Timekeeping Tips

You must manage your time effectively because it's a scarce and limited resource. Timekeeping is the process of allotting time to tasks and performing the work during the allotted time with no distractions.
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Effective time management allows you to complete all pre-planned tasks within the allocated time. Accomplishing more may lead to career success. You enjoy other benefits such as reduced stress, better work-life balance, lower chances of burnout, and more opportunities.

As you may know, a lot of time can be wasted at the workplace. A stat says that employees spend as much as 44 minutes on social media every day. The following timekeeping tips can help promote better time management. Let's get started:

Tip 1: Conduct a time audit to find time wasters

The work environment is riddled with so many time wasters. You may also have personal time wasters that are severely impacting your productivity. A time audit entails scrutinising all the activities you perform on a given day and assesses how much time you spend on them. The goal is to find activities that take away time from the core business activities. Some common time wasters include:  

• Social media;  
• Streaming platforms;  
• Spending too much time on YouTube;  
• Procrastination;  
• Unproductive meetings;
• Prolonged conversations between workers;
• Paperwork and filing;  
• Spending too much time on email;  
• A work environment with lots of distractions;  
• Slow Internet or computers;  
• Lack of motivation and drive to accomplish tasks;  
• Overwhelming schedules;  
• Striving to be a perfectionist;  
• Attempting to multitask;  
• Failing to pre-plan tasks and create to-do lists;  
• Long commute times;  
• Slow systems
  

You should look at both personal time wasters and what's happening in your immediate environment. It's possible to use time tracking apps to carry out productivity analysis and determine how exactly you spend your day.  

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Tip 2: Increase your concentration & focus

A lot of time at the workplace is spent doing other activities except the actual work. The inability to focus and concentrate on completing high-value and difficult tasks result in a lot of time wastage. How can you increase your concentration and focus at work?  

• Start your day by completing the hardest task first;  
• Keep training your brain;  
• Get enough sleep;  
• Exercise as much as you can;  
• Indulge in meditation;  
• Schedule regular breaks after 30 min or 60 min work sprints.  
  
  

Tip 3: Plan your entire week

One of the best timekeeping tips is planning your entire week on Sunday. Start by identifying all the tasks you need to perform this upcoming week. Create events on a calendar app and set aside enough time to complete each task. Leave blank time slots to accommodate new tasks once you begin the workweek.  

Tip 4: Find a faster way to complete a task

Another golden timekeeping tip is to find ways to reduce the time you spend performing specific tasks. You can audit your existing workflow and create better workflows that promote time efficiency. Using workflow software such as WorkPilot can help with creating processes. Additionally, you can also check which activities you can delegate to increase efficiency.  

Tip 5: Be one day early

Are you finding it hard to complete set deadlines? You may find that you are often one day or a couple of hours late. One of the best time management tips is to be one day early. You can further break it down and  try being one hour early, 10 minutes early, and 1 minute early. Once you're assigned a new project, you start it immediately, intending to finish it ahead of the deadline.  
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Setting goals and assigning tasks are crucial elements of effective timekeeping. WorkPilot comes with a suite of productivity tools targeted at the needs of remote teams. Check it out today for free!