Time management is the ability to use your time productively and effectively.  Good time management skills enable you to work smarter, not harder and accomplish more in less time. 

Improving your time management skills gives you the ability to manage your time, prioritise work, and plan efficiently.   Failing to manage your time causes stress and overwhelm and creates a feeling of not having enough time in the day

Essential time management skills include prioritising, delegation, goal setting, and planning.  Good time management skills help you prioritise, lower stress, and be more productive on your most important work.

Time management helps you manage distractions, prioritise your tasks, and increase your productivity ensuring you have enough time available to complete your most important work.  Improving your time management skills also ensures you organise, plan, and prioritise your time effectively. 

Good time management skills can help you reduce stress, set better goals and take control of your time.   Good time management skills will make you more productive, helping you increase your energy and focus.

In this article, I’ll share eight tips to improve your time management skills. 

Read also: The top 10 benefits of time management

How to improve time management skills 

Try some of these 8 tips to improve time management.

1. Track your time  

Tracking your time is an essential time management skill.  Time tracking is a time management technique that helps you keep track of your time for a specific period. 

When you track your time, you can understand where your time goes, rather than where you think your time goes.  Time tracking helps you identify how many hours you work and where you spend your time.

Analysing your time ensures you spend more time on your biggest priorities and helps you eliminate time wasters.  Tracking time ensures you spend your time on your most productive activities.  Learn how to improve your time management. 

2. Organise your time 

Improving your time management skills help you become more organised and productive.  Good time management skills enable you to work smarter, not harder, so you can structure your time to focus on your  most important activities.

Organising is one of the essential time management skills because it allows you to plan your day, meaning you feel clear and focused about where to invest your time.  Being organised also provides direction for your day. 

Organisation skills also extend to your mind and your environment.  When you have too much going on, it creates complexity and overwhelm.  When you have too much stuff on your desk, you can feel scattered and cluttered.

By keeping your mind and environment organised, you can save time and feel more focused.  Learn more about how to stay focused.

3. Create a schedule 

Planning is one of the essential time management skills because it enables you to schedule your biggest priorities each day.  When you identify your most important activities and schedule a time to work on them, you can increase your productivity and get more done. 

To effectively manage your time, try scheduling your biggest daily priorities and allocate time for each one.  Ensure you schedule time for breaks and time to review your performance at the end of the day. 

Get my essential tips for daily planning. 

4. Prioritise effectively  

You can improve your time management skills by prioritising effectively.  When you prioritise your time and most important activities, you can be more productive and get more done.  

Prioritisation helps you identify and focus on the activities that will move you closer to your goals.  Prioritisation also helps to allocate your time and ensures you don’t get overwhelmed with tasks. 

By prioritising your most important work, you can take control of your time and increase your productivity.  Discover the best prioritisation skills.

5. Set better goals  

Goal setting is an essential time management skill.  When you master goal setting, you get greater clarity about where to spend your time to achieve the results you want. 

You can start improving your time management skills by setting measurable goals to work towards every day.  Having measurable goals with a clear deadline helps you prioritise and focus your time.  When you have clear goals to work towards, you can manage your time better. 

Setting goals gives you a measurable objective to achieve.  Having goals help you identify your priorities and allow you to manage your time accordingly.

Having goals allows you to prioritise, plan better and organise your time around your most important work.  This clarity and direction improve your time management skills, enabling you to focus and be more productive. 

Get the ultimate guide to goal setting.

6. Plan in advance

Time management is the process of planning and organising your time to achieve the result you want.  An essential element of effective time management is planning your time.  When you plan your time, you gain clarity on the best use of your time.  

Weekly planning and daily planning will help you take control of your time.  Use weekly planning to identify your priorities for the week, ensuring you feel focused at the start of the week.  You can also use daily planning to set your goals for the following day.

Planning gives you direction and focus and helps you be more productive at the start of each day.

Use my weekly planning guide to manage your time better. 

7. Focus your time

Effective time management requires a shift in focus from activities to results.  When you focus on results your time management improves because you look for the simplest and fastest route to achieve your results.

When you are clear on the results you want to achieve, it’s easier to focus and manage time effectively.  You become clearer on the important activities that move you closer towards your goals.  This ensures you don’t get distracted and waste time on activities that don’t help you achieve results. 

Read more about how to improve your focus.

8. Take breaks 

Start improving your time management skills by taking regular breaks throughout the day.  If you feel overwhelmed and tired during the day, better time management starts with taking breaks.

Taking a break from your work can help you be more productive and increases your energy and focus.  Taking breaks also ensures you manage your time more effectively and reduces overwhelm.  

To keep your energy high, try to take a ten-minute break every hour and take an hour’s break during the day.

Summing up

There are many benefits of improving your time management skills.  Improving time management lowers stress and increases productivity.  You can improve your time management by delegating tasks, prioritising work, and creating an efficient schedule.

When you develop good time management skills, you can work out your goals, plan your day, and focus on results.  With better time management skills, you can avoid multi-tasking and make your day more productive.

Now I’d love to hear from you

What’s your number one time management skill? 

What’s your biggest obstacle to managing your time well? 

Let me know in the comments.

Time management articles 

10 benefits of time management

7 simple tips to overcome distractions 

8 time management tips to manage time effectively 

The importance of time management: 10 ways it matters

Productivity: Tips on how to be more productive 

About the Author

Mark Pettit is a time management coach based in Colchester, Essex, UK.  He is the Founder of time management coaching company, Lucemi Consulting. 

Mark provides time management coaching programs to business owners and entrepreneurs.  He works with clients in London, Essex, Suffolk, East Anglia and across the UK and US. 

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