5 Ways to Improve Your Time Management Skills
Posted on 08/07/2012 in Agile Dev & Testing, Testing Trends by Mike Brown
What separates a good tester from a great tester? Passion and skill, to be sure, but also effective time management. So to help you improve your time management skills and join the ranks of the truly great testers, I wanted to share these six tips courtesy of Entrepenuer.com:
- Think sprint, not marathon. We are not designed to “park it” at a desk for eight hours at a stretch and get all of our work done. Short, uninterrupted bursts of concentration are the key to knocking out good work. Get a kitchen timer, or stopwatch. Set it for 45 or 60 minutes, and don’t stop until you hear the buzzer. You’d be amazed at what you can accomplish in one good uninterrupted hour.
- Be selfish. Once you have prioritized your to-do list, you must put that ahead of all others’ lists. When you are able to get your own work done, you are in a much better position to support others with their projects. But your work comes first. Always.
- Date stamp your expectation. Whenever you request a deliverable from someone, do not simply ask for it, but also inquire when you can expect to receive it. Things tend to happen much faster when there is an explicit deadline. Similarly, if someone asks something from you, ask them when they need it by. Then write it in a calendar.
- Touch it once. With the never-ending onslaught of email, it’s crucial that you have a good filing system in place. My rule is “read it once” — then decide what to do with the information, then do it. Same thing with other incoming requests. Touch it once, do something with it, then let it go.
- Face time saves time. Don’t try to figure out what someone meant in a confusing email; go straight to the source and ask. This saves on time, energy and mistakes. Asking for, and giving, clear communication is key.
What tips do you have for improving time management skills? Share them in the comments section…then get back to work!
I always tried time management skills at examination or project completion time but these are much better than those. I found some of good information here for future use.
Time management always works for me.
Very nice article, Mike. I can relate to the time tracking software I’m currently using, it really changed the way I am working to my tasks right now. I am more focused on achieving my goals set for the week and would perhaps extend more time to surpass my quota. Time management is really effective if you’ve learned to manage your time effectively, and without having any procrastination time tracking software is also a factor to make yourself a “wise guy”.
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I would recommend to use a time tracking software, which can help you manage your time and provide you the reports on where your time is spent exactly, so that you can use it in a better way. We use Replicon employee time tracking software for time tracking.
Very good article, thank you! When I got my wonderful daughter 2 years ago, I had to work a lot on my time management skills! As I had a very short parental leave I went through a hard time when I restarted working. What I did to better deal with it was to consult a personal coach, who also gave me some of the above advices. I was recommended to take coaching lessons by my best friend who is self-employed. It was really helpful to have someone available who helped me to develop a timetable that fits to my that time situation instead of just giving general tips. The page where I was recommended to look for a good coach was your24hCoach.com … I think everyone needs its own technique to manage time better, depending on everyone’s individual life! Best Regards, Rachel