Mid-Week Productivity Tip: Use Your Clock

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There is something negative about clock-watching; as a matter of fact, most employers hate time watchers, that is, employees that are just waiting for 5 PM on the dot and they are out of the office. There’s this perception that they are not always productive employees. But if we move away from the office scenario, clock-watching can actually be a positive thing if it is used for time management and can improve productivity. Here’s how.

Assign time to tasks

We’ve already discussed having a to-do list – if you missed that you can read it here. To make clock-watching work for you, take your to-do list and assign time to each task. If you need to do the laundry for instance, you already know from experience that it takes about 30 minutes to complete, so assign yourself 35 minutes to get that task done.

 

Be time specific

You have to be specific though, when you are using the clock-watching method. If you just assign any 30 minutes to getting your task done, you might procrastinate. But when you become definite then put a specific time then your to-do list will look like this:

• Get the kids to school – 6:45 – 7: 45
• Run XYZ errand – 7:45 – 9:00 am (making allowance for traffic)
• Laundry – 9:00 – 9:35

If you are a working mum, you can do this with your tasks in the office so that you get more done and can get home early.

 

Use your alarm

Don’t be afraid of your alarm, it is your friend. Set an alarm each time you want to begin a task so that you are kept on track. If you’re in the office, you could use something that is not too noisy.

Our productivity tip for today is simple: watch your time!

 

 

 

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