August 28, 2015

11 Warning Signs of poor time management

Do you have more to do in the day than you do hours to do them? Are you on the go from the time you wake up to the time that you crash back into bed? Do you feel particularly tired this week?

All these symptoms may be attributable to poor time management!

To be a skilled time manager, you must focus on being effective. There is little point in completing a lot of tasks if they are not the right tasks that are going to help you achieve your objectives. “A skilled manager gets the right tasks done; anything else is just poor time management” (Coaching Positive, 2015).

_Focus_on_being_Productive_Instead_of_Busy_

The below list covers the most common signs for poor time management and their effect on you:

  1. Poor punctuality
    • Constantly late to appointments or to complete tasks. You accept too many tasks or are unable to assign sufficient time to your activities; -this negatively impacts the quality of your relationships with your peers.
  2. Rushing
    • Constantly rushing signifies you have not allowed sufficient time to complete tasks and meet expectations.
  3. Impatience
    • Can result from feeling under pressure from having failed to meet a deadline. You have not allowed sufficient time to complete a task and you find excuses (blame others, technology, the cat!).
  4. Poorly defined goals
    • Clearly defined goals will help you be able to prioritize. Priorities are essential to ensure you complete tasks on time.
  5. Procrastination
    • Putting off what you need to dowill lead to stress and poor performance.
  6. Poor performance
    • Poor time management will result in you missing deadlines, productivity decline and an increase in backlog.
  7. Lack of energy
    • Constantly falling behind and having to work harder to catch up will make you feel depleted.
  8. Perfectionism
    • Spending too much time preparing and making sure everything is perfect that you either fail or tasks take too long to be achieved.
  9. Indecisiveness
    • You spend an excessive amount of time considering all the options which result in little being done.
  10. Saying “yes” to everything
    • If you’re constantly doing things for others, you don’t have time to do things for yourself.
  11. Doing everything yourself
    • Are there tasks that can be delegated, automated or outsourced? These tasks need to be identified and removed from your workload.

Regardless of the quantity of work you complete, if you are experiencing these symptoms, you are likely to have poor time management practices.

This blog will help you take better steps towards becoming a more skilled manager with 6 Time management steps to better health.

Reference:
http://www.coachingpositiveperformance.com/11-symptoms-poor-time-management/

picture credit: http://www.quietmillionaire.com/time-management-techniques-to-control-time-is-a-waste-of-time/

Compiled and written by Melanie Sarian for Links Marketing

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