ProServeIT
By ProServeIT on June 15, 2020

Top 4 Time Management Activities for IT Professionals

Let’s talk about time management activities. As 2018 winds down and we begin to look towards the coming year, it’s time to start thinking about New Year’s resolutions. We’ve heard from several of our clients that one of the biggest things they want to focus on in 2019 is reclaiming time spent on tedious or trivial things.

Are you looking at how to better manage your time in 2019? Do you want to learn a few time management activities that you can do to give back to yourself in the New Year? If so, this blog is for you, because we’ve got 4 important time management activities for IT professionals, and we’re going to share them with you. Keep reading to learn more!

Want to learn more about increasing your productivity? Talk to ProServeIT’s experts today – we’ll help you understand how utilizing the right technology can increase your productivity overall.

Related:

An Executive’s Guide to Increase Productivity:
Understanding the Value Behind Implementing the Right Technology

 

1. Adopt Productivity Software

Of course, one of the best ways to regain some time to yourself is to adopt productivity software that makes your job easier to do. As IT professionals, it can be tricky to keep track of all the projects and tasks that you have on the go. There are, however, several software solutions that can help increase productivity – let’s take a look at 3 of them below:

SharePoint

SharePoint lets you share documents and files with anyone, anytime, from anywhere or any device, and, thanks to its seamless integration with Office 365, you can use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or other Office 365 products right from within SharePoint online.

SharePoint Workshop

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is your hub for teamwork, letting you manage all your files, conversations and tools in one convenient team workspace

Microsoft Planner

Microsoft Planner helps you to organize your task lists, create new plans, share files, and assign tasks, as well as keep up to date on what you or other members of your team is currently working on.


Efficient and Effective Task Management with Microsoft Teams

Learn how utilize Microsoft Teams to centralize and track your daily tasks, effectively manage and collaborate on multiple projects.


2. Quit Multi-Tasking!

Believe it or not, multi-tasking isn’t as desirable a trait as it once was. Research nowadays is saying that multi-tasking actually makes us less efficient than previously expected. In fact, moving from one task to another actually reduces productivity, because every time you switch tasks, you’re also having to switch gears.

As the experts say, each task you do in a day requires a specific mindset for you to be in. If you are switching tasks, you are switching out of that mindset and into another. This start/stop/start process, as Psychology Today mentions, is rough on us: rather than saving time, it actually costs us more time (up to 40% more time, to be precise), we’re less efficient, more likely to make a mistake, and, in the long run, it saps our energy.

So, if you’re looking for a time management activity for 2019, quit multi-tasking! Instead, set a realistic timeframe for completing each task and use that time to only work on that task. You’ll be surprised at how much more productive you’ll be in your day.

 

3. Evaluate Your Emails

The unfortunate truth is that your inbox is one of the biggest time-sappers out there. How many times have you read an email, only to realize that you weren’t the intended recipient and were just one of several CC’d people on the email thread? Or, have you ever spent so much time scanning through and deleting unimportant emails that you missed a really important one from your team that required your urgent attention?

It’s not the emails that are the problem, per se – it’s the ineffective email practices that are a real waste of your time. Here are a few tips to evaluate and clean up your emails:

  • Be selective in your CC’ing – when adding someone, make sure it’s necessary that they’re included. Make sure your subject line is clear and conveys a basic understanding of the contents of the email. If replying to longer email threads, make sure your response summarizes the actions that need to be taken. This will save time and alleviate the need to sift through several previous responses to understand what the ask is and what needs to be done.

Related:

Answering Skype FAQs Around the Migration to Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams Roadmap: A Brief Guide  

What is SharePoint (In Plain English)?

 

4. Don’t Fall For the Newest Tech

This may seem counterproductive, especially being an IT professional, but it’s been discussed that first-version technology is actually more of a time-waster than a time-saver. This “latest and greatest” tech can often come with accompanying pitfalls, glitches, or bugs that need to be ironed out before they’re up to par.

If you’re interested in implementing new, first-version technology, it’s important to understand what the risks are, what you could potentially face if you implement that technology in your organization and things don’t go according to plan, and, most importantly, consider if it’s more prudent to wait for “version 2.0”.

Mattamy Homes using Sharepoint

Published by ProServeIT June 15, 2020
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