the pressures of time management mostly come from other people. While we can resent the bossiness or oversight of others, we still get things done and being closely managed in this way can actually spur us to do so. At home, we are both the “boss” and the “worker”, so the conflict, now internal, can be much harder to manage.
If we are lucky we have a kindly and parental internal voice, guiding us towards helpful choices while still allowing us time to have fun. However, many of us have a nagging internal voice, berating us for not doing things as we should, or ramping up our anxiety about our own abilities to complete the task at hand. For some people, the boss in their head can be far more critical and unfriendly than the one at their place of work. This is likely to lead them to employ destructive ways to evade or defend themselves: they are more likely to duck and dive and give in to temptation.
At work we engage with others in ways which are straightforwardly helpful – they are there to bounce ideas off when when we’re getting unduly caught up in a narrow way of thinking or to express appreciation of our work. But even when we are having conflicts or difficult relationships with others they may be helping us in another way. Not only can we define and refine our own ideas through these arguments, but if these conflicts don’t just happen inside our own heads, they trouble us less internally.
We can do some of this virtually when working from home, but engaging with others by email, on messaging services or social media is very different from doing so in person. It is less likely that virtual interactions with our co-workers will give us that lively sense of interaction which truly makes these processes successful. Many people actually need the opportunity to come up against other people in person to feel successful in their working and creative lives and to enhance their emotional well-being – in ways beyond their need for friendship or to avoid loneliness.
So if you find working from home challenging, don’t worry, many people do and it is not because you are in some way especially flawed. Take seriously the possibility that you need to recreate something more like a workplace in your own home by setting aside an area away from your relaxation space and setting yourself designated, but limited, working hours. Think about what you need to do to re-establish some of the other external constraints of work by involving others in your deadlines, arranging progress meetings and, most importantly, limiting your access to distractions by switching off internet access for periods during the day.
Take seriously the need to have proper interpersonal relationships with colleagues as well as friends, other than online. We are not designed to manage our emotional lives in isolation and need others to relate with – in ways over and above those of friendship and intimacy.
The Fact is that 95% of Small Business was not Prepared for the Pandemic.
More Than An Accounting Service!
Consultant * CFO *Partner
Your Success is Our Number 1 Focus.
Bank & CC reconciliation,
Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
Financial Reports
Payroll
QuickBooks catchup/cleanup
Invoicing
Compliance reporting
QuickBooks Online
Much, much, more.
+++Business Credit Builder
Save up to $24,000 per year!
Startup, New Businesses or Personal Use
Funding Up to $250,000
Fund starts in 7-10 Business Days.
680 FICO
Co-signer OK
NO INCOME DOCUMENTATION
100% UNSECURED
BK must be over 4.5 years
Collections, Judgments, Late Payments must be over 12 months
Realistic time management and organization plans can improve productivity and the quality of life. However, these skills can be difficult to develop and maintain. The key elements of time management are goals, organization, delegation, and relaxation. The author addresses each of these components and provides suggestions for successful time management.
Long hours are not a substitute for efficiency. Tasks not worth doing at all are not worth doing well.
—Alexander R. Margulis [1]
Introduction
We have all been there: busy with our jobs and taking care of our families, we have to-do lists a mile long. If we are lucky, when we stumble into bed at night, we might have crossed off a handful of tasks. We have trouble sleeping as we think about all of the things we failed to do. For some reason, in the middle of the night, the size of these tasks is exaggerated. When we get up the next day, we are sleep deprived and racked with guilt, ready to begin yet another day of being behind. This vicious cycle goes on day after day, month after month, year after year. In this age of 24/7 connectivity, if we take a “vacation,” we continue to do work, and if we don’t, we feel guilty. The fatigue, disorganization, and sense of loss of control usually leads to reduced productivity and quality of our efforts, both professional and personal. The stress and anxiety take up valuable time and energy. Anxiety eats brainpower. How do we break this cycle? Learning to manage our time, instead of allowing time to manage us, is the key.
There are many time management and organization books and other resources. Unfortunately, many make the reader feel guilty, because it is difficult to complete all of the suggested tasks. Morgenstern [2] stressed that you must take small steps and do things that feel comfortable to you. If you feel guilty and try to adhere to someone else’s style, you are likely to become frustrated. If you find something that works for you, you will feel good about whatever you are able to accomplish and forge ahead. For example, most authors stress the need for filing. This is great if you 1) have a simple filing scheme and 2) have someone to do the filing for you. Otherwise, filing is a time-consuming task that is difficult to maintain over time. From Morgenstern, I learned that my method of “organized piles” is perfectly acceptable as long as I can find items easily. Instead of feeling like a filing failure, I feel successful in my maintenance of orderly heaps.
The Basics of Time Management
The key steps for successful time management are as follows: 1) set realistic goals, 2) get organized, 3) delegate, 4) relax and recharge, and 5) stop feeling guilty. There are two major time management stumbling blocks: procrastination and perfectionism. When we put off tasks (usually distasteful tasks), we often increase our anxiety level, further delaying our work on the task. If we insist on being perfect in every task, we minimize the chance that we will actually complete the task. In fact, perfect is the enemy of good. If 80% of the effort produces 95% of the product, does it really make sense to reach for that final 5%? Will anyone notice? Will it affect the outcome?
Goals
The development of goals is critical for personal success. Covey [3] described this as a process to “organize and execute around priorities.” Everyone has both immediate and long-term goals. In many cases, the very short-term goals or tasks supersede long-term goals to the point that individuals may never achieve their lifetime goals. To determine if you have fallen into this trap, write down your top 3 to 5 lifetime goals (Table 1). Next, list 10 things you plan to accomplish in the next week (your to-do list; Table 2). Compare these lists (Table 3): is there anything on your to-do list that relates to your lifetime goals? In the example here, many of the small tasks might ultimately lead to becoming the head of a radiology practice. However, this individual is unlikely to ever get an MBA, learn to play the saxophone, or get to Fiji. For many of us, the lack of correlation of the lists goes on for weeks, months, even years. It is important to work toward your lifetime goals in addition to accomplishing your immediate tasks. This means you must elevate your lifetime goals to higher priorities. Obviously, you cannot ignore many of your weekly activities, but if you don’t perceive that you are not working toward your lifetime goals, you will never accomplish them.
Lifetime goals
1. Become the chair of my department or head of my radiology practice |
2. Get an MBA |
3. Shoot under 85 in golf |
4. Learn to play the saxophone |
5. Retire to Fiji at age 60 |
To do this week
1. Abdominal reading room M, W, Th, F |
2. Department and hospital meetings on Tu |
3. Finish manuscript for AJR |
4. Drive kids’ carpool to school |
5. Coach kids’ soccer W night |
6. Prepare for MQSA inspection |
7. Revise pt safety protocols |
8. Prepare presentation for seminar for referring doctors |
9. Revise referring physician phone list |
10. Grocery store |
Lifetime goals related to weekly to-do list
1. Become the chair of my department or head of my radiology practice (weekly items 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9) |
Organization
There are 2 basic components to organization: organizing stuff and organizing time. Both are necessary for success in accomplishing your goals. Disorganization and clutter add to stress. We waste time looking for important information, often failing to find it. We spend too much time repeating tasks, such as reading e-mail. We feel overwhelmed by the number of tasks to complete, and ultimately, we spend too much time worrying about uncompleted tasks. It becomes difficult to distinguish between important and insignificant tasks.
How do you organize stuff? Throw out items—papers, e-mails, files, and so on—that you don’t need. Organize and file (have someone else do the filing whenever possible) so that you can find important items in the future. Unfortunately, organization and filing is an ongoing process, not just a onetime event. That is why it is so important to find an easy system that can be managed in the future. If it is too complicated, you won’t keep at it.
We are all swamped with mail, most of it electronic. It is critically important to learn to manage your mail and e-mail. Strive to handle both once. The 4 D’s for all types of mail are do now, dump, delegate, and delay. Most e-mail can be read and handled immediately by a brief response, forwarding to an appropriate individual, or deletion. Only a minority of items should be delayed. Make a file for mail or messages that you can’t decide how to handle. Review this file periodically. You will find that the majority of this mail never needed action at all. Most of it was unimportant and was taken care of by someone else. If you mistakenly put an important e-mail in your delay file, it will be sent again. Ideally, you were able to recognize the truly important mail when you originally opened it and took care of it immediately.
A problem with doing e-mail on a device such as a Blackberry is that one may find it difficult to deal with long messages and attachments. Thus, the item is opened, closed, and forgotten. The same problem may occur with the use of a laptop. If you have this problem, try to identify messages with attachments or ones that will require concentration, and wait to open them on your laptop or desktop computer.
One of the key components of organization is the management of your calendar. Many of us let our schedules manage us. This is necessary to some degree. For example, if your calendar says you are assigned to the reading room, you must be there. However, if you can learn to manage your schedule to some degree, you will ultimately accomplish more with less anxiety. The first step is to develop a to-do list. It does not matter whether the list is paper or electronic; chose what works best for you. The most important thing is to list everything you need to do and prioritize each item. Be realistic about what you can accomplish within the next day, week, or month. If you overschedule yourself, you will be disappointed when you cannot accomplish every task. Review your to-do list regularly, daily if possible, and revise as necessary.
When you make your list, make time for planning and prioritizing. Schedule time the first thing each morning or the last thing in the evening to plan for the next day or week. It is important to do this daily or weekly because your priorities will change over time.
Determine your most effective mental time and schedule this time to work on important projects. For example, if you are a “morning person,” don’t waste this peak brain time to do e-mail. Instead, use it to work on an important project. Save the e-mail for times when your brain is not maximally efficient. However, don’t do e-mail right before bedtime; an unpleasant message can destroy your sleep for the night.
Break large, important projects into manageable segments. Some people find it helpful to get away from their desks or workstations where they may be distracted by e-mail, phone calls, or cases. However, staying at your desk has the advantages of ready access to your reference materials, files, and so on.
Covey [3] also stressed the determination of urgency and importance in attacking tasks on your to-do list. Decide what is important and what is not. It is also important to decide if a task is urgent or not urgent. Urgent, important tasks should be at the top of your priority list. Unfortunately, we often consume a great deal of time with “easy” activities, which are frequently of low importance.
Time management and organization are not the same as multitasking. Multitasking is widely practiced but is not necessarily a good thing. For example, think of the last time you talked on your cell phone as you drove home. How much of the trip do you remember? It is likely that you remember the phone call more than the driving. Although this may make your trip more enjoyable, it makes it less safe, because your attention is not fully on the road. One definition of multitasking is “doing two things at once by taking twice as long to do them half as well” [4]. It is better to give your full attention to tasks, particularly the important ones.
Delegation
Before doing a task, ask yourself, “Why me?” Delegate whenever reasonable and possible. The downside of delegating is that you must still check to be sure the task is done, and sometimes it takes longer to tell someone else how to do a task than to do it yourself. Get over the guilt of delegating: think of it as a leadership-building opportunity for others in your practice. Many tasks can be handled effectively (or even more effectively) by others. Don’t use your time to do something that someone else can do more easily or better.
Relaxation
In the current environment of overachievement, overscheduling, and overstimulation, we tend to underestimate the need for mental downtime, relaxation, vacation, and time with friends and family. I often hear criticism that “generation Xers” are too interested in personal time, friends, and families. Those of us who are baby boomers and older should examine whether our work ethic (or “overwork ethic”) is actually better.
Obviously, it is necessary to balance work and relaxation, but what is the cost of overemphasizing the work component of our lives? The balance between work and personal time is delicate but should not be ignored. When we take the time to relax with family and friends, pursue outside interests, and truly “get away,” we recharge and find renewed strength to tackle all of the important tasks.
Ditch Guilt
Etta Pisano [5] published an excellent paper on time management in 2001. She stressed that one of the most important (yet most difficult to accomplish) elements is getting rid of guilt. The guilt may involve things that you don’t get done at home or the office. Many of us are, for some reason, hardwired to feel guilty about all sorts of ridiculous things. However, guilt just leads to stress and anxiety, which lead to more stress and anxiety. Nothing good comes from an unreasonable sense of guilt. In fact, worrying just makes a task take longer and also makes it less pleasant to accomplish. I have learned the hard way not to waste time worrying about a daunting project: just do it!
Stress and feeling of loss of control can lead to anxiety and depression. When you are anxious or depressed, it is even more difficult to manage your time, complete immediate tasks, and accomplish your lifetime goals. If you or those around you find this affecting you, don’t hesitate to get professional help.
Summary
The implementation of realistic time management plans can improve productivity and the quality of life. Accept the fact that you are not Superman or Superwoman. Find time to relax, including time to do absolutely nothing. Stop feeling guilty. The result of having adequate “downtime” is a brain that works better during both professional and personal time.
Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them … well, I have others.
—Groucho Marx
Author:
Startup, New Businesses or Personal Use
Funding Up to $250,000
Fund starts in 7-10 Business Days.
680 FICO
Co-signer OK
NO INCOME DOCUMENTATION
100% UNSECURED
BK must be over 4.5 years
Collections, Judgments, Late Payments must be over 12 months
Providing the difference in order for you to obtain the best rate and terms for your clients.
We Make It Possible
More Lenders
More Programs
Underwriting Specialist Review
Faster Approvals
Faster Closings
Daily Updates
and more
Close More – Earn More
More Programs – More Opportunity
Find Out More
Contact Us Today
The Fact is that 95% of Small Business was not Prepared for the Pandemic.
More Than An Accounting Service!
Consultant * CFO *Partner
Your Success is Our Number 1 Focus.
Bank & CC reconciliation,
Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
Financial Reports
Payroll
QuickBooks catchup/cleanup
Invoicing
Compliance reporting
QuickBooks Online
Much, much, more.
+++Business Credit Builder
Save up to $24,000 per year!
When it comes to tips to time management, I love how Jackson Brown Jr. put it all together. He said,
“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.”
Well, Brown may be right about 24 hours theory, but time management is an entirely different realm. If you are not able to manage time, you will either make do with a minimum amount of work per day or nothing to show for. It’s that simple. Period.
This holds, especially in the modern age because we have “so many things” to do and so little time. However, I’d ask you to do a retrospective of your past 24 – 48 hours activities. What did you do exactly? Were you able to get your work done – or a small portion of it?
I can guarantee that the deductions of your retrospective analysis will suggest that you didn’t score enough. That “I’ve got so many things to do” analogy is kind of false hope because a huge portion of those activities makes up for distractions. I’d say that the lack of time management starts with distractions. Cut the clutter, and you are halfway through to the right path.
In that order, I’d say that the baby boomer generation was more time-oriented. Sure, you can argue that the older generation was doing well on tips to time management because they had minimum distractions. The most debatable point of this argument could be the lack of cellphones or the unavailability of smartphones during the baby boomer generation’s time.
While it is true that baby boomers didn’t have smartphones, you cannot say that there were “no distractions” during that period. Human beings are a very interesting species. They can find tons of distractions if they want to. Especially, when it comes to working, you can find distractions and all that “stuff to do” even if you are seated in an empty room! That gratitude monkey in your brain will suggest different ideas for wasting time – trust me on this one because we’ve all been there.
Although there is an abundance of time management applications available in the market these days. The truth is that they all act as reminders. Some of these “reminders” are annoying, which causes users to delete the applications. Others are so subtle that they usually go on the ignore list. Eventually, the person deletes the application and calls it quits.
Here are some tips to time management that might save you a ton of hassle in the long run
Not asking you to get married or find a significant other; a partner could be someone who can help you to manage time. Let me give you a very real example from any local gym. You can see those people who have a partner to spot them, doing better. A partner motivates you. If you could find someone who has the same interests as you, he/she can push you to go the extra mile.
So, gym buddies aside, what could a partner in crime do for you in the business world? I suspect a lot more than you could think of. One of the tips to time management is a genuine friend who is there to hone your time management skills. If you two have planned something together for a day, your friend could pursue it. He will push you to be punctual and get regular at doing it like clockwork. That’s what a partner is for. Make the right friends at the right department, and you’ve got yourself, someone, to cover the base.
Every person has a biological clock. Some people are active during the day. Others are more productive during the late hours of the night. On a personal note, I think you should develop a habit of waking up early in the morning. That way, you can do more work because you start early. This is one of the best tips for time management in my humble opinion.
Arguably, if you cannot wake up early, find your clock. Identify which hours of the day are the ones you could work at the highest peak. Likewise, what time are you at your lowest low? The time on the clock and the time on your biological clock are two different things. If they are coherent, that’s perfect. If your biological clock has a mind of its own, don’t fret about it. Just adjust accordingly, and you’ll do well.
Alternatively, you can install habit tracking apps on your cellphone. They are a great way of getting things done while being most productive throughout the day. I am not a huge advocate for habit trackers. But hey, if it saves time and helps you to maintain a good habit, then why not give it a shot?
One of the key tips to time management or getting things done is all about prioritizing tasks. If you have numerous things to do, prioritize them accordingly. Perhaps there’s this very important “Ninja Report” that’s due by the end of the week. Get started on it on Monday, instead of waiting until Thursday or Tuesday.
I know it’s hard to prioritize tasks but some people in Agile Project Management do it like a ritual. I know a few guys who are so meticulous at prioritizing things, it’s as if someone is holding a gun to their head. That’s a nice example of sheer responsibility for there.
Are you sleeping for at least six to seven hours per day? Researchers argue that the average human needs at least 8 hours of sleep a day to recover. We either don’t sleep a lot or when we do get a chance, we sleep more than an entire stretch of the day.
Secondly, an excess amount of sleep is also attributed to stress disorders and depression. I like Jason Fried’s philosophy in his bestseller book: ‘Rework.’ Fried believes that a positive middle attitude is all that’s needed to excel in life. Be it time management or a preset number of tasks that you are supposed to follow up on.
As far as sleep’s relation to tips to time management is concerned, don’t stress on overworking. Work at a moderate pace and give your body enough hours to recover. Some people work extra hard. They burn the midnight oil to crank some work, but the body eventually shuts down. I kid you not, you will burn out sooner or later. It happens to everyone. Therefore, don’t mess up your biological capacity to work optimally. Sacrificing sleep is not worth it.
This is a no brainer. If you want to get by with tips to time management, minimize distractions as much as possible. The Pomodoro technique is especially useful in cases where you have a lot of work to do, but you are easily distracted.
The Pomodoro timer is set by-default at 25 minutes interval. Followed by that, you get a 5 – 10-minute break. This way, your brain remains active, and you get to “distract” yourself after 25 minutes of non-stop work. As of right now, Apple and Android users can download Pomodoro apps to get started on tips to time management without any hassle.
Download your favorite Pomodoro technique application today. You won’t regret it.
Weekends are a gold mine of resources for those looking for useful tips to save time. Just like new year resolutions, we make a lot of plans for our weekends. In reality, we wake up late and we are hardly able to do anything until Sunday evening. That’s when the realization phase kicks in and we are reminded of all the hours we wasted during the last two days.
Friday is when you should do retrospective analysis. Think of whatever you have achieved and your plans ahead for the weekend. You don’t have to overdo it. Weekends are not for work. Mind it. You should give time to your family; do some chores and attend other important stuff that is neglected during the business days of the week.
However, do a little bit of work over the weekend. You will still have plenty of time to watch Netflix, read books and do whatever your little heart desires.
How do you manage time when it comes to tips to time management? Do you have anything to add? Please let us know through the comments section below. By the way, bookmark this post. We will be updating is soon with additional and resourceful tips on time management skills.
More than an accounting service
Bank & CC reconciliation,
Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
Financial Reports
Payroll
QuickBooks catchup/cleanup
Invoicing
Compliance reporting
QuickBooks Online
Much, much, more.
+++Business Credit Builder
Save up to $24,000 per year!
Providing the difference in order for you to obtain the best rate and terms for your clients.
We Make It Possible
More Lenders
More Programs
Underwriting Specialist Review
Faster Approvals
Faster Closings
Daily Updates
and more
Close More – Earn More
More Programs – More Opportunity
Find Out More
Contact Us Today
Startup, New Businesses or Personal Use
Funding Up to $250,000
Fund starts in 7-10 Business Days.
680 FICO
Co-signer OK
NO INCOME DOCUMENTATION
100% UNSECURED
BK must be over 4.5 years
Collections, Judgments, Late Payments must be over 12 months
“Please, tell me more about how you’re an expert in real estate because you watch HGTV.” -Someecards
Startup, New Businesses or Personal Use
Funding Up to $250,000
Fund starts in 7-10 Business Days.
680 FICO
Co-signer OK
NO INCOME DOCUMENTATION
100% UNSECURED
BK must be over 4.5 years
Collections, Judgments, Late Payments must be over 12 months
With the technological developments of the Fourth Industrial Revolution impacting how we all live, work and relate to one another, a rapid pace of change is happening across all businesses.
This is doubly true in uncertain times, where organizations in every industry are faced with a sudden need to switch to different working styles and make their business the most resilient and flexible.
It’s a good time to ask how your business can organize its key processes to deliver the best experience for both your employees and your customers.
With the optimal blend of people, processes and technology, you can make your organization the most adaptable to change and in the best position to thrive.
Here are seven organization tips for businesses to help you continue on the right track.
Goal: Streamline your business tech stack to help your team get the job done most effectively.
Technology can boost your business’s organization, productivity and collaboration. However, there is such a thing as too many tools – otherwise known as tech bloat.
When an organization uses far more apps and tools than it needs, it can quickly experience problems from excessive complexity, distractions and security concerns.
If this sounds familiar, it’s time to assess, prune and optimize your business’s tech stack.
To keep your technology ecosystem under control and reap the benefits that cloud apps can offer, establish a consistent set of processes using the apps and functions you need to get the job done.
Set the groundwork in place so employees don’t end up trying to juggle a hundred different things at once on too many apps.
Goal: Instead of expecting constant communication and collaboration from every team member when they’re at their desk, carve out time for every employee to focus on where they deliver the most value.
Staying organized depends on your ability to avoid distractions – which isn’t always easy in organizations that have a culture of constant interruption disguised as collaboration.
Common daily time wasters include: using business tools that are too complex or a bad fit for the job; distractions on social media; and manual data entry on multiple different systems that don’t work well together.
Let’s also not forget about the so-called notification fatigue caused by being bombarded by irrelevant notifications and emails every day.
Here are some of the best ways to get rid of the time-wasters in your business:
Many of the most organized businesses are those that realize that they don’t have to do things the way they always have.
What processes and assumptions can you rethink to make your business more organized and productive?
Goal: Identify business practices that are still managed via outdated systems or tools, and plan how to replace them with cloud-based workflows and apps.
Almost every business is already using some form of cloud technology, even if it’s nothing more than web-based email. But there’s a lot more to the cloud than many businesses realize.
Whether it’s customer relationship management (CRM), data storage or business automations delivered through the web, almost any digital workload can be migrated to the cloud.
With SaaS tools – or cloud-based apps with a subscription model – your business can escape the physical limitations of desktop computers and enable employees to take their work with them wherever they are.
Continue to bring your business further into the cloud and minimize the back and forth that comes with outdated computing environments.
Goal: Create a plan to future-proof your business by embracing different working styles, such as remote working or flexible hours.
From agile startups to enterprises driven by digital transformation, many organizations are already embracing the advantages of different working styles, including enhanced producivity, reduced costs and access to more diverse talent.
But even if your organization is far from ready to enjoy all the benefits of additions such as remote work and flexible hours, making it a long-term priority will help you future-proof your business and make it easier to adapt.
If you’re looking to enable more remote working in your business, here are some tips to make the transition as seamless as possible:
Goal: Look at company-wide, departmental and individual-level goals to ensure that they are broken down into actionable next steps.
It’s harder for your business to stay organized if you set lofty goals that are both intimidating and difficult to focus on.
In every department and job role, determine the most likely way that your team will be able to reach your key targets before breaking them down into actionable next steps.
With smaller and easily measured milestones, your team will be in the best position to stay focused and avoid burnout and confusion.
Goal: Identify what’s causing the piles of paper in your organization and create processes to minimize this.
Paper is a common source of disarray in many offices, but a largely avoidable one. If you don’t already have a digital filing system, then it’s time to build one.
Here are some of the best ways to help your business go paperless:
The more you reduce your reliance on paper, the faster your business will be able to modernize, and the easier it will become to organize your workflows.
Established businesses may have a harder time, since they often still have huge amounts of valuable information in printed documents or on physical digital media.
Start by scanning and digitizing everything and uploading it to a document management system. That’s a lot more organized than having reams of documents and paper receipts piled up around the office!
Goal: Identify what’s needlessly consuming time in your organization and determine how you can use automated workflows to free up more time to focus on what matters.
If there’s one thing that kills productivity above all others, it’s cumbersome manual processes that eat up time and leave workflows open to human error.
Manually importing or exporting data between your email marketing software and CRM might not sound like a big deal at first, until you realize you have to do the same thing with lots of other apps and databases. Eventually, the challenges of scale make it practically impossible.
Sage advice holds that anything which can be automated should be automated. You could get started by automating:
The goal should be to unify your technology systems and processes into a cohesive environment in which everyone on your team has access to accurate and current information in real time, no matter where they’re physically located.
With the right tools and data at hand, everyone in your team can stay organized without getting bogged down in repetitive manual tasks or spending hours trying to track down that one key document.
When there’s so much going on in your business, staying organized isn’t easy. But by streamlining your core processes and looking towards the future, you can meet the challenges of scale and put your business in the best position to thrive in the years ahead.
Author- Lucy Fuggle
Lucy Fuggle writes for PieSync, the two-way contact sync tool for hundreds of apps. She also works with her clients to make their brand matter with a content-rich marketing strategy.
More than an accounting service
Bank & CC reconciliation,
Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
Financial Reports
Payroll
QuickBooks catchup/cleanup
Invoicing
Compliance reporting
QuickBooks Online
Much, much, more.
+++Business Credit Builder
Save up to $24,000 per year!
Startup, New Businesses or Personal Use
Funding Up to $250,000
Fund starts in 7-10 Business Days.
680 FICO
Co-signer OK
NO INCOME DOCUMENTATION
100% UNSECURED
BK must be over 4.5 years
Collections, Judgments, Late Payments must be over 12 months
Whether you’re a solo agent or brokerage owner, you’re probably wondering how to stay productive during the coronavirus outbreak.
At Follow Up Boss, we’re a remote first company. We’ve been working in a distributed team structure since 2011, so we know a thing or two about how to support your team and customers—even when you can’t see them face-to-face.
As a team who’s been living remote work practices for years, we wanted to share our tried-and-tested tips and resources that have proven genuinely useful to our team.
Dress to impress or embrace #sweatslife? Slack or Zoom? There’s no one way to work remotely.
It all depends on your goals and culture. We’ve been remote for over four years and thought we’d share some of our favorite tips that have inspired the remote culture at Follow Up Boss.
We hope this helps you find a few shortcuts to stay productive while you’re out of the office, and maybe even helps you understand what the person on the other side of that video conference might be thinking!
It’s important for me to have a dedicated workspace. I have a desk and monitor for my set up, but for those who are transitioning this could be more of a challenge. I would encourage you to experiment with finding a productive space and leaving it at the end of the day. For example: my neighbor (transitioning to working remotely) unplugs and puts her extra monitor away at the end of the day which helps add some boundaries for the work/life balance.
— Caroline Becherer, Product Support Expert
Try to have a normal start to your day. Don’t just roll out of bed and work.
— Danielle Lloyd, Product Support Expert
Being able to spend time with my family little bits here and there throughout the day is important, so I usually end up taking 2 hours during the day for lunch and other things. I have a hard stop at 5pm. That’s when I do dinner, chores, spend time with the family, run errands, etc… After I put my daughter to bed and spend time with my wife, I will generally hop back online and work for another hour or so (depending on how much fun I’m having with the work at that time).
— Steven Wade, Full Stack Engineer
A good routine is important. Water, breakfast, stretching, supplements, shower and fresh change of clothes, coffee, etc. Taking at least 1 walk every day for 10 minutes or so is also important to me.
— Erik Wantland, Head of Customer Experience
Set small goals and reward yourself for each goal e.g., If I complete 3 sales calls, I get to watch one YouTube video. However, you have to be disciplined in this approach—one video can quickly become 4 or 5. Also, print your schedule and put it somewhere everyone can see. Working remotely is not only a mindset adjustment for you, but for everyone around you. When I first started remote work, I used to stick my daily schedule on my office door. This way the rest of the house knew when I was unavailable.
— Saf Suleman, Senior Full Stack Engineer
Chrome extensions like FlowTime (time blocking), Blocksite (website blocking), and Pocket (website/article saver-for-later-er) do wonders for productivity and avoiding distractions… I occasionally find myself getting up mindlessly, which can easily spiral into loading the dishwasher or other housework that can (and should) be done later. If that tends to bother you, try to get on top of things the night before so that during the day you’re maintaining, not fixing.
— Olivia Shanley, Full Stack Engineer
Take breaks! When working remotely, sometimes I’ve ended up sitting in a chair locked inside for a while, so it’s important to get up and walk a little every hour (thanks FitBit for reminding me!), and maybe take a 10-15 minute break every 2-3 hours. And, get outside!
— Melissa Kayle, Product Support Expert
I have a standup/sit down desk and my productivity/spirit always increases when it is up. Someone new to working at home obviously won’t have this type of desk ready to go. I talked to my brother who is now working from home and he grabbed a box, put it on the kitchen table and set his laptop on it. Stands all day. He loves it!
— Lyndon Bystrom, Customer Success
My husband also works remotely when he’s not on a project site and I think a lot of folks might find themselves working remotely with a loved one during this pandemic. We have found it’s best to have work spaces separate from one another. We take breaks and lunch together, but I don’t need to hear him breathe 24/7!
— Camiel Lawler, Product Support Expert
Have some go-to podcasts, books, music, etc., if you find yourself struggling with motivation, ideas, creativity, productivity. We all get stuck sometimes. Prep for that
— Meghan Porter, Customer Success Team Lead
Personalize your follow ups – At this point, any company or agent who turns a blind eye to what’s happening will come across as tone deaf, or even negligent. Make sure you acknowledge the challenges of shopping for real estate in the current climate and use a supportive tone and message in all your follow ups.
Leverage the phone – If there was ever a time to hit the phone, it’s now. Buyers still want to buy, sellers still want to sell—they just don’t want to have to meet you face-to-face to do it. So send your listing packages via email and be prepared to follow up consistently by phone, text message and email.
Embrace virtual tours – 3D tours have been on every agent’s ‘nice-to-have’ list for a while, but now they’re a bona fide must. Initial investment can be expensive but this may be one of the most important tools to keep your pipeline moving throughout the coronavirus crisis. If the costs are too prohibitive, video walkthroughs using your smart phone are another great way to show properties without having to meet in-person.
Host regular meetings – Make your weekly standups virtual with remote-friendly project management and video tools (we’ve added a list of our favorites below). Give your agents an opportunity to voice their concerns and work together to troubleshoot issues as they arise.
Restrict distractions – In the words of Grant Clayton of 1% Listings, “The hardest part is that you are your own boss, you can do whatever you want. The challenge is to manage your free time because nobody’s going to tell you to go to work in the morning.”
Remote work requires self-discipline. And, if Netflix wasn’t enough, the global health crisis is creating a work-from-home environment rife with distraction. Taking a page from Slack’s playbook, setting up an Announcements channel can help prevent your team members from constantly clicking in and out of the latest headlines so they can stay focused on the task at hand.
Balance high-intensity and low-intensity tasks – Grant keeps his team proactive by setting them up with natural, relevant follow up tasks and scripts so that “they’re not having to deal with non-stop rejection”. Think about the activities that are the most mentally or emotionally draining for your agents (like cold calling) and consider what other options you can offer to help their days spent working from home feel a little easier.
If you’re a Follow Up Boss user, you can customize nurture sequences and Action Plans to let your prospects and customers know how you’ll help them through this crisis and open the door to authentic touchpoints for the foreseeable future.
Use this as an opportunity to get ahead of the curve – In the words of Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman, “The coronavirus has just made the future we’ve been preparing for come sooner.”
There’s no time like the present to try the new, tech-driven ideas you’ve been putting on the backburner. The investments and business transformations you make now may be the very things that put you ahead of the competition once we’re past this thing.
Project Management
Video Calls
Video Emails
E-signature
Virtual Tours
If you’re already a Follow Up Boss user you can access our full list of the remote-friendly integrations here.
At Follow Up Boss, we know it’s our job to help you succeed come what may. We’re taking action to help our customers get their businesses ready for the day COVID-19 is behind us.
There’s quite a bit of change to keep up with, and while we don’t know exactly what tomorrow will bring, you can expect to see the same level of care, attention and service you’re used to getting from us.
The COVID-19 outbreak could change the real estate landscape for the foreseeable future, and both buyers and sellers are going to need help navigating. We’ll continue to share resources and expert advice for helping your customers and positioning your business for success as life returns to normal.
Until then, don’t hesitate to get in touch if you need any help. We’re in this together.
Author –Sam Glover
More than an accounting service
Bank & CC reconciliation,
Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
Financial Reports
Payroll
QuickBooks catchup/cleanup
Invoicing
Compliance reporting
QuickBooks Online
Much, much, more.
+++Business Credit Builder
Save up to $24,000 per year!
Startup, New Businesses or Personal Use
Funding Up to $250,000
Fund starts in 7-10 Business Days.
680 FICO
Co-signer OK
NO INCOME DOCUMENTATION
100% UNSECURED
BK must be over 4.5 years
Collections, Judgments, Late Payments must be over 12 months
Project creep, slipping deadlines, and a to-do list that seems to get longer each day — these experiences are all too common in both life and work. With the new year resolution season upon us, many people are boldly trying to fulfill goals to “manage time better,” “be more productive,” and “focus on what matters.” Development goals like these are indeed important to career success. Look no further than large-scale surveys that routinely find time management skills among the most desired workforce skills, but at the same time among the rarest skills to find.
So how do we become better time managers? There is certainly no shortage of advice — books and blogs, hacks and apps, all created to boost time management with a bevy of ready-to-apply tools. Yet, the most frustrating reality for individuals trying to improve their time management is that no matter how effectively designed these tools might be, they are unlikely to work. Simply put, these tools presume a person’s underlying skill set, but the skills comprising time management precede the effectiveness of any tool or app. For example, would anyone seriously expect that purchasing a good set of knives, high-end kitchen equipment, and fresh ingredients would instantly make someone a five-star chef? Certainly not. Similarly, using a scheduling app without the prerequisite time management skills is unlikely to produce positive time management outcomes.
Fortunately, there is a wealth of research that delves into the skills that undergird time management. Here, time management is defined as the decision-making process that structures, protects, and adjusts a person’s time to changing environmental conditions. Three particular skills separate time management success from failure:
Of these three skills, arrangement is probably the most familiar, especially considering that the majority of apps and hacks deal with scheduling and planning. However, there isn’t the same widespread recognition of awareness and adaptation skills. This raises key questions about how these skills play out from a developmental perspective: Are they equally important? Are some more difficult for people to master? And, are some rarer than others?
To answer these questions, I examined the results from more than 1,200 people who participated in a 30-minute microsimulation designed to objectively assess time management skills. Participants were given the role of a freelance designer, and they had to manage tasks and relationships with clients and colleagues within a communication platform complete with emails, instant messages, cloud drive files, and so forth. Problems they had to confront included dealing with scheduling conflicts, prioritizing client demands, and deciding how to use (or not use) their time.
The evidence revealed several compelling findings.
First, all three skills mattered equally to overall time management performance. Therefore, only improving one’s scheduling and planning (i.e., arrangement skills) ignores two-thirds of the competence needed to effectively manage time. This might explain why it’s so disappointing to try a new tool and then feel like we’ve never really moved the needle toward being great overall time managers.
Second, people struggled the most with awareness and adaptation skills, where assessment scores were on average 24 percent lower than for arrangement skills. This evidence suggests that awareness and adaptation are not only rarer skills, but are more difficult to develop naturally without direct interventions. Additionally, awareness skills were the primary driver of how well people avoided procrastination and adaptation skills were the primary driver of how well they prioritized activities.
Third, the results ran counter to popular admonitions of either the virtues or the detriments of multitasking. A survey after the simulation asked how respondents felt about multitasking. The evidence revealed that their preferences for multitasking (what academics call “polychronicity”) were actually unrelated to time management skills. How well or poorly people managed their time had nothing to do with their preferences to multitask. Thus, the extensive attention so often given to multitasking by those offering time management tricks is unlikely to yield any real success.
Fourth, the evidence was crystal clear that people are not at all accurate in self-evaluating their time management proficiency. For example, less than 1% of people’s self-ratings overlapped with their objective skill scores. Moreover, self-ratings only accounted for about 2% of differences in actual time management skills. These results echo previous work on people’s lack of accurate self-awareness regarding their competencies and how this impedes change and leadership development.
So how might people best prepare themselves to become better time managers? Doing so first requires figuring out where to focus. Taking a deeper dive into your current skill levels is the only genuine way to answer this question. There are three steps you can take to prime your improvement efforts.
Build accurate self-awareness of your time management skills. This can be accomplished by using objective assessments like a microsimulation, seeking feedback from others like one’s peers or boss, or establishing a baseline of behaviors against which gauge improvements.
Recognize that preferences matter, but not how you think. Self-awareness of one’s preferences or personality related to time management, such as multitasking or being proactive, can deepen an understanding of where you might struggle as your change efforts go against existing habits. But remember that skills, not personality, are the most malleable personal attributes and provide the greatest ROI on self-improvement efforts.
Identify and prioritize the skill you need to improve. Although this sounds obvious, the key point here is to avoid self-improvement that is an “inch deep, but a mile wide,” where efforts are spread too thin across too many needs. It is best to prioritize your skill development, focusing on the most pressing skill need first and then moving on to the next.
There are a number of evidence-based tactics for enhancing time management skills. Below are some examples. Again, it is critical to understand that tactics are for developing your underlying skills, which will ultimately improve your time management. Simply implementing these tactics is not the end-goal.
Developing awareness skills. Effectiveness is different than efficiency, with effectiveness being about doing things well and efficiency being about doing things fast. Both are critical. Pursuing efficiency for its own sake is counter-productive.
Developing arrangement skills. Unfamiliar but important tasks often have steeper learning curves and more unpredictable time requirements. Developing arrangement skills is not about organizing your work to better control your life – it’s about taking control of your life, then structuring your work around it.
Developing adaptation skills. These skills are tested and developed in situations that naturally involve high pressure and sometimes even crisis – the challenge is to handle such situations without getting upset, anxious, or distracted.
In this season of personal introspection, why does improving time management remain such a persistent, perennial goal for so many of us? The irony is that we need to become better time managers of our own efforts to improve time management — to prioritize our developmental efforts. This path begins with turning away from the alluring quick fixes and instead toward assessing and building our underlying time management skills before another new year’s resolution reaches its dissolution.
Erich C. Dierdorff is a professor of management and entrepreneurship at the Richard H. Driehaus College of Business at DePaul University and is currently an associate editor at Personnel Psychology
