Home

Effective Task Management Means Doing the Right Job the Right Way

Even when equipped with knowledge and skills you may find that you do not accomplish as much work as you want to. This will affect the level of your performance. And this may affect your career development according to your career plan.

You may sometimes complete a task within no time. At times it takes ages. At times the end result is almost perfect and at other times you are very unsatisfied with what you have done. Is this because you do not know how to go about your task management plan?

(The photo on this page is by angermann)

Concentration and Focus
Your performance depends on whether you are able to concentrate and focus completely on the task at hand.

There are so many distractions while you do your job. Your performance is affected to the degree or extent that you are distracted.

If you are stressed or you have no peace of mind, concentration will elude you. When this happens, it is not easy for to concentrate your energies to the tasks at hand.

How can you ensure that you can accomplish what you want to or as expected by your employer?

Effective Task Management Involves Doing the Following:

1. Do one task at a time.
Experience taught us that in trying to do everything at once, we will end up doing nothing at all.
2. If the task is too complicated or too big, break it into parts.
3. Even if you have completed one task, do not move on to the next if you feel you do not want to do it immediately. Take time to reflect.
4. Understand the problem, issue, and every important aspect of the task well before initiating any action.
5. Do not daydream about how well you can do the task. Just do it.
6. Give yourself time to think through what you need to do to carry out task.
7. Limit time for talking. And do not allow others to take too much of your time.
This means effectively managing your time.
8. Delegate tasks that your subordinates can do.

First Determine What are the Right Things to Do
All of these steps will not mean much if you do not know whether what you are doing is the right thing to do. There is no point in immersing yourself in doing the task without knowing whether this is the one task that you need to do first.

Effective task management means that you need to prioritize, that is, do the first thing first, the next thing second, and so on.

Ask: "Is this task the right task?" "Is it necessary to do this task now? Is this task critical and needs urgent attention? Are there other more important things that needs doing before doing this task?

It is only after having done this that you can proceed to decide what is the right way of doing the task. If not, you may waste valuable time and effort in the process.

Dealing with Stress
If we don't plan, we may end up being in a stressful condition. Stress is harmful. It affects the quality of our work. It interferes with how much we can accomplish.

It affects our health. And it can have effects on those aound us.

We need to control every inner urges that keep disturbing us. We can do this by relaxing our minds and bodies.

And for those who are inclined for the religious, to believe in that higher force to provide the necessary strength.

Attitudinal Changes Can Work Wonders
No external factor can make you change if you don't want to.

Positive results from task management also depend on whether you are able to change from the inside.

Try to see whether you need to change your attitude towards your work. Ask the question put forward by Stephen Covey "Do I WANT to" or "Do I HAVE to?" ("The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, 1989")

Wanting to do something makes you love and like your work. In that case, you will do it well.

On the other hand, when you feel that you are being "forced" to do the job, you will rebel and may end up hating your job. This is the "have to" scenario and is not favorable in advancing your career or profession.

Assuming Personal Responsibility Over Your Job
Task management requires you to assume personal responsibility for every part of the job as a precondition for doing it well.

Doing this will make you happy in doing your job. You will feel less stress. Instead you feel a sense of accomplishment. And it strengthen your believe in yourself, that you are capable of doing something right.

When you do this, you help your organization grow and succeed more and more. When your organization's performance is good, everyone working there will share in the benefits.

There is no reason why the corporate leadership will not notice your contribution. You will receive your rewards in due time.

In addition, you will feel good when you know that you have helped in bringing about a better working environment in your place of work and a better future for everyone. This is motivational in nature. This is the result of good task management.

The more you are motivated the more you can can focus and achieve. Read about motivational theories and how these can help you engage your people.

To Home Page