Don’t let the day run you - choose to run the day instead!

If you have been working in an office you must have heard this quote - either you run the day or the day runs you. And, quite rightly so. People who don’t have control over the tasks and work they are supposed to do during the day simply end up wondering where did the entire day go. As a result of this, they are always running after the clock.

Do you also find yourself doing the same? Do you run the day or does the day run you? If the latter is true, then you definitely need to break the shackles and take charge of your time.

How can you do this? Well, that’s precisely what we are going to discuss here. As a professional with close to seven years of experience I’ve had my share of battles with time management. Thankfully though I’ve reached at a point where I can proudly say that I don’t let the day run me. Here is a list of things that I practice to achieve this -

"Focus more on work and less on management. Start using a project management software. "

1. Sleep on time

A good night’s sleep is the key to a productive day.

I’ve been following a strict sleeping routine for years now. I sleep at 11 and wake up at 5:30 in the morning. Trust me - this has been the best change I’ve brought in my life ever.

Sleeping on a fixed time brings a sense of uniformity in your life. Plus, this gives you a chance to maximize your morning time as well. You can create a schedule and follow it once you know the number of hours you have before going to work or getting busy the the chores.

So, you can plan your entire day and make every second of the day count!

2. Always have a to-do list

My second mantra for a productive day is to always have a to-do list with me. While a simple pen and paper can do the job, but I’d still recommend using ProofHub because of the added features that you get in it like marking tasks on calendar, adding other collaborators to your task, fixing a start and end date for tasks and many other such features.

When you have a task-list scheduled for the day, chances of any surprises popping up and turning your day into a nightmare are minimized. You can keep your sanity intact throughout the day, without having to worry about any uncertainty.

This can prove to be great for people who always have too many things on their plate. Rather than working on random tasks, you can eventually prioritize your hours, your day and your entire routine.

3. Track your time

One of the biggest ironies in life is that we think we have time, only to realize that we have wasted quite a lot of it on things that did not deserve the attention and time we gave.

It has happened with all of us that while being engrossed in one task we forgot to keep track of how many hours we have spent on it, only to realize that there is little time left for the other important work. Wouldn’t be lot easier if you had an already set estimate about how many hours you need to spend on it and used a timer to track the number of hours and minutes you are investing on a task?

That’s what I follow here at ProofHub, and make sure that my team follows the same as well. By knowing the details of how we are spending our time, we are eventually able to get the best out of every second we spend at work!

4. Use technology

I am a firm believer in the fact that technology can do things which we humans cannot. This is the reason that I leverage technology to the fullest when it comes to work. In fact I have personal list of productivity apps that I use daily to get the best out of every moment at work.

From automating my social media posts to keeping an eye on what my team members are up to with the help of Reports, and Workflows and Kanban boards in ProofHub, technology makes my daily activities a lot easy.

And, the fact that with every passing day you get to see so many new productivity apps being rolled out, it can be a smart idea to stay updated on tech trends and choose the apps and tools to stay on top of your time!

What might not look like too many, following these four simple and easy steps could bring the sense of change you have been looking for in your life.

They have worked amazingly well for me, and I’d suggest you to give them a try in your work life, and see how they work out for you. All the best!

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Vartika Kashyap runs the marketing team at ProofHub — a project management software for teams of all sizes. She is a seasoned marketing professional who is an expert in digital marketing and entrepreneurship. She’s been featured among LinkedIn’s Top Voices for the year 2016 & 2017. Connect with Vartika on LinkedIn, Medium and Twitter.

Also follow our company page @ProofHub to get the recent updates about our tool, published articles, motivational quotes & presentations.

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