Do you want to get more done every day in your firm? Given that you have a fixed number of hours to accomplish everything, the only way to achieve more is to improve your overall time management. While a time tracking software is one of the easiest ways to improve time management in your firm, there are a few other tips that can help you accomplish more each day.
How to Improve Your Time Management Skills
Here is a simple five-step mantra to help you get started in the right direction when it comes to improving your firm’s time management.
-
Set Objectives
It’s important that you set objectives and goals for your day, week, month, and year. This helps you stay focused and makes sure that you give yourself completely to the task at hand. Any objectives beyond the daily ones are likely to change over time, but it is important to write them down and monitor them as you go.
You should also learn to set milestones for your bigger tasks. Do you need to finish an assignment or a project? Break it into smaller steps and schedule a deadline for each. This will help you concentrate on where you are, rather than worrying about how much there is to do and allows you to analyze whether you are making progress.
-
Prioritize
Now that you know what your objectives are, you must learn how to prioritize your activities. Until you understand the difference between "important" and "urgent", you will constantly switch from one task to another, instead of taking each in turn and fully completing the work.
Always make a to-do list for your day, outlining the most important tasks for that day. Try to limit yourself to two or three major items per day. After you have completed these tasks, you can devote yourself to other responsibilities, working steadily to get through your activities in order.
-
Remove Distractions
If you examine your daily routine, you will find activities that waste your time.
Focus. Close all unnecessary windows on your computer, mute any distracting incoming messages and work with your apps in full-screen mode to further eliminate distraction. By moving your visits to extraneous sites into your scheduled breaks, you can save an amazing amount of time and accomplish more than you imagined possible in a single day.
-
Be Productive, Not Busy
It’s important to understand the difference between being busy and being productive. Every task can be completed in many different ways, so make sure you choose the most efficient one, rather than the one that only makes you look like you're doing lot of work!
Efficiency is something that improves over time and is a learning process. Keep your eyes open for ways to work smarter, rather than harder. Don't forget to watch for the latest tools and updates to your existing software.
-
Say No at Times
One of the most common causes of overwork is the inability to refuse a polite request. You must learn to say "No" when colleagues and clients ask you to take on another task and you're already too busy. Be polite, but firm...even with your boss.
The more experienced you become at estimating your workload and how much you can handle, the more your colleagues and clients will trust your judgment. They'll learn that you're not refusing their request because you're stubborn, but because you know you won't be able to give their work the attention it deserves.
Time management is an essential skill that you must master in order to achieve success. It will also help you reduce stress at work, build your self-confidence, and take control of your workflow. Follow this simple five-step mantra above until it becomes second nature to you, and you'll find you can achieve more in less time!
Better Time Management with BQE CORE
Now that you know some time management tips you can start implementing right away, let’s talk about what you can do to help manage time better in the long run. Spreadsheets and outdated software do not help your time management. In fact, they just make things worse. The whole idea of time management is to save time and better manage your projects and profitability. BQE CORE can help.
CORE is an all-in-one dashboard that provides easy time and expense tracking, project management, billing and invoicing, and accounting designed for architects, engineers, and other professional services. While you implement the above strategies into your daily time management, take advantage of software that is designed to make things easy for you and your team. Get detailed real-time insight into projects and your employees’ hours. Never spend time fixing errors again when you have a smart platform that handles all the numbers for you. And best of all, it makes time entries such a breeze you won’t have to hound your employees to input their time again.
Try a free demo today to see just why the AE and professional industries are all moving to CORE.
