As a business professional, time is one of your most crucial resources.

Managing it wisely can open many doors, while mishandling it can have dire consequences for both you and your company. Consider these benefits of effective time management along with some tips for strengthening yours.

Improve focus

Multitasking might seem like an effective way to conquer your tasks, but studies show that working on several projects simultaneously can hinder your performance. In fact, our brains can’t actually handle juggling multiple tasks at once—what we’re really doing is switching rapidly from activity to activity. This prevents us from being able to truly concentrate on any single one, ultimately slowing us down.

Instead, work on a single project at a time, carving out separate blocks of your day to do so. This will enable you to give each one your full attention, in turn helping you to complete more work and at a higher quality. Other useful strategies you can try to strengthen your focus include finding a quiet space to work, relegating activities like answering texts or emails to another period, and silencing notifications and other interruptions to create an optimal working environment.

Boost productivity

Learning how to best use your work hours will allow you to finish tasks at a better rate, ensuring you don’t miss deadlines—and even helping you get ahead of them. The key is to prevent your duties from eating up too much of your schedule. As you set time slots for each one, put firm parameters on how many minutes you can spend on them. Otherwise, it may be too easy to become absorbed in minute and unnecessary details, frittering away your time needlessly. Be firm about when you need to move on, and reward yourself as you fulfill your daily responsibilities, such as by taking a few moments to refresh your cup of coffee.

Reach goals

By improving your efficiency, you’ll be more likely to reach your KPIs, enabling you to set new and greater standards for yourself. You can achieve this by carefully planning your objectives, mapping out the steps to achieve them, and scheduling when to work on them. This will show you exactly what you need to do and when you need to do it in order to perform optimally. If you find you have trouble completing all the items on your to-do list, evaluate how many minutes you’re spending on each one, saving this information in a spreadsheet or other document; you could also use a time-tracking app like Clockify or TimeCamp. Then examine the results, being sure to highlight areas where you’ve overinvested your resources—such an assessment can help you avoid focusing too much on any one task in the future so you can get more work accomplished.

Decrease stress

Strengthening your time management skills can make it easier to stay on top of your deadlines and decrease, or even potentially eliminate, work-induced anxiety. The Eisenhower matrix, developed by former US president Dwight D. Eisenhower, is one excellent tool you can try. This method involves dividing your tasks into four quadrants: important/urgent, important/not urgent, not important/urgent, and not important/not urgent. Prioritize the items in the first quadrant, do the ones in the second later, delegate the ones in the third, and eliminate those in the fourth. By clearing your plate of distracting tasks that don’t immediately require your attention, you can feel more confident all the necessary work will get done, thus reducing your overall stress.

Enjoy your free time

Wasted time can often result in additional adverse outcomes. For example, if the hours you put into your workdays don’t produce adequate results, you might fruitlessly log even more hours on the clock, forgoing important personal time. In contrast, if you adeptly manage your schedule, you may unearth beneficial moments for yourself—such as opportunities to get up from your desk periodically to stretch your muscles, enjoy a healthy lunch, or even take your vacation days. By stepping away from the office, you can gain the ability to refresh and recharge so you can return to your work with renewed vigor.

TAKE ACTION:
Track your time to discern how you’re spending it and how you can potentially use it more effectively.