An essential skill to master, effective time management will help you manage your priorities and accomplish more with limited amount of time. The success and failure of a business also lies in the ability of employees to manage their time well. The regular demands of work, relationship and leisure each calls for personal attention. These areas require personal management oversight in order to prevent unnecessary stress and increase productivity. At work, it is likely that you have to juggle with multiple responsibilities. These include the multiple deadlines that you have to adhere to. The key to learning time management in the workplace lies in the following 4 key points.

(1) Understand roles and job scope

You must always understand your own job scope. When you are handed a task, make sure that you fully understand what is expected of you and your colleagues. If any doubt arises, clarify them with your employer. Roles have to be defined to prevent time wasted on completing someone else’s job.

(2) Prioritize

You need to focus your energy on one task at a given time. This gives you the maximum concentration and working capacity to produce a better job. Sometimes, you may end up with unexpected workload when your colleague or superior needs a last minute favor. Arrange your workload in line with the expected deadline and complexity of task. You will find yourself less overwhelmed as you work on one task at a time.

(3) Time Frame

You may have multiples tasks awaiting you to work on but do set a time frame to gauge time needed for each task. Try your best not to exceed the intended period. To do so you will need a high level of self discipline because very often, all your superior expect is for you to submit your work according to the deadline. Try to construct your own schedule for every on-going project with its target date of completion. Cut down on time spent chatting with colleagues if necessary to ensure no time is wasted.

(4) Get it right the first time

While you work on multiple deadlines, ensure that you produce quality work so that you won’t need to execute a correction on the completed task. This wastes precious time and energy.

As Helene Malmsio from Time Management in the Workplace website says “Ensure that you have a clear idea of what you need to accomplish in your working day and be realistic! You will do yourself no favours by trying to complete a week’s worth of work in one day. All you will accomplish if you try this technique is a big ball of stress in your stomach and a head ache to go with it.”

Learning time management in the workplace is actually not difficult. It may take time but once you’ve mastered the necessary skills, you will feel less pressured and be able to work better.