5 Effective Yet Simple Ways to Teach Others About Time Management

As you learn more about time management and how it applies to your own life, you also have the opportunity to teach others about it too. Doing so can empower your team at work to accomplish more, and even help your children to learn important life skills as they prioritize various aspects of their lives. Throughout your sphere of influence, teaching the people around you to better manage their own time is advantageous for you as well. 

Consider research from Clockify that indicates that more than a quarter of work ends up being done outside office hours. If your team was able to better prioritize their most important tasks (as in one of the most powerful success tools, Brian Tracy’s Eat That Frog), you would end up with more productive work hours. The same is true for students who pull all-nighters to study or finish a serious exam paper. 

If you want to help others become more successful in how they manage their time, here are a few ways to get started. 

1. Set Clear Expectations

It can be tempting to simply tell someone to complete a task without taking the time to explain exactly how you’d like it to be accomplished. You might assume that they can figure it out on their own, with the help of a colleague, or a little research. However, you could be setting both of you up for failure if you don’t make expectations clear.

Save time in the long run by explaining the details of a given task upfront. Help them to see what you want to prioritize, walk them through the steps they will need to take to accomplish it, and possibly even give them a breakdown of how much time it should take to finish each component of the task. 

2. Limit Idle Conversation

One of the most time-consuming aspects of the day is time spent in idle conversation with those around you. Spending time talking with little to no purpose during the busiest parts of the day can eat up hours that would be better spent on productivity. Pay close attention to when conversation in a meeting begins to drift away from the purpose of the meeting and into the category of idleness or gossip. 

Once you notice this subtle shift, it is time to put a stop to the talking and prioritize your next objective. A gentle statement such as, “Well, I have a lot of work to get done so I should get back to it” is all it really takes. After you return to your task, chances are that your colleague will too. 

3. Refrain from Over-Scheduling

Whether it is with your colleagues or your family, overcommitting to several different projects is a serious problem that makes time management more difficult. A packed schedule leaves no room for error, asking questions, or addressing unexpected issues that are bound to pop up from time to time. It will make everyone around you feel like they are constantly running behind, and cuts into their ability to relax in their downtime – if they even have any. 

Instead, be realistic about what you can expect from people. Allow space in people’s schedules, so they have the bandwidth to address their most pressing issues. 

4. Don’t Hover

You know what needs to be done and how it should get accomplished. We often see this when it comes to parenting in the guise of a helicopter parent. However, the same thing applies to your employees. If you give someone an assignment or a task, give them the autonomy to handle it their own way. Standing by and watching over their shoulder isn’t the best use of your time, and creates unneeded anxiety for everyone involved. 

If they have questions or concerns, trust that they will bring them to you when the time is right instead of constantly being just arm’s length away and waiting to step in. 

5. Set Priorities

Chances are that you know exactly what you want done first, second, and third. If you are giving someone else a project, make sure that you help them prioritize what is most important to you. Let others know what the essential tasks are for the project at hand and help them to see where they should start. This can save everyone valuable time, help you get your project done in time, and allow them the freedom to put things in an order that makes sense given your priorities. 

Teaching others about time management can have a tremendous, positive impact on those around you. By sharing these techniques and strategies, you can help others to be their best, most-productive selves. And when they do that, everyone wins!