6 Effective Task Management Tips

Each output consists of divided subtasks. These tasks must be fulfilled for a successful outcome. We may not always be able to focus on just one task. There may be multiple tasks to be done or the time allotted for the task may be very limited. Task management helps us to finish our work with maximum efficiency by organizing time and to-do.

What Role Does Task Management Play in Your Success?

According to Gallup employee burnout research, study shows that 23% of employees reported feeling burned out at work very often or always, while an additional 44% reported feeling burned out sometimes. One of the reasons for burnout stated in the study is unmanageable workload.

Incorrect task planning and wrong time management not only cause disruption of work, but also negatively affect the mental health of the employee.

How to Manage Your Task?

While there are many techniques for task management, here are the six most effective task management methods:

Divide and Conquer

Most of us have seen this method as a political tactic in the history books. But this tactic can also be used for task management. First of all, this method can be applied for any desired result. Doing a task that needs to be done by dividing it into small parts also motivates you when each small task is completed. Dividing the work that needs to be done into small pieces also prevents loss of productivity by trying to do everything at once.

Let’s say you are a blog writer. You need to write a new article on a given topic. It may seem a little scary when viewed as a whole but breaking it up into small pieces takes that fear away. First of all, you can do your research and then determine the sub-headings for the text and write at least one sentence for each title and make a rough draft. You can create the text by opening these sentences. The next stage may be the preparation of images and SEO optimization.

This will motivate you even more if you make a note of the sub-tasks and indicate that each task is completed by crossing it out or ticking it when it is finished. Having a digital or regular to-do list can not only provide a visual track of what needs to be done, but also increase your motivation.

Setting a Time Limit

Limiting your tasks to be done by time shortens the task’s execution time. If you don’t set a due date for a task, that task will expand over time. Having a due date motivates us.

Assign a due date to any task, even if it doesn’t have a due date. So, you can finish that task early and deal with other tasks.

It’s good to be realistic when limiting a task over time. The time limit puts pressure on us and affects our performance but setting an unrealistic deadline can cause stress and negatively affect performance.

Take a Break

A machine can finish a job faster without a break, but humans are not machines. Continuing to work without a break causes physical and mental fatigue, reduces performance and motivation, causing the work to not reach the time it should be finished.

Break management is just as important as business management. Working and focusing time, charging time may vary from person to person. You can use techniques such as the Pomodoro Technique to adjust your study time. The Pomodoro Technique consists of four repetitions of a 25-minute work and a 5-minute break set, but as mentioned above, the focus time may vary from person to person, so you can tailor the Pomodoro Technique to suit you. For example, 30 minutes of work and 5 minutes of breaks, or 1 hour of work and 10 minutes of breaks.

Breaks can be used not only as means of rest, but also as rewards. Assign yourself tasks to complete within a set time and reward yourself with a nice break if you succeed. This will motivate you and help you have a productive rest break.

Get Rid of Distractions

Distractions are a problem not only in business but in life in general. Distractions can be a result of your desire to avoid work, or they can be a reason for avoiding work.

For example, if you have not planned the right time and task management, you may not even want to start that job, and even reading a book in this process can be considered a distraction. Chatting with your friends for a long time, having another coffee may be the tactics you use to escape from work.

There are also factors that appear when we really want to focus on work and hinder us. For example, when a friend comes and wants to chat, or a notification comes to your phone.

Getting rid of distractions, combined with good time and task management, is a trigger that increases your productivity and speed.

Prioritization

The first thing to do when starting a job is to determine what to do and create a to-do list, and the second thing is to prioritize between tasks.

Prioritization is important because it can cause stress if tasks are not prioritized. For example, it is a big mistake to make a presentation that you have to finish next week when you have a report to be finished by tomorrow. Or if you have two presentations that need to be prepared for tomorrow, but one is much more important, it may be the wrong move to deal with the other.

So how can we prioritize tasks? That’s what the Eisenhower Matrix was invented for. You can draw a table like the matrix below and position your tasks. The Eisenhower Matrix visually presents you which tasks are urgently needed.

Communication

Lack of communication within the team can affect task and time management, reduce employee motivation and productivity. Even if some employees are assigned a single task, the content of the task may require a lot of effort as it is intense, while some employees may deal with more than one task that is not so intense. The team leader’s consideration of this issue while assigning a task reduces the workload, resulting in a more efficient work process.

An employee may find the workload excessive for special reasons, or indeed the workload may be too high. In such cases, keeping in touch with the leader and teammates and asking for help reduces the workload and helps the work to be completed on time.

Using a Digital Planner for Task Management: PeerBie

Using a digital planner is one of the best ways for an organization in general. It is preferred because it is accessible and easy to use. Another reason why it is preferred is that it enables teamwork and facilitates communication.

Business management in general is even easier with digital planners like PeerBie. You can prioritize your tasks on your calendar, set a due date, share your calendar with your friends, and get things done quickly by keeping in touch with our team.