Working hard and still ending the day feeling as though you haven’t accomplished a great deal is a frustrating but common experience for many of us. Some people seem to be excellent at making the most of their work hours, and it can be puzzling to understand how they can accomplish so much. The good news is that managing your priorities—commonly referred to as “time management”—is a skill that anyone can learn, and Master Builders is here to help you.

Taking a short course in time management from Master Builders will give you new skills, improve the productivity of your staff and help you organise your workload.  Our facilitator, Christopher Shen, is an organisational psychologist who has a passion for developing high performance solutions in the workplace. He can assist you or your staff to identify tasks, activities, objectives and goals that will enable you to gain control of your personal and work time.

You’d be surprised by how quickly you can make improvements in your ability to get work done by using just a few tips and tricks for managing your time more effectively. They help to reduce stress, too.

For example, do you use a to-do checklist? This is one of the simplest but most effective tools for time management. You can also add a priority ranking system to your list; number your tasks from the most important to least important. Once a task is complete, give it a tick and then move on to the next top-ranking task.

Interruptions of all kinds are huge time-wasters. Taking responsibility for your work time is important, and sometimes that can mean explaining that you aren’t available to talk. If you have an office door, closing it sends the message that you’re busy and that an interruption might not be an option. If you don’t have an office door, you can also explain to colleagues that you’re not available and that you will come to see them once you have completed your task.

Do you know how to effectively use your Outlook calendar? If you’ve got an important deadline of any kind, schedule it and request a reminder. This can help avoid last-minute rushes and missed deadlines.

These tips are just the beginning of making big improvements in the way you use time and get work done. You’ve done enough procrastinating, so why not get started making better use of your time and reducing stress? For upcoming Managing Your Priorities (Time Management) course dates, contact Master Builders on (03) 9411 4597 or visit the website here.