The Human species are a massive source of energy and creation. History and life have unfolded through our numerous discoveries and inventions. There is no stop to what we, as humans can achieve. Right from the invention of the Wheel to the revolutionary formulation of the Artificial Intelligence (AI), we have surely come a long way. But how exactly did all these extraordinary innovations come to life? Through simple planning and task management. Any exceptional idea can easily go down the drain if not planned and implemented rightly. Let’s look at it from a more relatable perspective. You wake up one day without any idea of how your day is going to look like, will it be easier for you to start your day or go right back to sleep? Mankind craves some sort of mission and vision in order to set foot into a new day with energy and motivation, which is why task management forms the very core of every human’s life.
However, lack of vision and focus, or even procrastination can cause disruption in our flow and stop us from achieving all the goals that we have set, regardless of it is personal or professional. Sometimes spending more than the required time on a particular task can also shift the balance. There are umpteen other reasons that forbid us from utilizing the 24 hours we have in a day fruitfully. Performance management at an organisation revolves closely around measuring the results than how one time is spent. It becomes important to keep track of the time and the actions we perform during those productive hours.
Let’s go through 5 simple tips and tricks that can help with efficient task management irrespective of where you stand in your personal or corporate environment and maximize your productivity and well-being. It is important to keep in mind energy and potential whilst following these tips.
Finding peak productivity
Firstly, there is only so much we can do in a day as our energy is limited. There might be certain hours of the day when you feel your most energetic self and times during the day when you hoard on caffeine for strength, you might be a morning person or even a night owl. You might have certain corners around your place of work where you love to sit and work and other cosy corners where all you want to do is just sleep. Hence, it’s extremely vital to identify these factors, knowing where to work and when to work and understanding how your work ethics will automatically increase productivity and reduce wastage of time.
Plan and prioritize
The natural first step towards any activity is planning. It helps you conduct your tasks systematically and without any hassle. Hence, the first thing to do is to create a scheduled to-do list that caters to your work style and productivity periods. This is where you can utilize your creativity! Maintain hand-written journals, doodles and colours or use customizable digital planning apps. The more eye-appealing they are, the more motivated you would be to carry out the tasks on it.
Schedule
We often have a lot on our plate. From meetings to personal goals to last-minute tasks to be completed as a result of procrastination. You could easily accomplish all and stick to remain stuck in this cobweb of rushed and desperate work and not pay enough attention to your growth and long-term goals.
Learning how to schedule tasks is one of the most important task management skills. So, how do we do it accurately?
- Approach tasks realistically and set due dates accordingly.
- Have a clear-cut distinction between your short-term and long-term goals. Remember, your short-term goals are nothing but the journey that leads to your destination (Objectives).
- Give equal importance to personal as well as professional milestones.
- Put the same level of care and diligence you show towards your life into your personal life, hobbies and loved ones and strive to maintain a decent work-life balance. It is also crucial to understand that there will be days where the percentage of importance might shift, and one requires more effort than the other.
Be Flexible
Customizing a well-defined task list and adhering to it is an ardent trait to possess but understanding that there can be possibilities where a particular plan might not work for you, or some other work might come up that requires your urgent attention is especially important. Every so often, your existing corporate goals might not be in sync with the current market trends and would require tweaking.
Hence, being open to change at all times will prevent you and your team from lagging behind in terms of growth and accomplishments.
Use goal-setting frameworks
SaaS products such as the OKR software can help align your goals and create measurable goals that work for you and your team. It allows you to track your progress and outcomes as well. The OKR management software facilitates growth and agility individually and within teams.
Conclusion
Maximise Productivity at work by planning and prioritizing our goals. Goals with detailed tasks and plans always succeed. While breaking it down as a task it becomes easy to deliver and track. It is essential to keep track of our goals by making them simple and breaking them down into tasks. Balancing and reviewing the task will help us work better together and become more organized.
