By Georgi Todorov
Time management is a multi-billion-dollar industry. Countless books and gurus are advising you what to do. And there are even apps to push and prod you in the right direction.
But which methods really work? These eight tips are tried and tested by some of the nation’s top business execs.
1. Plan your work the night before
Brian Tracy, Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, is a renowned speaker and best-selling author on self-development, leadership, and time management. One of Tracy’s top tips to having a productive day is to plan your work the night before. “By writing down your goals before you go to sleep, you will think about the things you need to do and mentally prepare yourself to do them before you even wake up the next morning,” he says.
Write down your list of tasks and sort them by priority. This will help you get tasks completed quicker, plus you’ll feel empowered when you’ve completed them.
2. Wake up earlier
According to research, the most productive time of day for most people is often early morning. If you’re a morning person, then consider waking up earlier to start work. This can often be a quiet time of day when you can complete a lot of tasks without interruptions. Jeff Immelt the former CEO of GE, and Indra Nooyi of Pepsi, are known early risers.
Pro tip: Rather than shocking your body into sudden 5 a.m. starts, ease yourself in gently by setting your alarm clock 20 minutes earlier one day at a time.
RELATED: Sleep on This: Well-Rested Employees Make for a Safer Workplace
3. Assign email time
When it comes to managing emails, top executives have found it best to set aside a dedicated time slot to work through their inbox.
Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, has a system he calls, Yesterbox. Rather than dealing with each email as it arrives, he lets them stack up in his inbox. Then the next morning, before handling anything else, he works his way through the previous day’s emails and clears his inbox. This way he doesn’t get interrupted throughout the day.
Guy Kawasaki, chief evangelist of Canva, offers a more dramatic method: “Every time a close friend or relative dies, throw away your inbox in their honor and spend time with your family. You’ll be amazed that not answering most email has no negative effect.”
4. Learn to say “no”
Learning to say “No,” in a polite way, of course, can be a huge time-saver. Most of us are naturally inclined to say “yes” to requests, but if you say yes too often, you may find yourself overwhelmed with appointments and meetings that are preventing you from completing more important tasks.
In 1982, Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr., published In Search of Excellence and suddenly found themselves having to respond to a lot of requests. Peters had to change his mindset so he could survive. He says that today, “I’m damn good at saying no.”
5. Leave work on time
Keeping a healthy work-life balance is important if you want to avoid burnout. Knowing when to call it a day and switch off is something that Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, has practiced all through her career. There will always be things to work on, but most of them will still be there in the morning. As Sandberg says: “You can only do so much.”
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6. Do one thing at a time—don’t multitask
If you still believe in the myth of multitasking, then it’s time to move on. Multitasking isn’t impossible, but only 2% of the population can pass this online multitasking test. In fact, studies have found that multitasking reduces your productivity by 40%. Tony Schwartz, CEO of The Energy Project, advises that you identify one key priority to accomplish every day, and begin your day with that important task.
7. Tune out
So how do you avoid interruptions and focus on one thing at a time? In the book 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management by Kevin Kruse, Dustin Moskovitz, co-founder of the productivity app Asana and Facebook, advises picking one day a week where you and your team can focus on getting projects completed without any interruptions like meetings. He says, “At Asana, we have No Meeting Wednesdays established to encourage flow and productivity across the company.”
On a practical day-to-day note, then try switching off your phone, close your email, and put a Do Not Disturb sign on your office door. Koel Thomae, the co-founder of Noosa Yoghurt, told CNBC, “When I have a big project or when I need to get something done—and done well—I shut down my email, I turn off my phone, and I put on some of my favorite music. I just dig in and get it done”
8. Delegate tasks
When you try to do everything yourself or micromanage your staff, you’ll find yourself wasting a lot of time and energy. SevOne CEO Jack Sweeney recalls how he found it difficult to trust anybody when he became a first-time CEO. Even if he delegated tasks to others, he kept interfering in the process, rather than evaluating their work afterward. He says, “Now, I stay out of my team’s way and let them do their jobs, advising them before and after they’ve worked at accomplishing a task, versus throughout the entire process.”
Bill Smith, the founder and CEO of Shipt, told CNBC, “Hiring a fantastic executive assistant is crucial. It may be difficult at first, but let this person manage straightforward, time-consuming tasks.”
Learn to focus on your most important tasks and delegate other tasks elsewhere.
Time for action
Reading these tips won’t help you manage your time, but if you want to improve your productivity, then start applying these tips.
RELATED: The 6 Biggest Time Sucks for Entrepreneurs—And How to Avoid Them
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