Role of Planning in Time Management

Time Management plays an essential role in corporates and helps employees to finish off assignments on time. Doing the right thing at the right time is called Time Management.

It is essential for an individual to value time as time once lost never comes back, no matter how much money you spend. An individual who fails to deliver results on time is appreciated by none and is never taken seriously at the workplace.

Planning plays a pivotal role in effective time management. An individual needs to plan his day well in advance to make the best possible use of time. There is no point in working just for the sake of doing work.

Planning gives an individual a sense of direction in the organization and motivates him to complete assignments on time.

Plan how you want to move forward. It is important for an individual to set a goal and objective for himself and work hard towards achieving the same. Detailed planning suggests you the steps towards realizing your goals at the workplace within a defined time frame.

Planning helps an individual to know what all he needs to do urgently and what all can be done a little later.

To plan things better, employees should prepare a Task Plan where he can jot down tasks against the time slots assigned to each activity.

High priority activities must come on top followed by the ones which do not require immediate attention.

Planning helps you accomplish urgent and critical tasks way ahead of deadline. Plan as to how your day should look like.

Develop the habit of using an organizer. It helps you plan things better. You can also use a table top calendar for the same.

Individuals who adopt a planned approach finish off work on time as compared to those who just accept anything which comes there way.

This is how a Task Plan should ideally look like:

Date -………………

Day -………………

9 AM - Day Begins.

9.15 - 10 AM - Reply urgent emails.

10 AM - 12 noon - Work on client A’s proposal, prepare reports and necessary data. (Most Urgent). Also work on comparative analysis of competitors. (Urgent)

12 Noon - 12.30 PM - Sit and discuss with team members on pending issues (Have to clear all pending work by end of the day).

12.30 - 1.30 PM - Lunch Break (Enjoy with fellow workers).

1.30 - 1.40 PM - Call up spouse.

1.40 - 3 PM - Work on Client B’s Proposal (Still have two days).

3 PM - 4 PM - Sit with Boss for approvals and other critical issues.

4 PM - 5 PM - Call up existing and potential clients.

5 PM - 5.15 PM - Check personal mails.

5.15 - 6 PM - Collate reports and send to immediate reporting Boss.

6 PM - 6.15 PM - Organize Work Station.

Day Ends

Stick to your schedule. If you have assigned fifteen minutes to check your personal emails, make sure you do not keep doing it for say an hour.

An individual should strive hard to finish off tasks as per the time slot allocated to each activity; however last minute changes can’t be ignored.

Planning in a way also helps in predicting where you stand five years from now. Plan as to how you would reach a certain position and in what time.

Planning makes things easier and helps you realize your dreams in the shortest possible time span.