How to manage your time effectively?
We have often heard the proverb that ‘’time is money’’, however it may happen to most of us to not manage time well, and therefore to have to work overtime to finish certain tasks.
Probably, you will tell me, where is the problem with working more hours, if we have to finish some tasks and why is it necessary to manage the time well?
We live in a connected century where everything is accelerated and every minute is counted. In addition, time is a rare resource and everyone has the same amount of time, while some people know how to manage it wisely, others waste it.
Therefore, the most productive take advantage of every moment and know how to bring the most added value to themselves and those around them, while others who procrastinate and waste this resource may feel depressed and ineffective.
It is essential to know how to manage the time well and in an efficient way, because this brings not only financial gains, but also satisfaction and self-pride.
The good news is, there are several methods we can use to improve our time management.
In this article, I will present to you three methods which could help you to better manage your time and especially to ban certain expressions like ‘’oh my God, I still have these tasks to do and I have to finish them today’’ or ‘’I did not manage to do this work or to read this book for lack of time’’…
The three methods to know to better manage the time
Method 1: ALPEN
This method of German origin is recommended to organize an efficient working day.
It was created by the German Lothar J. Seiwert, an expert in time management to help people organize and manage their days better.
This method recommends to plan the identified tasks on only 60% of working time for each person and to keep 40% of the remaining time to manage unexpected tasks.
Concretely, how should this method of time management be applied?
Every day, the tasks to be performed should be organized assuming a realistic duration. For this, the ALPEN method suggests to follow these 5 steps:
- A – Alle Aufgaben : it's necessary to list all the tasks (todolist) to be carried out.
- L – Länge : it's important to estimate the duration of each task to be done. Of course, this duration should be realistic.
- P – Pufferzeit : it's necessary to identify the time slots for each activity, these time slots should also be realistic.
- E – Entscheidungen : once all the tasks are listed, it is necessary to sort them in order to identify if some could be delegated or postponed.
- N – Nachkontrolle : the purpose of this last step is to evaluate the efficiency of the planning by looking at the progress of the tasks that were identified to be carried out in order to better plan activities for the next day.
Method 2: Eisenhower's Matrix
This method, which aims to prioritize the tasks to be done according to their urgency and importance, was developed from a quote from Dwight D. EISENHOWER, the 34th President of the United States.
The quote says: “What is important is rarely urgent and what is urgent is rarely important”.
Concretely, what does this matrix look like and how can we apply it to better manage our time?
This method classifies tasks according to 2 axes: urgency and importance. It makes it possible to identify those to be realized, planned, delegated or deleted from the to-do list (see matrix below):
Method 3: PARETO's law
PARETO's law or the 80 -20 rule, is a law created by Vilfredo PARETO, engineer, sociologist and Italian economist.
This law demonstrates that 80% of the most significant results / impacts are the product of 20% of the causes, and only 20% of the results are the consequence of 80% of the effort. This law can be applied to all areas: project management, time management, environment, finance ...
To apply it in time management in order to gain productivity, it is important to know how to prioritize your activities for each working day.
For this, it is advisable to prioritize the tasks by reflecting on the result vs. the effort to be provided, thus starting the working day with actions having 80% positive effect and added value and leaving at the end of the day the activities with only 20 % impact.
The proper application of this technique requires knowing how to say no to non-essential tasks or knowing how to delegate them if performing them is necessary.
Conclusion :
As already mentioned at the beginning of the article, there are several methods that help people to manage their time in an efficient way, but no matter which method you choose, it is essential to be disciplined.
Article written by Sara MOUDRIK HORN