Time management and goal setting go hand in hand, so how can you make sure your goal setting is practical and your time management is successful? You can control your time and get on top of your to-do list with adequate time management. This blog discusses vital time management goals beneficial to achieving your targeted results.
What Are Time Management Goals?
Time management goals list what you want to accomplish after completing your plan. These objectives aim to save enough time to increase a person’s productivity.
Setting your goals before strategizing is a good idea because it always helps you figure out what methods and activities to use. Setting time management goals enables you to improve specific skills such as organization, prioritization, and planning, which will help you manage your time and complete essential tasks.
These time management skills can help you finish jobs faster, plan for events, get more done, avoid distractions, and make more money. Goals can help you deliberate work toward these time management skills and track your progress.
Setting time management goals as an employee can help you improve your work experience and contribute to your team. As a small business owner, time management goals can help you streamline your current workload and open up new opportunities. In addition, setting time management goals for your team or project can help your team meet deadlines and follow procedures more consistently.
Types of Time Management Goals
Here are some examples of different types of goals you could set to help you improve your time management skills:
1 . Organization goals
Setting a goal can assist you in incorporating a new method of organization or tool into your workflow. If trying new tools is difficult for you or your team, setting a goal can help you stay motivated to use it long enough to form a habit. Here are some examples of possible organizational goals:
- Every morning I’ll make a to-do list for that day.
- I’ll update professional and personal events in the same calendar app, i.e., week plan.
2 . Priority Goals
Prioritizing tasks can help you complete urgent and essential tasks before less critical duties. Before you set any goals related to your professional priorities, you should think about them. After you’ve established your preferences, consider whether your work tasks assist you in achieving them. Consider the following objectives:
- I won’t schedule any other meetings or presentations during the two days of team member monthly interviews.
- When I begin working on the weekly report, I won’t start any other projects until I’m finished.
- I’ll complete the next step on my urgent task as soon as I get to work each day.
3. Distraction goals
You could set goals to help you avoid distractions or work on more significant tasks for more extended periods. Using plans to eliminate personal, professional, and habitual distractions can be effective. Here are some examples of distraction-related goals:
- I won’t check my phone during work meetings.
- When I’m working on longer projects in the afternoon, I’ll close email and messaging apps for two hours.
- I won’t bring any distracting items into my home office.
4 . Planning Goals
Implementing plans can assist you in improving your time management and being more prepared for meetings and deadlines. For example, if you find certain times of the week, month, or year unmanageably busy, or if you want to prepare more thoroughly for important meetings, you might set planning goals. Here are some planning objectives to consider:
- I’ll outline agenda points for our daily discussion, so I don’t forget items.
- I’ll ask the other departments to send me their data six weeks before the report is due.
- At the end of each week, I’ll make a list of tasks to remember for the next week.
5. Habit-changing goals
Making goals can help you intentionally and successfully change which activities you do regularly. However, it can be challenging to form new habits or change old ones. Because various factors can influence people’s behavior, you may want to tailor your habit-changing objectives to make them more manageable and appealing in your situation. Here are some examples of habit-related goals to help you better manage your time:
- I’ll add new meetings to my calendar as soon as I learn about them.
- Instead of getting on social media at my desk, I’ll stand up and get a drink of water.
- I’ll outline a new writing assignment before I log off each day.
6. Time Limit goals
You might make goals to maintain a strict schedule or minimize how specific long tasks take you each day; this can be especially helpful as you implement a new agenda or change your former habits. For example, you might set limits for specific tasks or types of work or set goals for how long you work continuously before resting. Here are some sample time limit goals:
- I won’t spend more than 15 minutes answering emails when I arrive at work.
- Our weekly meetings will always be 45 minutes or less.
- I will work for 20 minutes and then take a five-minute break.
7. Workspace goals
Setting goals for your physical environment can assist you in working more efficiently, quickly finding what you need, and keeping your workspace tidy. If you find yourself procrastinating other tasks by cleaning your workspace, if you share a workspace, or if you have trouble finding tools, you can set workspace goals. Here are some workplace goals:
- Every evening I’ll clean off my desk before I leave the office.
- I’ll put away tools in the lab area each time I finish a project.
- I’ll organize the files in my office to spend less time searching for them.
8. New responsibility goals
Setting goals for the new responsibilities you take on can help you avoid taking on more work than you can handle. Setting goals for new responsibilities can help you make decisions that align with your professional priorities and determine when delegating tasks to team members is the best alternative. Here are some possible responsibilities goals:
- I won’t agree to any more than five meetings each day.
- I will teach my coworkers how to use new software or send them a tutorial instead of just doing the software task.
- I will only join teams or committees that line up with my role in the company.
9. Work-life balance
Set goals for your non-work time to maintain your mental and physical health, get enough sleep and focus entirely on your work during working hours. Setting goals for rest and time away from work can assist you in focusing on your personal life and appreciating the value of your life and contributions outside of work. Here are some goals for rest and balance:
- I’ll take a walk away from my computer and phone for my lunch break.
- I won’t work more than my scheduled 40 hours a week.
- I will only answer truly urgent emails over the weekend.
10. Analysis goals
Making goals to analyze how you spend your time regularly can help you understand how you’re currently spending your time and whether you’re meeting your objectives. Of course, your role, work, and industry may all influence the type of analysis you need. For example, you might be able to easily collect data if your job involves software that tracks your performance. On the other hand, if your work is subjective, you may need to write summaries of your projects and objectives. Here are some examples of goals:
- Every Friday afternoon, I’ll check my sales dashboard data to see whether my time management techniques have increased my productivity.
- I’ll write my achievements and new goals at the top of the calendar for each month.
- When our timecard software sends the pay period reminder, I’ll check whether my recorded hours match my working goals.
How to Set Time Management Goals?
- Use SMART criteria to create goals. SMART is a great acronym to remember some beneficial criteria for setting your goals.
- Specific – target a particular area for improvement.
- Measurable – quantify or at least suggest an indicator of progress.
- Assignable – specify who will do it.
- Realistic – state what results can realistically be achieved, given available resources.
- Time-related – specify when the result(s) can be achieved.
Not every goal must meet all five criteria, but it should try to meet as many as possible. Of course, it’s fantastic to set lofty goals for yourself. First, however, try to maintain a healthy sense of reality.
- Set short-term and long-term goals. Setting intermediate goals will assist you in tracking your long-term progress. Set incremental goals of running further at various stages of training if your overall goal is to run a marathon. Set total goals to finish pieces of a project if your goal is to complete it. Your short-term goals will indicate your long-term progress in either case. Continue to plan and make changes as needed.
- Write down your goals. Every human has a steel-trap mind, but we’re all flawed humans. You’ll have a history of your dreams if you write them down. You can identify areas for improvement by reviewing your account. You’ll also see the places where you’re most productive. You won’t have to rely on hazy human memories to keep your goals consistent.
Conclusion
Setting goals is an integral part of the planning process. It’s even necessary before beginning any project. You must first define your goals before making decisions and devising strategies to save time. To get the most out of their daily schedule, people of all ages must learn time management secrets. If you achieve your management objectives, you may be able to complete the success you desire faster. Following these steps will ensure that you do it correctly.
The first step you need to analyze what success in time management includes. Another method is to envision what characteristics a successful person managing their schedule would have. List down your ideas. After that, you should conduct a self-assessment and compare the results to know how far you are from that person. This method will give you an idea of the things you skills you need to improve within yourself.
Given that you have the results after assessing yourself, your second approach should be to construct an outline of the rough draft of your goals. You can list everything that comes to mind. Despite that, you should arrange it by writing the things you prioritize at the top of the list. To assist you with this segment, you can use a blank outline template. Do not forget to separate your goals into long-term goals and short-term goals.
You need to do with your list to filter out the items by following the SMART goal-setting framework. You need to crash out the objectives that are not specific, measurable, and attainable. In addition, you should also consider ruling out the ones that are not relevant and timely.
After you have finalized your goals, the next step of the goal-setting process is to generate a management timeline. This visual chart will help you measure your progress. It will let you know if you are behind on achieving your goals or right on schedule. Depending on how well you do, you can revise and adjust your aims.
More Posts
10 Benefits of Using a Weekly Habit Tracker for Personal Development
Weekly habit tracking changes daily actions into intentional habits. This helps with personal growth and development. By recording and reviewing daily habits, people learn a lot about their routines. They can make smart...
What is Time Efficiency and How to Achieve it
“Gosh, there might be a way I can complete all my tasks before deadlines,” “No matter how hard I try, I am always short on time,” “I can't make time for my family...
11 Things to Evaluate in Employee Productivity Checklist
A detailed employee productivity checklist is key for performance evaluation. It helps match an employee's work with the company's goals. Most companies do employee assessments once a year. These reviews are crucial for checking how much an employee...
What Are Time Boundaries and How to Set Them Up?
Allocating proper time blocks for every aspect of your work life is called the process of setting time boundaries. Managing appropriate Time boundaries plays a vital role in achieving your goals. Moreover, an...