How Technology Can Improve Your Time Management Skills

There are so many ways technology can be used to improve your time management skills. From using apps to improve focus and productivity to limiting wasted time spent travelling, check out the 10 tips below to improve your efficiency. Keep the organizing spirit going by looking at these other 10 time management tips to help get things done at home too.

1. Stay focused

Let’s start our list of 10 time management tips by concentrating on focus. Studies have shown that working with tech can lead to quick distraction. A lot of people meditate to improve focus, and in the digital world there are many experts who’ve generated apps based on this principle. With the right app you can track your activity to work out when your productivity slumps and when you may benefit from a short meditation session to regroup.

If this sounds like what you need, you can try the free meditation app Insight Timer. With more than 4,000 guided meditations from over 1,000 teachers, and covering topics like self-compassion, nature, and stress, it’s a great tool. It also has talks and podcasts but if you prefer a quieter meditation, you can set a timer and meditate to intermittent bells or calming ambient noise.

2. Learn to organize (and prioritize)

Organize your thoughts with mind-mapping tools, and organize your tasks by using tools that integrate different aspects of time management onto one platform. These kinds of apps automatically create to-do lists, helping you know which tasks are priorities and need immediate action. You can check out the the Asana app which keeps all your tasks, projects, and deadlines in one place, sets priorities and reminders, and allows you to collaborate with teammates — without switching apps.

3. Ask for help

The Internet contains pretty much everything you need to know so use tools like search engines and digital personal assistants to get what you need. Why take time agonising over something when you can get answers so quickly?

4. Use automated apps where you can

For anything that you do on a regular basis, automated tools and apps can certainly save you time. Whether it’s inputting data, amending schedules or making payments, the more automation you can have for these tasks the better.

5. Make use of your calendar

Your electronic calendar isn’t just for making meetings and appointments; you should also use it organise task schedules. Set times to get things done by and you’re far less likely to procrastinate. Using a powerful multi-purpose calendar, tasks, and notes management app, such as Informant 5, would help you manage your time for effectively. Its language processing makes it easy to create new events and tasks while the Getting Things Done productivity technique is embedded into its flow to support your performance. You can also configure the display of your schedule and tasks in different international time zones, locations and through different filtering and checklist formats.

6. Organize meetings online

One of the great things about the tech age is our ability to communicate instantly. Video call tools allow us to talk to people all around the world without having to leave our seat. So, rather than head into the office or local café for a chat, start taking control of your time by arranging online meetings. If you want to try simplest video conferencing tool, give it a try with Appear.in which doesn’t require any downloads or plugins. Visit the site and create a chatroom with the URL of your choice before sending the link to other attendees. You can also share your screen, which makes it a perfect tool for catching up with friends and family on the other side of the world.

7. Save time on travel

When you do need to travel for business or pleasure, your phone can save you plenty of time getting from A to B, if used correctly. Don’t simply use the maps section to find out where to go, employ different tools and apps that will give you alternative routes and cost estimates. Over a long period of time this type of planning could save you hours (and cash!) For example, if you are frustrated with the traffic in the city and want to dodge it, give it a try with Waze: a full-featured navigation app that crowd-sources traffic information from other drivers using the app and shows icons for accidents, hazards, road closures, speed cameras and police officers. It shows how long traffic jams extend for and then automatically reroutes you to an alternate and faster path.

8. Set alarms

It might sound old-fashioned in the world of tech, but make use of simple countdown timers, stopwatches and notification alarms to ensure you keep on top of things. A ‘beep’ at the right time can remind you of where you’re at in your day and help get you back on track.

9. Collaborate through a central network

By simply creating a collaborative network with apps that allow group communication channels, you’ll save hours versus having to go through the same things multiple times with individuals. Whether it’s tasks, notes from a meeting or setting deadlines, linking people onto one platform is by far the most time efficient way of getting things done in a team. An effective and popular app used by from corporate companies to start-ups is Slack. A powerful team communication app, Slack creates alignment and shared understanding across your team; making you more productive through simplified communication and a shared work-space.

10. Manage projects in one place

There are apps and services that are ideal for arranging documents, spreadsheets and uploads in one central location, so everyone on a project can access them. Being able to stick all tasks into one place gives colleagues access to a virtual filing cabinet of shared work, no mater where they are in the world. There are many apps that allow you to save, organize and share content from your laptop or mobile to other people– but Dropbox is free, straightforward, yet so effective. You, as the creator of the folder or document, simply send a link to your team and let them view or edit the files.

Put these 10 tech tips in place to manage your time more efficiently and enjoy the benefits of being more productive and efficient with your time.

If you have any productivity tip or app to share, please feel free to leave a comment below.