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Task Management Tips that Work

Do you ever feel like you need more time in the day to get stuff done? Between the demands of kids in school, a full time job and trying to keep your house from looking like a pig pen, there’s just never enough time to do it all well. Many people talk about time management and look for ways to fit more things into the time between sunrise and sunset. But maybe it’s not about needing more time; maybe we need to adjust our thinking and better manage our tasks instead.

I am no expert on getting things done, but I do have a few tips that make it possible to juggle some of the things that I have going on. Maybe some of these tips for task management will help you get more out of your day as well.

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Task Management Tips that Work

Set Limits on each task

Some jobs are time drains. For those tasks that can eat up time by the hour instead of just a few minutes, set a deadline and stop when that clock goes off. Let’s face it… some jobs are just never going to be done. They are just ongoing tasks that must always be done, but will never be finished. Don’t fall into the trap of spending your entire day doing something that isn’t essential to life.

Prioritize your tasks

There are some things that have to take priority over everything else – even if they are not the most important thing on your agenda. Look at the things you have to do each day and decide on priorities. If you are the responsible party for getting your children off to school, then having clean clothes and something for breakfast has to be at the top of the list. If you know there is a deadline for a particular task, it must be done first. Things that are high priority are not necessarily the most important thing you will do, but they still have to be finished on time.

Work Ahead

As a blogger and social media community leader, I often have sponsored posts or reviews that are due on a certain date. I don’t want to end up late for a deadline, but I know that life often gets in the way of my best plans. It’s the same thing in the public work force. We never know when something unexpected will come up and cause us to completely lose control of our schedule. We can minimize the negative impact of the unexpected events by working ahead. If you know you have 2 weeks to complete a task, get it done the first week. We’ve all heard the phrase “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today”. If you get it done today and just put it on hold till the due date, you won’t have to worry if life gets crazy.

Work Smart – Not Hard

There’s something to the concept of working smart – not hard. True, you have to work hard in life, but you don’t want to spin your wheels working hard if you could get the task done a little easier way by working smart. Can you streamline a process at work? Is there fat that can be trimmed that will make your work more efficient? Is there a new computer program that will help you get the job done easier? Just because you have always done a job a particular way does not make it the most efficient. Periodically talk to someone that you trust and ask them for any ideas they have to make your job more efficient.

We all have responsibilities that demand our attention. But if we spend all our time working and spinning our wheels, we won’t have time for the things that make life special. Let’s work smart and be efficient so that we can accomplish our tasks and then have time for family and friends.

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