Time is an elusive beotch. Some days we think we have it under control, then other days it seems to get away from us. Eventually we realize we never had control of it. The best we can hope for is management of it, making sure we make the most of the time allotted. These 12 tips--planning, prioritizing, focusing, delegating and relaxing--will help you manage your time and not let time manage you.

1. 12 TIME MANAGEMENT TIPS
Shannon Mouton Gray
Marketing and Communications Strategist

2. (c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

3. 1. CREATE A DAILY PLAN
The plan provides an
overview of how the
day should flow.
Your job for the day is
to stick to the plan.
Plan your day before it
begins to unfold.
(c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

4. 2. SET A TIME LIMIT TO EACH TASK
Keep work from
dragging on and eating
into time reserved for
other activities.
Be clear that you need
to finish Task X by
10am, Task Y by 3pm
and so on.
Let colleagues know, so
they can plan
accordingly.
(c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

5. (c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

6. 3. KNOW YOUR DEADLINES
o Mark the deadlines in your
calendar.
o If you’re leading a team, then
you will need to know their
deadlines as well.
(c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

7. 4. TARGET TO BE EARLY
Your personal deadlines
should be earlier than
the project’s deadlines.
Target to be early and
you’ll likely be on-time.
When you target to be
on-time, you’ll either be
on-time or late.
(c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

8. 5. ADD-IN NIGHTMARE TIME
o Account for it and give yourself
more time BEFORE you set a
deadline.
o Almost everything takes longer
than anticipated.
(c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

9. 6. FOCUS
o Concentrate on what you’re
doing.
o Being present on the task at
hand helps to avoid simple
mistakes.
(c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

10. 7. BLOCK OUT DISTRACTIONS
Close the multiple tabs
in your browser.
Use the “do not disturb”
function on your office
phone.
Silence your mobile
phone’s notifications.
(c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

11. (c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

12. 8. PRIORITIZE
Put first things first and
let go of the rest.
Know the difference
between busy work and
productive work.
Don’t procrastinate, do
the hard tasks early in
the day.
(c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

13. 9. DELEGATE
Share the work.
Be a team player, not
the whole team.
Let the writers write, the
coders code and so on.
(c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

14. 10. GIVE YOURSELF BUFFER TIME
Leave 5-10 minutes between tasks
to catch your breath and to shift
gears to the next activity.
(c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

15. 11. PLAN AHEAD
Prepare for the next day BEFORE you
leave work.
(c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

16. (c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

17. 12. RELAX
Don’t fret over a missed
deadline, it’s done,
move on.
Refocus. Update the
team, timelines and
schedules as needed.
Learn the lesson and
don’t do it again.
(c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

18. (c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018

19.  Shannon Mouton Gray
 ShannonMoutonGray.me
 shannonrmgray@gmail.com
 @ShannonRenee
 Linkedin.com/in/shannonmoutongray
(c) Shannon Mouton Gray 2018