Time Management: How to Stay on Top of Your Tasks and Make the Most of Your Time

With everything you’re probably juggling on a day-to-day basis, how well do you manage your time? If you’re like many people, you’re likely caught up in the world of being busy. Use these 3 tips to effectively use your energy in the right ways and to make the most of your time.

Tip #1: Keep a To-Do List

Keep yourself on track by prioritizing the tasks on your list. Many people use an A – F coding system (A for high priority items, F for very low priorities).

Be specific in your list, especially if you have large projects. Otherwise, the entries for these can be vague, ineffective and lack specifics that might cause you to procrastinate, or miss key steps. Instead, break large tasks or projects down into specific, actionable steps – then you won’t overlook something important.

Finally, be specific when it comes to your referral partners and teams. Know exactly what you need to do with each person to keep a strong relationship and the referrals coming in.

Tip #2: Set Personal Goals

Personal goal setting is essential to managing your time well, because goals give you a destination and vision to work toward. When you know where you want to go, you can manage your priorities, time, and resources to get there. Goals also help you decide what’s worth spending your time on, and what’s just a distraction. The ‘SMART’ goal setting method is a simple and effective way to set and achieve your goals.

Tip #3: Effectively Schedule Tasks

Are you a morning person? Or do you find your energy picking up once the sun begins to set in the evening? We all have different times of day when we feel most productive and energetic as well as different demands on our time.

Make best use of your time by scheduling high-value work during your peak time, and low-energy work (like returning phone calls and checking email), during your “down” time. Does having conversations with your referral partners take energy or energise you? What time of day do you find the most success in having these conversations?

The key is to find the right time for you to reach and actively engage with your network. Once you determine this, schedule it in on a daily or weekly basis.