At Dye & Durham, we’re all about time management. Many of our most valued solutions are focused on giving our clients more time to do what’s most important — grow their businesses, increase profitability, and thrive over the long term. Products like eCore and Unity, whose referral feature saves customers an average of 20 minutes per file, have therefore proven invaluable to our clients.?
That’s because juggling multiple tasks and responsibilities throughout the workday can be difficult, particularly as we prepare to return to the office full-time.?
?Here are some insights we’ve gleaned from our product designs and our clients on how best to stay on top of your workload:?
- Figure out where your time is going. How much time a day do you spend replying to emails or Teams messages? Speaking to clients? In meetings? Brainstorming with colleagues on business development ideas? Completing repetitive data entry? Auditing your time helps you keep track of what hogs your hours every day and to determine what you should first focus on. That’s the first step to figuring out what you can do differently to better manage your time — and how Dye & Durham solutions can help.?
- Create to-do lists. If you’ve got a lot on your plate, make a note of all the things you need to do, putting the most important tasks at the top of the list. Even better, do it the night before, when you’re signing off for the day, so you know what to expect when you come to work the next day. During busy work periods, it can be easy to forget tasks, and a list helps you organize your time and set aside the right amount of time for each one. Which brings us to ...?
- Set time limits. Your smartphone timer is your friend. Give yourself a deadline to get tasks done. Knowing the clock is ticking can often spur you to complete work that you’d ordinarily keep putting off. Of course, there may always be urgent interruptions. If so, reset the timer and get back to the task as soon as those urgent requests are handled.??
- Learn to delegate. We’ve all worked with someone who’s constantly complaining about their workload. These people often won’t delegate. There’s no shame in delegating! If you’re overworked and need help, turn to a colleague for some assistance. If you hesitate because you feel it’s easier to do the task yourself than explain how to do it, take a half hour during a slow day and provide some guidance. It will result in closer collaboration and pay off for your whole team in the long run.?
- Avoid social media during working hours. It’s so easy to get sucked into our phones and catch up on the latest Royal Family gossip, sports scores or last night’s awards ceremonies. Try to stay off social media while at the office; it’s too easy to lose precious hours, making you feel overwhelmed with work when you finally avert your gaze from your timelines.?
- Schedule down-time during the workday. Going from meeting to meeting without time to breathe or absorb what was just discussed isn’t productive. Schedule some time between meetings to jot down some notes, add new information to your calendar or simply take a walk and a bit of a breather.?
- Lean on your calendar. Efficient people put everything in their calendars, not just meetings. Dental appointments, reminders of upcoming deadlines on projects, time blocks when you need that aforementioned breather or when you’ll need to set aside time to complete work all combine to make up your working day. Err on the side of putting too much in your calendar, and ensure you turn on notifications on all your devices so nothing falls between the cracks.?
Let us know in the comments if you have any time management tips that work for you! We’d love to hear them!?
