Wasted Time

Whether trying to fulfill family needs or finish an important project on a tight deadline, our lives are often constantly busy. If we could make days last forever, we would have time to do everything! While longer days would be nice, the truth is that many of us are wasting time letting the hours roll by. When that happens, it is important to step back and evaluate exactly how we are spending the valuable time that we have.

If you are trying to catch up with your own life, take a few minutes to read through the tips below to see if you can apply some of them to help ease the stress. At work, these tips may increase your efficiency and leave you thinking you've got too much time on your hands!

***Some bonus fun: See how many hidden song lyrics you can find in this blog that have to do with time! Hint: Include the title and the first two paragraphs. Email Bethany.Watts@Maryland.gov with your guess and to receive the correct answer!***

Make a to-do list

Some days, I think I'm out of my mind thinking about time wasted on going from one task to another over and over again. Lists are one of my favorite strategies to organize those tasks. Lists allow you to write down your goals in one place so you don't have to wrack your brain to remember what comes next. If you start each day with a prioritized list, your day becomes much easier to plan. When sudden changes occur in your routine, you stay calm and confident knowing that you can always come back to your list without forgetting what you were doing.

Not only is it a one-stop-shop for your to-dos, but a list can also bring a sense of accomplishment. It's one of the most satisfying feelings to cross off different tasks as you complete them throughout the day. While a pen-and-paper list might not be your favorite way of keeping track of what needs to be done, there are a multitude of apps on both Iphone and Android that can serve as your to-do list. Check out a few of them and choose which one works best for you!

Todoist App

Wunderlist App

Evernote App

Establish a routine

Before you can begin to think about establishing a routine, you need to first be aware of how you spend your time. Instead of ticking away the moments, take two or three days to simply evaluate your habits every half hour or so and write them down. Do you spend 15 minutes in the morning to sit and have a cup of coffee, then another 15 minutes checking emails? How much of your work day do you spend trying to track down a tool? What about chatting with coworkers time after time? Once you've determined how you currently spend your time, you can figure out what is working and what is not. From there you can find small ways to change each time interval for the better, like having your coffee while checking emails each morning, or using 15 minutes at the end of the week making sure the maintenance shop is well organized rather than spending 30 minutes each day searching for tools.

Respond to the 15 statements on this MindTools.com evaluation to see if you should take a closer look at your time management!

Delegate

Delegating can be a challenging task for many of us, despite the fact that we work with other very talented people. If you are in a position to give tasks to other staff members, take advantage of that opportunity! Asking for help or delegating a project to someone else when you already have a full workload not only helps take some stress off of your shoulders, but also shows that you trust your coworkers and employees with a task that is important to you.

Don't Multitask

For many years, organizations would frequently ask in job interviews if potential candidates were good at multitasking. Most of us would happily answer yes to that question because of how accomplished we feel after completing a task that requires doing more than one thing at a time. In reality, we are not built to do a large number of things at one time - at least not well. Click here to read more details!

In each of the tips above, organization plays a key role in time management. Staying organized in your physical space - your office, maintenance shop, truck, desk, etc. - can help lead to better organization of your brain and your time. I hope you had the time of your life reading this blog, and can use some of these pointers to create a better daily routine!