12 Time Management Tips

1. 12 TIME MANAGEMENT TIPS Shannon Mouton Gray Marketing and Communications Strategist

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3. The plan provides an The plan provides an overview of how the overview of how the day should flow. day should flow. Your job for the day is Your job for the day is to stick to the plan. to stick to the plan. Plan your day before it Plan your day before it begins to unfold. begins to unfold. 1. CREATE A DAILY PLAN 1. CREATE A DAILY PLAN (c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

4. Keep work from Keep work from dragging on and eating dragging on and eating into time reserved for into time reserved for other activities. other activities. Be clear that you need Be clear that you need to finish Task X by to finish Task X by 10am, Task Y by 3pm 10am, Task Y by 3pm and so on. and so on. Let colleagues know, so Let colleagues know, so they can plan they can plan accordingly. accordingly. 2. SET A TIME LIMIT TO EACH TASK 2. SET A TIME LIMIT TO EACH TASK (c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

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6. 3. KNOW YOUR DEADLINES 3. KNOW YOUR DEADLINES o Mark the deadlines in your calendar. o If you’re leading a team, then you will need to know their deadlines as well. (c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

7. Your personal deadlines Your personal deadlines should be earlier than should be earlier than the project’s deadlines. the project’s deadlines. When you target to be When you target to be on on- -time, you’ll either be time, you’ll either be on on- -time or late. time or late. Target to be early and Target to be early and you’ll likely be on you’ll likely be on- -time. time. 4. TARGET TO BE EARLY 4. TARGET TO BE EARLY (c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

8. 5. ADD 5. ADD- -IN NIGHTMARE TIME IN NIGHTMARE TIME o Account for it and give yourself more time BEFORE you set a deadline. o Almost everything takes longer than anticipated. (c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

9. 6. FOCUS 6. FOCUS o Concentrate on what you’re doing. o Being present on the task at hand helps to avoid simple mistakes. (c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

10. Use the “do not disturb” Use the “do not disturb” function on your office function on your office phone. phone. Close the multiple tabs Close the multiple tabs in your browser. in your browser. Silence your mobile Silence your mobile phone’s notifications. phone’s notifications. 7. BLOCK OUT DISTRACTIONS 7. BLOCK OUT DISTRACTIONS (c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

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12. Know the difference Know the difference between busy work and between busy work and productive work. productive work. Don’t procrastinate, do Don’t procrastinate, do the hard tasks early in the hard tasks early in the day. the day. Put first things first and Put first things first and let go of the rest. let go of the rest. 8. PRIORITIZE 8. PRIORITIZE (c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

13. Be a team player, not Be a team player, not the whole team. the whole team. Let the writers write, the Let the writers write, the coders code and so on. coders code and so on. Share the work. Share the work. 9. DELEGATE 9. DELEGATE (c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

14. 10. GIVE YOURSELF BUFFER TIME 10. GIVE YOURSELF BUFFER TIME Leave 5-10 minutes between tasks to catch your breath and to shift gears to the next activity. (c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

15. 11. PLAN AHEAD 11. PLAN AHEAD Prepare for the next day BEFORE you leave work. (c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

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17. Don’t fret over a missed Don’t fret over a missed deadline, it’s done, deadline, it’s done, move on. move on. Refocus Refocus. Update the . Update the team, timelines and team, timelines and schedules as needed. schedules as needed. Learn the lesson and Learn the lesson and don’t do it again. don’t do it again. 12. RELAX 12. RELAX (c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

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19.  Shannon Mouton Gray Shannon Mouton Gray  ShannonMoutonGray.me  shannonrmgray@gmail.com  @ShannonRenee  Linkedin.com/in/shannonmoutongray (c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018