Time management is a concept that comes into play in every aspect of our lives daily. How well you manage your time determines how much you get out of your daily 24 hours.
Time is highly sensitive and requires correct allocation in order to achieve set milestones. Effective time management is key to carrying out a set number of tasks within a reasonable time period.
For managers, just about any project has an estimated time period within which it has to be completed. Failure to do this would indicate a high level of incompetence.
To avoid the occurrence of such, there are certain templates that are vital to effectively managing time.
1. Daily To-do List Time Management Template
The daily to-do list is invariably the foundation of every time management system. It is really easy to understand since all it requires is you listing out everything that you’re going to do every single day.
When you make a daily list, it is easy to focus your mind on everything that you have to achieve for that day. If you make use of a continuous list, you might find yourself worrying about the following day’s tasks, so, that’s not a very great idea.
In the absence of a daily to-do list, you might find yourself suddenly swamped with tasks that you didn’t choose yourself. These tasks may take the form of actions that come from meetings or may be as simple as emails.
When you don’t plan your day, it would end up being planned by someone else.
2. Waiting for List Time Management Template
A Waiting For List template helps you keep track of tasks that you delegated. Given your managerial role, delegating tasks to both people above and the ones below you is inevitable.
Therefore, this template helps you keep records of the task that you asked to have done as well as the time period that you allocated. This way, you wouldn’t need to hound the executor and you don’t forget either.
For instance, if you manage a car dealership, you would have to assign sales expectations to your salespersons. This template would help you monitor their progress while they worry about convincing buyers that they are getting the best car deals .
In order to have this template work great for you, you would need to assess and refresh it regularly. This can be done daily especially when you’re just getting the hang of it.
When you get adjusted to using it, you can decide to check only at the beginning and end of the week.
3. Key Result Areas Time Management Template
Teamwork is vital for the perfect execution of any project. Every team has individuals who contribute their own quotas for the team to be effective. Having a weak link within a team can be pretty disastrous and could render the efforts of other team members virtually useless.
Key Result Area refers to the aspect where each individual has to function in order to achieve project completion. For instance, before the food gets to restaurant tables, there has to be a supplier for the raw materials, a chef to prepare the food and a server or waiter to serve the table.
Each person’s duty that ensures food gets to the tables is their KRA. KPI ( (Key Performance Indicator) on the other hand refers to the expected end result which in this case, is guests getting served.
Identifying your KRA is essential for project success.
4. Meeting Actions Time Management Template
Meetings are probably one aspect of your job that you would avoid if you could. However, they are a necessary evil and are simply unavoidable.
One of the reasons that most knowledge workers regard meetings is unnecessary is because they sometimes last long hours.
Also, at the end of the day, it feels like it was all a waste of time with nothing at all achieved.
One of the key causes of this is that the actions are not captured at all. In cases where they are, they may not be sufficiently captured to result in anything significant happening.
The Meeting Actions Time management template headlines actions getting captured. This way, there wouldn’t be any room for excuses.
5. Distraction List Time Management Template
One of the biggest enemies of progress in time management is a distraction. Distraction makes starting a task and completing it in record time damn near impossible.
At the end of the day, you’re left with the feeling that you really didn’t get anything done. Also, having a number of tasks on your plate does not help matters. However, the major source of distraction occurs in the mind, your mind begins to wander and think various thoughts.
A distraction list is designed to help you get rid of your wandering thoughts. It is a simple template that can be left open on your screen or printed and kept on your desk. So that when you focus on a task and varying thoughts come into your mind, you can write them down and just go back to work.
It has been proven to be very effective.
Conclusion:
There are quite a number of time management templates but the five explained in this article are some of the most important ones to take note of.
Properly managing your time is essential for executing any project and these templates would easily guide you on this path.
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