Did you know less than 1 in 5 people (18%) have a proper time management system?
It can often feel as though there aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything you want to be done. We are all looking to maximise our time and use it in the most efficient manner, but it can sometimes be hard to juggle various priorities and still feel as though you have time to relax.
Time management is a useful tool to ensure you can find a healthy work life balance, but it is not always easy to implement. If achieved, it will allow you to divide your time appropriately between different activities, allowing you to work smarter not harder. Importantly, better time management will also lead to decreased stress which plays a large role in our overall health. We have put together a few tips that can help with time management.
Prioritisation
Distinguishing between important and urgent tasks can ensure we do what is essential for our success. Important activities lead us to achieve our goals, while urgent activities require immediate attention and are often associated with achieving someone else’s goals. Tasks should be categorised into the following which denotes their priority:
- Important and urgent.
- Important but not urgent.
- Not important but urgent.
- Not important and not urgent.
Goal setting
Developing clear aims to work towards makes them clear and reachable. Using the SMART goal setting tool can help:
- Specific – What, Why, Who, Where and Which?
- Measurable – How much? How many?
- Achievable – Realistic? How to accomplish the goal
- Relevant – Is it the right time? Are you the right person? Can I delegate this task to someone else?
- Time bound – When? What can you do six weeks from now?
Scheduling
It is likely most people know how to schedule their tasks. However, there are ways ensure that how you schedule improves your efficiency. It can be helpful to schedule tasks that you deem tougher in the morning. If you see will power and motivation as a finite resource that is used up throughout the day, then if a tougher task is scheduled in the late afternoon, it is likely you may struggle to find the will power to complete that task to the best of your ability.
A second aspect of scheduling – and arguably the most important – is ensuring you schedule downtime. According to the NHS, experiencing a lot of stress over a long period of time can also lead to a feeling of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion, often called burnout. It is important to schedule breaks throughout your day where you can rest your mind. It can also help to use these breaks to be active; moving the body can trigger the release of endorphins which relieve stress, and it gives you an opportunity to focus on something else.
How can Estatesearch help with time management?
At Estatesearch, we understand the importance of efficiency and providing a service which can relieve tasks from our clients.
Estatesearch offer Financial Asset Searches as part of our Financial Profile Service, which helps to identify the assets in the estate quickly, whilst mitigating risk. Alongside this, we offer a variety of other services including Section 27 notices and Will searches, ordered all in one place, all on one invoice, saving you time.
Responses and updates can be seen in real-time in our portal and include copies of any relevant correspondence, reference numbers and contact details. A clear audit trail of all reasonable steps taken to locate the assets of the estate, and a fast and efficient search with a fully detailed final report, is then delivered on day 30.
This article was submitted to be published by Estatesearch as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Wills and Probate. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Wills and Probate.
