( Master Time Management )

In today’s working world, work-life balance is a concept that is becoming increasingly important. Technology has blurred the lines between work time and personal time, making managing both a constant challenge.

Today, we are constantly interrupted by tools, notifications, emails, social media, and more. In our distraction economy, chaos has become the norm.

It’s nearly impossible to focus on what really matters or know if you’re prioritizing the right work at the right time.

What you had planned for the day fades into the background of high-priority tasks, seemingly urgent messages, and endless notifications.

80 % of knowledge workers report working with their inbox or other communication apps open to keep up with work. As a result, workers are less efficient and messages, actions, and deadlines are more likely to fall through the cracks.

Time management templates can help you reclaim your time and pay conscious attention to your daily routine.

Instead of letting your to-do list dictate how you manage your time, you can apply time management strategies to consciously set daily priorities and focus on the most important work.

There is no one right way to manage your time. In this article, we will look at 18 different tips, strategies, and quick fixes that will help you regain control of your tasks and your time.

However, achieving the right balance is essential to maintaining good mental and physical health, as well as improving our productivity and overall satisfaction. Below, we’ll explore some key strategies for finding that much-needed balance.

One of the keys to motivating and retaining your employees is to ensure a work-life balance: fair working hours that allow them time for their personal projects. Discover some tips to achieve this!

If there is one thing that all employees value, regardless of their position and salary, it is a job that allows them to have a balance between their work and personal life.

Even those who are most passionate about what they do and their professional successes can suffer from stress, fatigue, excessive tiredness and poor performance due to not separating their work day from rest time.

• What is time management?

Time management is the practice of managing your work to ensure that you are using your time as consciously as possible. Time management can increase productivity , but the biggest benefit of effective time management is the ability to properly prioritize your day to make room for rest and self-care.

• The benefits of time management

Good time management strategies will help you organize and prioritize tasks so you can:

• Feeling like you have more time in your day. When you’re conscious about where you spend your time, you’ll start cutting back on unnecessary tasks, deprioritizing work that doesn’t need to be done today, and achieving results in less time.

It’s not that your day will literally have more hours, but you’ll find that you get more done in the same amount of time.

• Set boundaries between work and life time. Improving time management isn’t about squeezing every second of productivity you have at work. Rather, these strategies can help you get the most important work done and identify what work can wait until tomorrow.

By prioritizing the work that needs to be done today and clarifying what work you can put off until a later date, you’re also setting boundaries between work time and your personal life.

• Reduce stress. Without effective time management, it can feel like you never have enough time at work. You may feel like you’re running around solving problems, which can lead to increased stress and ultimately burnout.

In fact, according to the Anatomy of Work Index , 71% of knowledge workers reported experiencing burnout at least once in 2020.

• Improve productivity. There are a variety of time management tips that will help you reduce procrastination and increase productivity. By identifying your top priorities for the day, you will not only be more productive, but you will also be confident that you are working on the right tasks each day.

• Break bad habits. No one wants to procrastinate. But over time, bad habits can add up and get in the way of high-impact work. (Trust us, we’ve been there, too.) Time management strategies can help you identify and break bad habits.

• What is work-life balance?

It is the proportional relationship between the number of hours that people work compared to the time they spend on activities such as leisure and personal care.

How to achieve work-life balance? Achieving this is not easy, especially since it is a joint effort between employees and employers.

In this article we provide useful tips for employees to achieve harmony between work and family, and recommendations for companies, through human talent management, to encourage the policies necessary to make this a reality.

Keep reading!

× Three important facts about work-life balance

Before moving on to the tips and recommendations, here are three key facts that demonstrate the importance you should give to this topic in your company:

• Tips to achieve balance between work and your personal life

×. Set clear boundaries

One of the first things you should do to balance your work and personal life is to set clear boundaries. Define specific hours for working and stick to them.

Disconnect once your work hours are over and avoid checking emails or responding to work messages outside of those hours.

This practice will help you create a mental separation between work and your personal life that will allow you to approach it with greater motivation.

×. Prioritize your tasks

Not all tasks are equally important. Learn to prioritize your responsibilities both at work and in your personal life.

Use time management tools, such as the Pomodoro technique, to divide your day into blocks of time dedicated to specific tasks.

Not only will this help you be more efficient, but it will also allow you to spend time on personal activities that you enjoy.

For doctors and dentists: Keep an organized calendar of appointments and procedures to avoid overloading patients in a single day. Use practice management software like Doctocliq to make scheduling easier and manage your workday priorities.

×. Take regular breaks:

Having regular breaks throughout the day is crucial to staying productive and reducing stress. Take short breaks to stretch, walk around, or just unwind for a few minutes. These short breaks can improve your concentration and help you recharge.

For doctors and dentists: Between appointments, take a few minutes to relax and do breathing exercises. This will help you stay calm and focused throughout the day.

×. Promote a healthy lifestyle:

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is essential to achieving a work-life balance. Incorporate regular exercise and a balanced diet into your daily routine.

Exercise not only improves your physical health, but it also has significant benefits for your mental health, reducing stress and improving your mood.

For doctors and dentists: Make time for light physical activities such as walking or yoga, which can be especially beneficial to counteract long hours of standing or sitting during appointments.

×. Take advantage of the flexibility of remote work

If you have the option to work remotely, take advantage of the flexibility it offers. Remote work allows you to organize your workday in a way that allows you to fulfill your professional responsibilities while still devoting time to your personal life.

Set up a suitable workspace in your home to maintain productivity and avoid distractions.

For doctors and dentists: Consider offering online consultations for certain patients, which can reduce in-person workload and offer greater flexibility in your schedule.

×. Set realistic goals

It’s important to set realistic goals in both your work and personal life. Don’t overload yourself with too many tasks or commitments. Learn to say “no” when necessary and focus on what really matters. Having achievable goals in the short, medium and long term will help you maintain a healthy balance and prevent burnout.

×. Promote personal relationships and hobbies

Making time for your personal relationships and hobbies is essential for your emotional well-being. Stay in touch with your family and friends, and participate in activities you are passionate about.

This quality time and moments of personal connection and enjoyment will help you disconnect from work and recharge your batteries.

×. Practice digital disconnection

In the age of technology, digital disconnection is more important than ever. Set aside time during the day to completely disconnect from electronic devices – at least 12 hours a day after work is recommended.

Turn off your phone, avoid social media, and spend time on activities that don’t involve screens. Digital disconnection will allow you to relax and fully enjoy your free time.

×. The Importance of Delegating and Asking for Help

You don’t have to do everything yourself. Learning to delegate tasks and asking for help when needed can be a very effective strategy for maintaining work-life balance.

For doctors and dentists: Rely on your team and the talent management you are implementing to delegate administrative tasks and routine procedures.

This will allow you to focus on cases that require your specialized attention and will reduce your workload.

×. Delegate responsibilities:

Whether at work or at home, share tasks with your teams and support network; don’t take on all the obligations. This is key to coexistence anywhere.

×. Express yourself:

If you feel like you are doing too much, if you do not have enough time, if you cannot bring order to the chaos, communicate with your colleagues and superiors, and with professionals who can help you.

×. Be flexible:

Understanding that things don’t always happen as planned is key to not burdening yourself too much. Unforeseen events are part of everyday life.

×. Make the most of your time:

The best way to avoid overworking is to spend your time working. Avoid procrastinating more than necessary or putting off tasks that you can do today for another time.

×. Be practical:

When problems or inconveniences arise, don’t waste time complaining or worrying, just get busy! Finding practical solutions and quick solutions often saves us trouble and delays.

×. Learn to say no:

It’s okay to help others or offer to do extra work on top of your current schedule, but don’t overextend yourself. Recognize how much work you can handle and don’t accept when it compromises your time off.

×. Set schedules:

Not only with your bosses, but also with your coworkers and, even more so, with yourself. Determine what time you are going to work and what hours you are going to disconnect to be with your loved ones.

×. Take care of yourself:

Your well-being should always be a priority; give yourself time for leisure and fun every day, get enough sleep, eat well, exercise and give space to your life projects.

×. Timeboxing

Timeboxing is a goal-oriented time management strategy in which work is completed within “timeboxes” or blocks of time. This strategy is particularly effective if you are unsure of how much time to devote to each task and want to approach your to -do list in a more mindful way.

The timeboxing technique helps you break down large tasks into smaller chunks and then finish those chunks within a reasonable amount of time. Each task should have its own unique time block that lasts no more than three hours.

For example, if you need to write a blog post, you can set a two-hour period to write the outline. Then, after taking a break, you can define another three-hour period to begin the first draft. By breaking down the work into smaller chunks, you can make steady progress toward your goal over the course of days or weeks.

×. Time blocking

Time blocking is similar to timeboxing , but instead of scheduling specific time for each individual task, you’ll be setting aside set periods of time on your calendar to spend on related work.

When you use time blocking to schedule your work, you’re effectively dividing your workweek into separate time slots where you can work on projects, communicate with coworkers, take a break, or even exercise.

Time blocking can help you spend more time on deep work and work more smoothly because you can focus without being interrupted.

To create a time block, start by determining what your daily or weekly priorities are. Then, group similar tasks together so you can work on them in a time block.

Finally, try scheduling focus time blocks on your calendar to help you stick to the time block schedule you’ve set.

×. The Pomodoro method

Much like timeboxing and time blocking techniques , the Pomodoro method helps you tackle work in short bursts and then take breaks between work sessions.

The Pomodoro time management strategy is particularly useful because it actively encourages regular breaks, which are good for maintaining intrinsic motivation and are beneficial for the brain.

In fact, research suggests that taking breaks makes people more creative . To use the Pomodoro method, you need a timer, a prioritised to-do list, and a “mute” feature for your notifications.

Start by setting your timer for 25 minutes and try to spend that time exclusively working on one task—avoid checking your texts or social media as much as possible. Then, once the time is up, take a five-minute break.

Ideally, you’ll try to do something physical during your break, like grab a snack or get up to stretch, but it’s okay to check your devices or see if anyone tried to contact you about something important while you were focused on your task.

Repeat the process of working for 25 minutes and then taking a five-minute break four times. Then, after the fourth work session, take a longer break of 20 to 30 minutes.

×. Don’t leave it for tomorrow:

Mark Twain famously said, “If you have to eat a frog, you might as well do it first thing in the morning.” The “Don’t put it off until tomorrow” time management strategy is inspired by this quote and encourages you to tackle long or complex tasks first, before working on less important or less urgent work.

This strategy is especially helpful if you divide your days between regular, daily work and high-priority tasks.With the “Don’t put it off until tomorrow” method, you can make sure you get your most important work done every day.

To get started with this time management strategy, make sure you’re tracking your work and its priorities in a centralized tool. Find a way to connect your daily tasks to company goals .

That way, you can better identify which tasks to prioritize each day and make sure you get those to-dos done first. Then, once you’ve done the hardest work, you can move on to the rest of your work.

×. The Pareto principle

If eating a frog for breakfast first thing in the morning doesn’t sound very appealing, you might prefer the Pareto time management strategy.

The Pareto principle is the opposite of the “Don’t put it off until tomorrow” method. This strategy encourages you to finish simple tasks quickly so you can feel more accomplished and motivated as you start your day.

Often referred to as the “80/20 rule,” the Pareto principle has one key rule: you spend 20% of your time on 80% of your work. If you can complete 80% of your tasks relatively quickly, you’ll free up your workday to tackle the 20% of work that will take 80% of your time.

×. The “Getting Things Done” (GTD) method

The Getting Things Done method was invented by David Allen in the early 2000s. According to Allen, the first step to getting work done is to write down everything you need to do.

By freeing up your brainpower and shifting to relying on task management tools , you can focus on actually getting things done and not have to keep remembering what you need to do.

To use the GTD method, capture all of your upcoming work in one place. Then, once you’ve written down everything you need to do, sort and prioritize your work.

For example, you might have work that you no longer need to do (that you should delete), work that you’ll eventually want to do, but not right now (that goes into a “later” project or folder), work that depends on other tasks, and so on.

The tool should capture all of the details; your job is to take action based on them.

×. Connect daily work with goals

Time management isn’t always about getting all your work done, but rather identifying and prioritizing the most important work. To do that, you need to connect your daily work to team or company goals and identify the most important tasks you need to tackle each day.

But according to a survey of more than 6,000 knowledge workers around the world , only 26% of employees clearly understand how their individual work ties into company goals.

The best way to coordinate work and priorities across all levels of your organization is with a work management tool . With work management, you can connect daily tasks and team projects to company goals, so your team members always understand how their work impacts company priorities.

×. Plan ahead at the end of each day

The workday often feels like a struggle because we’re already behind by the time we start. If you’re the type of person who checks emails every morning trying to figure out what to prioritize that day, you’re not alone.

Luckily, there’s a better way.Instead of trying to figure out what you need to do in the morning, spend the last five minutes of each day preparing for the next day.

This can boost motivation because you know exactly what you need to do each day before you even log in. It’s also a valuable way to make sure you get the most important work done each day.

Instead of reacting to an email or request at 4:30 p.m., you can make sure you get that important work into the next day’s agenda.

×. Audit your tasks

Just like when you say no to work, take some time to review the tasks you committed to doing a while ago and are still working on. Is there anything currently in your backlog that no longer aligns with your team’s goals?

When you encounter these types of tasks, ask yourself if the work needs to be done. If it’s no longer important to your team, consider putting the work on hold.

If the task still needs to be done, ask yourself if you’re the best person for the job, and if not, go through the same delegation process to figure out who would be the ideal person.

×. Forget about writing down to-do items by hand: use a tool

If you’re still keeping track of your work by writing notes by hand, it’s time to upgrade and use an online tool. As satisfying as taking notes manually can be, hand-written to-do lists are disorganized, error-prone, easy to lose, and ineffective.

Instead, make sure that most of your project management is done in a dedicated tool. Project management tools offer a range of features that allow you to make the most of your time. With a project management tool you can do the following:

• Coordinate work across different departments and keep track of exactly who is doing what and by when.

• Stay in touch about work, share feedback, and report project status in one place.

• Track progress in real time to see the status of the job.

• Check delivery dates and dependencies so you can achieve your goals without problems.

Plus, if you think there’s nothing like checking off a task on your to-do list, wait until you see a flock of celebratory creatures fly across your computer screen.

×. Disable notifications

We’re constantly jumping between different apps, notifications, and tasks. In fact, the average knowledge worker uses around 10 apps and switches between them up to 25 times a day.

This makes it harder to focus on the task at hand and start gaining flow, which means work takes longer.When you can, turn off notifications or use “Do Not Disturb” features to temporarily disable notifications.

That way, you can dive into deep work while still letting your team know you’ll get back to them later. Most tools show that you’re not receiving notifications at the moment, so team members will know not to expect a response from you anytime soon.

If necessary, they can usually choose to ignore the feature, so you’re never too far out of reach.

×. Work on quick tasks between meetings or moments of concentration

You probably have a few tasks every day that take you five to ten minutes. Some of these tasks might include providing quick responses to a team member, correcting a typo in a document, or sending a job application form to another coworker.

If you have this type of work, save it somewhere so that it stays in the foreground, such as a project management tool, but don’t immediately work on those tasks.

Instead, save these tasks for those five minutes between meetings or the 10 minutes that come right after lunch while you get back into the swing of things.

Not only will you be able to quickly tackle this work and feel good about doing it, but it also won’t consume valuable mental energy that could be devoted to more complex work.

×. Stop trying to multitask

Simply put, multitasking is a myth . While it may seem like you’re doing more than one thing at a time, when you try to multitask, you’re actually forcing your brain to quickly switch from one task to another.

Every time you switch jobs, your brain needs to find the information and context for that task. Not only does this take more effort than simply focusing on one task, it also strains your brain.Instead of multitasking, try working on one task at a time, so you can gain flow while you work.

You reach the state of flow at work when you are so focused that you feel like you are at your peak performance. When you achieve flow, you can get more work done more efficiently, as your brain is only focused on one task at a time.

×. Take breaks

It may seem counterintuitive, but one of the best things you can do to improve your time management is to take a break. When we feel like we’re behind, our reaction is often to just get more done, but your brain needs time to rest and recharge.

If you’re overworked and exhausted, you won’t be able to get anything done, let alone tackle your most important work.If you find it difficult to take a break, you’re not alone.

According to our research, 32% of knowledge workers who suffer from burnout report that one of the things that fuels their burnout is not being able to switch off.

Because they can’t switch off, they burn out, and when they burn out, they can’t switch off—it’s a vicious cycle.If you have a hard time remembering to take breaks, consider scheduling them on your calendar.

Then, when the break appears on your calendar, force yourself to take it, even if it’s just standing up to stretch. Although it may feel stressful to take that break, you’ll feel better once you do.

×. Conclusion: Balancing personal and work life is not an easy task but it is essential to maintain a good quality of life.

Setting clear boundaries, prioritizing your tasks, taking regular breaks, and fostering a healthy lifestyle are some of the strategies you can implement to achieve this balance.

Remember that the key is to find a middle ground that allows you to be productive at work without sacrificing your personal well-being. Start working on your balance today and enjoy a fuller and more satisfying life!