Career Advice

The Most Common Time Management Mistakes, and How You Can Overcome Them

Glassdoor Team

Glassdoor Team | Author & Career Expert at Glassdoor | 2 Feb 2018

We’ve all experienced the gnawing anxiety associated with rushing to meet a deadline or realising you’re going to be late for an important meeting at one time or another. From the CEO to the intern, trying to get everything done in a specific timeframe can seem like a daunting (and often, impossible) task. But if you regularly experience this kind of rush, or the stress that comes from missing deadlines, then it may not be a problem with your workload – instead, the problem may lie in your ability to effectively manage your time. Time management is an important skill for professionals at all levels, regardless of whether you’re an entry-level employee at an international corporation or a small business owner. In fact, recent research from ICIMS in the UK suggests that 48% of hiring managers consider time management to be a crucial soft skill in prospective employees. If you’re a job seeker, then it could be a huge advantage to be able to demonstrate effective time management among your skillset. Luckily, if you’re one of the many people who struggle with this skill, there are ways to improve your time management. Whether it’s incorporating commitment devices into your daily schedule (for example apps that prevent social media access for a set time) or learning to effectively delegate tasks to your employees and colleagues, there are concrete steps you can take to better manage your time. Drawing on some of the latest research, we decided to examine three of the most common time management mistakes and look at ways you can overcome them. So, let’s dive straight in:

Not knowing what needs to be done

To effectively manage your time, you need to start with a clear and consistent understanding of which tasks need to be completed, and by when. To achieve this, we recommend a brainstorming session where you list everything that needs to be completed, including both personal and professional projects. Do not worry about filtering the tasks initially, just get everything down (either on paper or via a digital application). Capturing potential stressors and tasks in this way ensures you’re not taken by surprise by anything, and allows you to start the process of scheduling and prioritising in an effective, structured way. Once you have your unfiltered list, you can begin to group items together and prioritise them. Grouping works particularly well, as research shows that our brains can only handle about seven options before they begin to get overwhelmed. Similarly, the paradox of choice states that increasing the number of choices we have increases our negative emotions. To avoid this, break your to-do list into individual projects, life or work areas and various other categories so it feels far more manageable. This also has the added benefit of making large projects feel more approachable, as you being to break them down into smaller tasks. To overcome the paradox of choice, start to schedule each project to specific days or blocks of time, so you know exactly what you should be working on at any given time. If you want to, you can begin to move your newly created to-do list over to your calendar, building in blocks for time for specified projects.

Saying Yes Too Often

If you regularly find yourself with more work on your plate than you can comfortably handle, then chances are you may be making this common mistake. Most people find it difficult to say ‘no’ to a request, particularly if that request comes from a manager or from a client. If your boss asks you to do something, it can feel impossible to tell them you don’t have the resources to do it. However, an ability to say ‘no’ is particularly important when it comes to managing our time, and those who struggle with time management are often guilty of saying ‘yes’ too frequently. When you agree to take on a task, you’re making a commitment – and it’s one you should be taking seriously. Saying ‘yes’ means committing time, resources and action, and taking on the responsibility for ensuring the task is completed on time and to an acceptable standard. This commitment impacts your other tasks and projects, and can quickly disrupt even the most carefully planned schedule. Keep in mind that making decisions, focusing on projects and dealing with problems draws on a finite resource within the brain known as executive function – the more you use it, the less you have available for other tasks. If you can learn to pause when a request is made, and weigh up how it will affect your current schedule, commitments and projects if you say yes, then you can start to feel empowered in saying ‘no’. Not only will this improve your time and project management immensely, but it will show those requesting your time that you respect them (and your current workload) enough to only commit when they will get your full attention.

Procrastination

It would be fair to assert that all of us have experienced procrastination at one time or another, and as a result it’s one of the most common causes of missed deadlines, slipping schedules and work-related stress. Creating a schedule for each day, week or month should go some way to helping you overcome serious procrastination, but if you still find it’s a problem there are a couple of steps you can take. Firstly, you can utilize commitment devices – simple processes that help you commit to and focus on your current task. This might be as simple as software that turns off your internet access for a set period of time, or leaving your phone at home to remove the temptation of checking your Facebook or Instagram account. Think of Odysseus tying himself to the mast of the ship to resist the siren’s song in Homer’s The Odyssey, or Chinese general Han Xin positioning his soldiers with their backs to a river so that retreat was not an option – these are commitment devices (although you don’t need to go quite this far!). Another useful tool is the so-called ‘two-minute rule’, which asserts that you should do any task that can be completed in two minutes or less immediately. This approach can be extremely effective in clearing your to-do list of simple, quick jobs like replying to emails or making short phone calls. It can also be effective in helping you engage with bigger projects, particularly if you’re having trouble starting. For example, let’s say you need to write a 1,000-word post for your company blog, but you’re having difficulty engaging with the task. Just commit yourself to writing the first paragraph or an opening line – a two-minute task that you can do write away. Not only does this make you feel like you’re making progress, but it overcomes the most difficult element of the project – getting started. You would be amazed how often this can lead to completing huge chunks (or even entire tasks), as once you’ve made a start you have avoided the initial temptation to procrastinate.

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Glassdoor Team

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Blog Home Career AdviceThe Most Common Time Management Mistakes, and How You Can Overcome Them

The Most Common Time Management Mistakes, and How You Can Overcome Them

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