Presented at SMPS PRC and SMPS Oregon Education and Mentorship Events, by Jessica Biel and Haley Malmberg, CPSM

Don’t get caught in a swell of proposals, blog posts, and emails. Take a breath and learn 10 time management hacks to make life easier and work more efficiently. Whether you’re new to the field or a seasoned veteran, these tools will help you ride the wave of success

1. Overcome Barriers

Whether you’re working from the office or from home it’s easy to become distracted by people dropping by your desk or that pesky pet strolling across your laptop. Here is how you can push through these barriers to provide for a more effective workflow:

• Stop Multitasking—on average this leads to a 40% drop in productivity.
• Remove Distractions—once distracted it can take 15 minutes to refocus yourself on the original task.

• Defeat Procrastination—do your LEAST favorite task FIRST and get it over with.

2. Techniques to Manage Time

If you know you need to manage your time better you’ve come to the right place! Here are strategies you can use to stay organized and on task.

• Time Blocking—in the morning look at your calendar, pick 2-3 priority tasks and schedule time for them.
• Set a Timer—this will push you to make your time count and be realistic on how long tasks take. When the timer goes off you can move on or reassess how long you need to finish the task.
• Set Routines—a routine will help you stay organized. One routine to get in the habit of is ending each day with a wrap-up. What did you get accomplished? What’s on your to-do list—and your calendar—for tomorrow?

• Accept it’s impossible to get everything done!

3. The Calendar

• Start the Day with your Calendar versus Email: instead of diving into your inbox first thing in the morning look at your calendar first. This prepares you for the day and prevents you from getting distracted and bogged down in your inbox.
• Email to Meeting—send emails that require action to your calendar as appointments, this dove tails nicely with time blocking.
• Overlay Calendars—use this calendar function to overlay your schedule with others, this helps to see where the available times to meet are.

• Dock the Peek—this allows you to always keep your calendar in view, even when you are checking those pesky morning emails.

We are all given the same 24-hours a day to get everything we need to do done. Master your calendar and harness the power of scheduling to keep yourself accountable with each task, and get the most out of your time.

4. Managing Expectations

• Remember our earlier tip…it’ impossible to get everything done! Managing expectations of what you can and can’t do will make projects easier for yourself and everyone involved.

• Communication is Key – frequent communication in different forms is essential. Remember, we only remember between 25% and 50% of what we hear.
• Make No Assumptions: talk about end result, so everyone is clear on the end goal.
• Ask Good Questions, e.g. “is there anything you need from me to get this done?”
• Over Communicate: document, follow-up, and check-in frequently.

• Pushing Back is OK—come ready with suggestions.

5. Meetings

• Meetings are important to collaborating with our coworkers, but sometimes we’re left thinking “that could have been an email.” Avoid leaving your team feeling like they wasted their time with these tips:

• Schedule Shorter Meeting, e.g. 30 minutes. While this may seem extra short, it will push all parties to feel the time restraints, cut the chit chat, and get to the important details.
• Stick to the Clock—start and end on time.
• Set Clear Expectations—send materials in advance using an agenda with action items and follow-up plan.
• Stand-up Meetings (5-15 minute meetings)—keep meetings short and to the point.

• Keep Calm and Stay Focused—use a “parking lot” flip chart for off topic/side conversations, these may be important but not relevant to the topic at hand.

6. Tackling Email

• Love it or hate it, email is a great way to connect with coworkers and is the primary way most professionals communicate. However, email can also be distracting, so here’s tips on how to harness the power and efficiency of email more effectively:

• Schedule Email Time—set aside approx. 15 min. twice a day to tackle your inbox and reply to emails
• 4 D’s of Email: delete, delegate, defer, do (if it’s less than 2 minutes).
• Turn off Email Notifications—these are distractions throughout the day and will pull you away from tasks you are working on. While it may seem like you are getting more done by replying right away, remember it tasks 15 minutes to refocus after being distracted.

• Keep Emails Clear and Concise—1 to 5 sentences and 1 subject per email.

7. Keep Things Organized

Organization is the key to saving time in the future. Follow these tips to stay on track:

• Electronic Filing—file for retrieval and limit number clicks to 3: folder, subfolder, file
• Clean Desk—removing clutter helps increase productivity and boosts creativity.

• Software Tools—does your company need a CRM? Employees spend 1.5 hours a day looking for things; with a $20/hour rate, an individual will spend more than $40,000/year looking for things!

8. Destress to be More Efficient

Keep Calm and Avoid Stress! 80% of us feel stressed out at work. Use these tips to help feel more zen:

• Give Yourself Extra Time—set the clock 10 minutes earlier in the morning and add time buffers before/after meetings on your calendar.
• Get Up and Move Every Hour for at least 2 minutes—sit for no more than 20 minutes at a time and stand for no more than 8 minutes.
• Stretch Your Eyes—look away from the computer or get blue light glasses.

• Take a break—watch a funny viral video, grab a snack, or pour yourself a cup of coffee. Avoid burn out by taking small breaks to relax and refocus.

9. Tools

Time management is made easier with technology. Here are some of our favorite tools for tackling time management:

• Zoom
• Project Management/Task Manager: Trello
• Document Sharing: Quip
• Scheduling: Doodle
• Family Calendar: Cozi

• Password Manager: LastPass

10. Create a Work/Life Balance

• Focus on the things that matter!
• Look at ways to manage your time, so that your life is filled with more of what equals your success and happiness.