Common time management mistakes are easily avoidable, and yet we continue to make them because don’t identify them. Once the mistakes have been identified and overcome, we will not only have more time but also have less stress.
Following are a list of suggestions of common mistakes, which we have all been guilty of at some point.
Do not just store it in your head
We have all experience the sense of foreboding that we feel when the idea that we have forgotten something important keeps nagging us at the back of our heads; it is frustrating and gets in the way of critical thinking. It is surprising that more often than not, this feeling arises from not maintaining a to-do list and just storing all our plans in our head. Significant amounts of time may be saved with a simple to-do list, listed according to priority.
Plan a point A to point B
Setting goals is essential to managing your time well; having a goal gives us a destination to work towards and a path to follow. When we know where we would like to be at the end of the day, week, or year, we can manage our priorities accordingly and allocate our time and resources more efficiently. Additionally, having long-term goals helps us realise what is worth spending time on and what is a distraction.
Avoid distractions
We lose a few hours daily to distractions such as emails, Facebook, instant messaging, phone calls, helping out colleagues etc. This clearly prevents us from achieving the ideal workflow – the work we do when we are 100% engaged in a task.
So much as having a chat window open on another tab can distract our mind. To gain control of the day and do our best work, we need to minimise distractions and manage interruptions.
Know the load you can carry
Some of us often enthusiastically take on too much on our plate; this happens more often right after joining a new job. This may come from a desire to impress or an inability to say no to people. Either way, taking on too much can lead to poor performance, stress, and low morale.
Another reason you might have this problem is if you are a micromanager and you insist on controlling every aspect of a project. What usually happens is taking on too much work results in rushed, shoddy work.