The recruitment specialist, Hay’s, recently surveyed some 3,400 organisations to obtain a wealth of data regarding current trends in the workplace. One such figure was that 31% indicated overtime work has increased.
43% of professionals surveyed for this report said that they worked, on average, an additional 2.5 hours per week. Add this to the 29% of professionals stating that they worked between 2.5 and 5 extra hours weekly, 18% reporting an average of 6 to 10 more hours worked weekly and the final 10% clocking more than a whopping 11 extra hours weekly on average from their initial expected working hours.
One thing that businesses and professionals alike can clearly benefit from is some tools and resources to help them to manage time more effectively throughout the day.
As many of us continue to work from home and businesses adapt hybrid working environments, time management becomes a necessary skill to ensure a work and home life balance is maintained and that staff avoid unnecessary burn out.
Some simple adjustments for improved time management include:
1. A self audit of your time schedule
A timesheet is a hugely effective tool that can help you to capture what you are doing, and when.
By using a timesheet to clock where you are losing time and when and how you are spending your time, you can make subtle adjustments to make the most of your productive moments.
You can then create an ideal week for yourself and work on sticking to this as best as possible.
2. Reviewing processes and workflows
A lot of our time at work is either spent recovering from distractions that we face, such as checking emails or answering phone calls, or powering through clunky, outdated processes.
Doing unnecessary tasks simply because that is how it has always been done is frustrating and tedious.
This is why routine inspections of workflows are an effective tool. It allows for all business staff to constantly improve. By embracing automation, for example, monotonous tasks can be removed and many hours can be saved within a working week.
An accounting coach, Amanda Gascoigne, lives by her mantra of the 4 Ds. Delete, delegate, defer and do.
Delete something, if possible, delegate to other staff members, if acceptable, defer tasks that are not a priority to ensure the best flow within a workday and make sure that you spend the day actually doing things, rather than thinking about it.
Our team at Accounting Tax Solutions in Queensland are here to support your business in any way possible. If you would like to learn more about how you can achieve your business goals, get in touch with our financial advisors, today.