Time Management Tips While Working from Home

Time management is a classic workplace problem. It’s particularly challenging for those who work from home. Unfortunately, with the COVID-19 pandemic still raging, that means millions of individuals who are currently working on the homefront are facing the challenge of properly managing their time. 
 
If you find yourself amongst the ranks of those struggling with time management, here are a few tips and tricks to help you get that productivity up and running again.

Set Different Types of Goals

It’s difficult to manage your time when you don’t know what you’re working toward. If you have a work-life that is littered with deadlines and projects, it can be helpful to set your own personal goals to help you stay oriented and focused amid the ongoing bustle and confusion. These goals should address a few different time-sensitive considerations:

• Set short-term goals that address daily and weekly responsibilities.
• Set long-term goals that take monthly and even annual objectives into consideration.

Maintain Calendars and Routines

If you’re working from home, it’s important to keep a calendar to know what’s coming up on your agenda. Rather than having separate calendars for work and personal matters, try to create and maintain a single, universal calendar that allows you to see, track, and organize all of your commitments at once.
 
Additionally, sticking to routines will help keep you productive in your day-to-day tasks. Maintain your morning and bedtime routines as well as schedule in time to check your email, clean your home office, and keep up other housekeeping tasks.

Prioritize Tasks and Responsibilities

As you gather your thoughts each day, take the time to list out, and prioritize your responsibilities. Put important, time-sensitive things at the top of the list and delegate lower-level tasks. 
 
Ideally, you should also try to identify unimportant tasks that can be eliminated to keep both you and your team working efficiently. 

Give Yourself a Virtual Commute

Finally, consider giving yourself a virtual commute to start and end your workday. Setting aside 10 or 15 minutes (the time that used to be spent driving to and from work) is a great way to help your mind shift into work mode or detach from work when you’re done with your day.
 
By getting into the habit of a virtual commute, you can focus better while you’re on the clock. This enables productive and efficient work without wasting time in the process.

Managing Your Time

If you want to successfully work from home, take time management seriously. With so many professional and personal responsibilities intersecting the same space, you must take the time to bring a sense of order and purpose to your work life. If you can learn to manage your time well, you’ll be able to maintain peak productivity even in a work-from-home scenario.