Do you think you are managing your work time correctly?, or you think that by doing some different actions you could have more time for yourself without losing work effectiveness?

Good time management is a very powerful tool that everyone (Or the majority) we have at our fingertips and that knowing how to handle it correctly results in greater success in carrying out the activities, what contributes to greater personal satisfaction, among many other benefits.

Eternal meetings for problems that could be solved with a simple email, projects constantly in the redefinition phase, processes too long… In short, manual and repetitive tasks that contribute little to the final result. do they ring a bell? Are the causes and consequences of poor time management at work.

Then, it turns out that in the end the collaborators end up having longer and longer hours, they do not have work plans, they focus on the tasks that must be done without thinking about the objectives that are sought or they do them in a hurry. they are stressed, tired or irritable from thinking about what remains to be done and end up spending more time on work than they should.

Desde Virtual Remote Partner, as an organization that was born with the idea that people always come first, We support each of the actions that contribute to our collaborators feeling in the best possible way when facing their work day.. And one of the things that greatly influences achieving that satisfaction is being able to "manage" time in the best way and feel happy with the results., both in work and personal life.

What should you do?

• Separate your tasks according to their priority or importance: There are important tasks, other urgent (Or both at the same time) We recommend you read about the Einsenhower Matrix and put it into practice. There are also tasks with low priority that can be postponed, but that does not mean doing it forever, so it is important to always make them a time slot, and there are others that depend on someone else's work or influence someone else's. For everything it is important to organize how you will carry out your tasks and not do it without a plan behind it.

• Set time slots for everything (including dispersion times): when you organize your day, think about how much time you want to spend on each activity, this should not be followed to the letter, but if it helps you optimize your tasks even better. Include rest times in this planning, dispersion or that you will use during your day for topics that are not specifically labor.

• Write and take note of everything: You should always have your agenda at hand, cell or wherever you choose to take note. Do not leave to your memory the task of remembering everything that was said or thought during the day, what, although some notes seem useless, they can always be useful to remember something that you may be forgetting. Visualize what we have yet to do (a deadline, a call or a visit) makes us more efficient in undertaking this task.

• Create a Check List: This list can be related to your daily weekly or even permanent tasks. It is that place where you can go back to look at what you have done and what things you still have to do. Even in a process that you do every day and you think you know by heart, it is useful to check that you have done it correctly.

• The delegate removes it: Learn to delegate tasks (if you can do it). Do not burden yourself with a thousand things that you think only you can solve and trust your colleagues. And if you can't delegate, stop to think about how fundamental that task is and analyze if it can be eliminated or if it is necessary to carry it out.

• Schedule specific time for tasks you don't like: Most of us, as much as we love our work, we will have tasks that we do not like to do. It is important to set aside the time to do them. The best moment is the one in which you feel most productive and you feel most eager to work. This will make it less heavy and you will get better results.

• do one thing at a time: this looks easy, but it´s not. It is proven that being multitasking ends up producing delays instead of contributing to the optimization of time. start something, finish it and just move on to another task. It goes without saying that there are times when for some reason you cannot continue an activity you are doing and in that case it is okay to move on to another task while the first thing is resolved, but in general it is not a good habit that you should acquire.

• Ask for help when needed: For many this is very difficult, and for others not. Asking for help to do something that would otherwise take much longer is essential in managing your time.. There are times when it is worth spending a few hours solving for yourself something that a colleague could have solved in minutes and other times when it is not.. Here it is a matter of understanding when it is necessary to ask for it. Do not waste time looking for a solution that you cannot find because you have been blocked.

• Before you end your day, take a few minutes to fix the next day: What better than starting your day with your clear tasks? At the end of your day, take a few minutes to think and list the activities for the next day.. So when you sit at your desk everything will flow much better. review the schedule, the dates, the schedules, and thus you will avoid contingencies.

• Work ahead and plan (at least) your week: This point is applicable in some cases and not in others., but if you can do it, do it. Don't work over the hour, in a hurry, or risking getting to finish something. This will only cause you stress., impatience and a negative adrenaline. Think at least about the tasks you have to do in a week and organize yourself accordingly.

• Know your most productive hours: We all have a peak time when we are most productive. If you know that your strength is the first thing in the morning, exploit it to the fullest, so that your performance during the day is balanced. Organize the tasks that require more concentration, the hardest or the ones you like least for this moment.

• Find balance with meetings: Whether your work is remote or not, meetings can sometimes break the concentration you had on doing something specific. Take them into account in the organization of your day and do everything possible so that they do not coincide with heavy tasks that you do not want to interrupt.. Try to coincide so that it is mostly at times that you know are comfortable for you and you can pay full attention to them.

• Value the time of others: Remember that you are part of a team and a chain, so you if your work is not done in a timely manner, or how it had been planned, you can harm a colleague and his organization of tasks. Remember that teamwork is essential for meeting objectives and you are not a loose link in the organization. Value and respect everyone's time.

• Avoid eternal gatherings: Plan the meetings. Either using a dashboard or whatever you find most useful. It prevents both you and others from going "by the wayside" and the meeting ends up lasting much longer than expected without having added value. That doesn't mean there won't be talk, dispersion or anecdotes within it, but surely following a board will help make it more efficient.

• disconnect: Set schedules for technology and your possible distraction. We spend a lot of time on social media, messaging apps, etc. Establish a time for its use during your day and respect it.