4 Time Management New Year’s Resolutions for a More Productive 2019

Is becoming more productive one of your New Year’s resolutions? If so, you have a good mindset going into 2019. Still, that kind of broad-brush resolution isn’t concrete enough to lend you real results. You must get more specific and concrete with what that increased productivity will look like for you.

If you want to be a better manager of your time in 2019, here are four New Year’s resolutions you can make now to help you reach your goals in the year ahead.

1. Resolve to Plan Ahead

Too often, Sunday evenings are spent blocking out the idea of what Monday will look like, so we don’t plan the week ahead. Or, the time spent before meetings is filled with chit chatting and scrambling, so we don’t plan a proper agenda.

By resolving to think and plan ahead you’ll have a better chance of making every minute count. You’ll get yourself in the right mindset, focusing the attention on productive tasks instead of being tempted to fall into the trap of wasting time. Find areas where you can start planning ahead to reclaim some of those precious moments in your day.

2. Resolve to Celebrate Your Wins

One of the hardest parts of time management is not knowing where the time has gone. We often reach the end of the day and think: what did I accomplish? Change this narrative by resolving to celebrate your wins.

When you write down what you’ve accomplished as you’ve checked items off your to-do list, you’re able to start seeing where you’re spending your time. Not only will you get a chance to stop that nagging feeling of another day wasted, but instead you can analyze how you’re spending the precious hours in your day. By becoming more aware of where your time is going you can tweak your schedule to make yourself more productive over time.

3. Resolve to Put Your Phone Away

Look around you. Where is your phone right now? If you’re like most professionals, it’s on your desk next to you. It might even be between your two arms, directly in your line of vision just in case a notification alert pops up or propped up on your computer screen. This type of marriage to our phones is unhealthy and unbelievably distracting.

Simon Sinek has done an excellent job of talking about how addictive phones have become in our society. This year, resolve to put your phone further away — out of your line of sight — so you can be less distracted by the potential of an incoming notification and more engaged in the task or person in front of you.

4. Resolve to Outsource More Work

Outsourcing work is incredibly difficult. It’s hard to give another person the level of trust required to hand over work that directly reflects you as a team leader. Still, if you want to focus your time on work that matters, it’s a critical task and one you should resolve to do more of in 2019.

Start small and plan a way to keep a close eye on what the person you’re outsourcing to is doing. For example, if you’re geographically separate from the person or people you’re outsourcing to, set up an employee scheduling app to know when your team is in office for you. By taking baby steps and creating means for transparency, you’re likely to feel more comfortable outsourcing and slowly expand how much you give to others as the year goes on.

Make 2019 Your Year for Time Management

What would your professional life look like if you could be more productive each day? Time management isn’t easy but it is impactful when done right. By making small tweaks in your daily behavior you can increase the chances of getting more done in the time you have to work.

Author Profile Jon Forknell is the Vice President and General Manager of Atlas Business Solutions, Inc., a software marketing company specializing in employee scheduling software, including ScheduleBase employee scheduling software, and other business software solutions. In the past, Jon has been recognized by the U.S. Small Business Administration as a SBA Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Atlas Business Solutions was named as one of Software Magazine’s Top 500 Software Companies in 2004 through 2007, and 2010, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017.