Trying to manage things at work? There’s a simple solution for that!
Having too much to do and too little time? Feeling as if you’re born to juggle at work? It’s challenging, I know, but you just can’t let your work go, right? So now is the time when you should finally realize to give it a structure; you need to manage your time and thus your work.
What’s this management all about? Let me explain! It’s about striking a work-life balance, when you’re going through those overstuffed days; when you’re working your a** round the clock to get things done on time. Well, at this point, an amalgam of your own wisdom and technology can really help. From my perspective, the latter, if used the right way, can help you achieve your purpose much easily. Why? Because your work basically revolves around tasks and time. And, to automate these processes, a software would be an excellent tool.
In fact, in a study conducted by Software Advice, a project management technology review firm, 64% of buyers want a project management software to increase organization and workflow efficiency. Further, the report tells that 40% buyers want to improve tracking and reporting capabilities using a PM software. Here’s the detailed snapshot:
As far as the features of a PM software are concerned, it is found that more than 60% of web-based project management buyers requested for task management and time tracking capabilities in the software. The graph below depicts what has been reported by the study:
This clearly depicts the importance of time and work management along with scheduling and deadlines. So let’s discuss here, how can one achieve more and better at work with a project management system and a few efforts of their own.
Strategic planning : You need to structure it
You start with a task that you think you’d do in just an hour or so, but are unable to finish it till the end of the day. And, you’re like — where on earth did the time go? Well, its gone! Not because the job was way too difficult, but because you didn’t plan the way to do it. While on the other hand, on any given day, when there are multiple things to be done, planning should have be the first thing you should have done.
You might have heard this before, but trust me, it really works! Even a few minutes spent on planning can be much more than a rewarding investment. Make a list of what has to be done and then set the order in which it should be executed. Using a PM tool like ProofHub, one can easily create a to-do list in which tasks can be added. Further, you can break large and daunting tasks into smaller chunks by creating subtasks. Also, task priorities can be set using labels. As simple as that!
Say no to distractions: Be brutal
No, you don’t have to be rude to someone, but you can always tell people that you’ve got your own work to do first. Remember that you cannot do just everything all the time; one thing at a time would help you accomplish things better. Try to avoid those interruptions — emails, calls, etc. You need to distinguish what’s important and what’s urgent.
Keep things centralized: Access easily
Finding that lost conversation you had with your client 10 days back? Searching for a folder amongst hundreds of others? Well, get centralized; you need a hub! Using a PM tool, you can keep your data such as files, discussions, notes, etc. in just one organized place. So you don’t have to spend hours searching for the right file amongst heaps of data.
Schedule it: If you really want to get it done
Unless and until we’re given some deadline, we are mostly procrastinators, right? Human nature; can’t help it! To avoid this, you can add estimated time for tasks and set delivery dates. Put key dates as events and milestones on your calendar, so that you know when you’re going to do it. More than 40% of project management buyers asked for scheduling capabilities in the software, as per the report generated by Software Advice, which clearly shows its importance.
Delegate: The right work to right people
Often, you have a lot going on. In such situations, I would recommend you to distribute the tasks among your team members. Resource management, which is requested by 27% of PM software buyers, is therefore another crucial feature. Not only this would reduce your workload, but would also help in finishing the job on time. See that which task should be best done by whom because the way you delegate the work, has a direct impact on the productivity of your team.
Track: To stay updated and focused
Whether its you alone or a whole team working together on a project, keeping track of what’s done and what’s behind schedule is critical for project success. A software with time tracking feature can help simplify this process. So you and your team can update the time spent on tasks done. Also, Gantt charts are an extremely useful way to see how project tasks are progressing according to the planned schedule. Apart from that, project reports are used by managers to track work progress. However, using an online PM tool with automatic reporting feature could better save time and effort than generating manual reports.
Transform your work life
And finally, with all this done, surely you and your team would be more productive and efficient at work and would be able to accomplish project goals much easily.
