Time is money and if you manage your time well you’ll make more money. In the business world there are quantitative ways to measure the value of time in a monetary terms, so that when you waste time you are literally wasting money. There are several ways to save time by maximizing efficiency with solid inventory management and making sure you hire qualified workers, but what about each individual worker’s time?

Here are a few time management tips on how to get the most out of each minute.

1. Plan Of Attack

This is not news to anyone that a POA makes accomplishing things easier, but I am amazed at how many people don’t take the steps involved. Write down or outline in your head what you need to do every day. I do mine right before I go to bed, so I don’t stress about anything while trying to fall asleep.

Once it’s on paper it’s part of the POA and I can wake up and start chipping away at it without felling frazzled to get things under control in the morning rush.

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2. Do Not Disturb

You may have the kind of business culture where people are constantly asking you questions. Though this may be a necessary evil most of the time, when you need a little peace and quiet to get some work done, put up a do not disturb sign. Only use it when necessary, as to keep its meaning intact, but use it when you have to get something done under the wire.

3. Delegate Well

Certain people are better at certain tasks. Once you’ve figured out who is best at what—delegate, delegate, delegate. Remember time is money; therefore, more skilled workers need to be spending time on the jobs that only they can do. Your top sales person doesn’t need to be answering the main phone line on a regular basis, they need to be selling your product and communicating with the accounts they manage.

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4. Your Prime Time

Everyone has a different rhythm when it comes to productivity. Mine is from 9:45 am till 2:15pm, weird I know, but after years and years of school and work, these are undoubtedly my peak hours. Figure out what yours are and exploit them.

5. Breaks

Different break time rules apply to different industries, but workers need breaks to rejuvenate. Whether they are assigned or people take them when they need them is up to you, but there will be a point of diminishing returns if workers don’t move away from their station and get their head out of the game for a bit. When they come back they may have a great new idea that just came from looking away from the computer and seeing some trees for 5 minutes. Don’t discount that free time as wasted time.

In the end, not all time is the same. There is clock time, the time that follows the finite rules of the universe, and real time, the time flow in our heads. That said, you can work 8 hours and get 8 hours of work done, or you can work 8 hours and get 4 hours of work done; it’s up to how you approach it!

What time management techniques do you use to stay productive?

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