Many people understand that productivity and time management are related, but it is not always clear what the connection between the two is. People always ask how time management improves productivity. We will look closely at that question and answer it for you. We want to ensure that everyone who walks away from reading this has a deeper appreciation of the connection between the two concepts.
Why is time management important?
How is anything supposed to get done if you don’t manage your time wisely? We are all given the same 24 hours a day, but some people opt to manage their time more closely than others.
Those who are effective at managing their hours can often squeeze more out of their day than those who don’t. As such, you ought to put time management productivity at the top of your list. If you control how you manage your time, you can control how much of your time is left over for activities you want to enjoy. You get more leisure time, and this will likely make you a happier individual overall.
How is productivity measured?
If you wanted to be very specific about how productivity is measured in an economic sense, you could look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ definition of productivity. They say that productivity is the number of goods and services produced compared to the amount of input that was required to produce those goods and services. This sounds like a fairly straightforward mathematical calculation, but it is often more complicated than that in the real world.
In some jobs, the measure of productivity workers are put under is very straightforward and mathematical. You could take the well-known way that a company like Amazon takes to measure the precise productivity of each employee that works there. Their methods have drawn criticism, but you cannot deny that they are all about managing time and measuring it against productivity.
Most companies and situations don’t go to the same extremes Amazon has gone to with this program. However, it would be best if you still understood that time management is critical to the amount of productivity that you get out of anything. There are even leisure activities that you could measure for productivity if you wanted to. For example, you could measure how many pages of a book you can read using different time management techniques. It all comes down to using proper time management to get the most out of any activity that you are attempting to get through.
How does time management improve productivity?
Think about the hours you spend on different activities throughout people; you; probably give yourself too much slack on c like most people, certain things. You think you are more productive than you really are, and you don’t realize the time wasted on activities that do not truly add value to your life. Sadly, we are all guilty of this to some extent.
We may lack a certain emotional intelligence about how we spend our time. We want to think that we are using our time in one way, but we are using it completely differently. We think that we don’t spend over two hours per day on social media, but that is what the averages break down to. There is no way that those averages could exist if it weren’t because most of us spend that much time on social media (or even more time!). Thus, we must rethink how we spend every hour of our day.
When we take the time to break down our day into attainable goals, we step in the right direction. You may use the SMART goals system to help yourself reach the goals you are hoping to hit. Those goals are all about accomplishing things that it is reasonably easy for you to accomplish. They should be:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Relevant
- Time-Bound
You want to ensure that what you are trying to accomplish is worth your time. You need to take time management into account to make it happen, but you also want to make sure you have structured your day so that you don’t burn out. It would be best if you spent spend on goals that you reach. Otherwise, you will fall short of your full potential, and you will regret that you didn’t focus more on time management. You do have the ability to accomplish more in your day than you even realize, but it is always going to take a concerted effort on your part to make it happen. I don’t think that any of this is going to be easy.
Once you get your head around the idea that you will face struggles and challenges along the path, you are finally ready to start exploring some ways to use time management to improve your productivity.
5 time management tips to increase productivity
1. Set Clear Goals And Expectations
Before you get started, you should know your personal goals and expectations for yourself. There is no reason why you should fly blind and make this process any harder than it needs to be. If you know what you are shooting for, hitting it won’t be so challenging. You must be honest with yourself about your goals and why you are aiming for those specific goals. You don’t want to take a chance of missing your goals simply because you weren’t paying attention to your real targets.
2. Write Down What You Are Aiming For
There is power in making a written list all by itself. You may not realize it, but you have already taken a big step in the right direction by simply writing down everything you were trying to achieve. Thus, you ought to prioritize this when you are working on how you will increase your productivity and see better results for yourself overall.
3. Break Down Big Tasks Into Smaller Goals
One way to help your brain handle the biggest tasks you need to take care of in your day is to break them down into more manageable pieces. When you focus on creating smaller tasks you know you can handle, you will likely get more done.
“There is no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs”
4. Don’t Forget About Your Breaks
Taking breaks doesn’t mean you aren’t being productive; it just means prioritizing your mental health. You need to ensure that you include breaks into your schedule so you don’t end up in a position where you burn out just trying to take care of your basic responsibilities. It is easy to get yourself into a rut like that, but you can overcome all this by remembering to prioritize your breaks and take them as needed. There is no reason why you can’t do at least that for yourself.
5. Share Your Accomplishments
A big way to stay on the right path with time management is to make sure you share your accomplishments with others and get positive feedback on them. As silly as it may sound, we rely on those feedback loops to keep us motivated.
There are many reasons to prioritize time management, but the increase in productivity has to be considered high on the list of reasons to do it. Make sure you consider reorienting your life to put time management into a prime position.
