6 essential time management skills and techniques

We all have the same 24 hours in each day, so why does it feel like some people are able to accomplish so much more? The secret is in how they manage their time. Honing in on your time management skills can have a huge positive impact on your productivity, and ultimately your career. Read on for our list of the 6 most essential time management strategies:

1. Goal setting

Setting your goals helps you get a clear picture of what you want to achieve and how you’ll get there. Watch Prezi’s HR Business Partner Kinga Fekete’s video on setting smart goals to get started:

2. Prioritization

Prioritization is key to time management. It’s not enough to simply make a to-do list of everything you’re working on – the true time management masters will determine which tasks are most important and what they should tackle first. Doing this will keep you on track towards your goals, even when seemingly urgent issues pop up. It’s the tasks that are urgent and important that you should tackle first.

3. Planning

Be efficient about what you plan to accomplish each day (bonus points for planning your week, month, and year). Making a plan to accomplish certain tasks will help you stay accountable in getting them done, and will help you run more productive meetings.

4. Timeboxing

Timeboxing is the act of setting aside time to concentrate on one task – when time is up, you move on to the next task. It’s a time management skill used by Elon Musk, plus countless other busy CEOs, to boost productivity. Learn more about timeboxing in this introductory video by Appointment.com President Jon Bradshaw:

5. Communication

Think of all that you can accomplish when your meetings are productive, and you’re able to quickly uncover obstacles and you motivate your team. Good communication is an important time management skill because it helps you work more efficiently with others. To make communicating asynchronously easier, you can record and share a Prezi video instead of meeting – a great way to connect across distance and time zones.

6. Delegation

It’s likely that at some point you’ll have such a packed schedule you can’t take on anything else, or you’ll need to tackle something beyond your expertise – when this happens, pass along the extra work to someone else. Delegating effectively gives you the time to focus on the bigger picture and put your talents towards the most critical areas. Prezi has teamed up with 99designs to create the Prezi Marketplace, where you can hire a Certified Prezi Designer to design your presentation or video. Check out the Marketplace for examples and to get matched with a designer today.

Working on your time management skills is a great way to improve your career, and it all boils down to how you prioritize your work and how you use the tools at your disposal. Learn more about Prezi Video and how it can help you communicate more effectively and help you better manage your time, so you can concentrate on the things that really matter.