How Your Office Can Kill Your Time Management

The modern office is usually a good place to work, however some of us aren't fortunate enough to have moved into a new build, we're stuck with old architecture, bad space management and overcrowding. If your office is full of people instead of resources, you might have your time eaten trying to solve problems to do with your surroundings rather than your work. Here are some ways to alleviate the negative effects that environment has on your time.

1. Journey planning

If your office is in a built-up area, chances are you have to set off earlier and earlier to get to work on time. This is time wasted unless you can think of a productive way to fill it. Can you car-share with a colleague so you can have an almost mini-meeting prior to getting into the office? Do you have hands free so you can start making calls relating to your workload that day, or do you have a professional audio book you can listen to? Can you practise your presentation out loud in the car? Hey, ignore the stares - you're multi-tasking instead of tutting and listening to the radio.

2. Other people and distractions

Sometimes, if you need to dedicate 100% of your time to an important deadline, people can be a pain. We all like most of our co-workers as they keep us motivated and brighten the office up when you're having a hard day, but if your time needs to be your own, is there anywhere else you can move for an hour to really plough through some quality time with the task in hand? Usually in an office there's a place for confidential phone calls or quiet work, whether it's an empty boardroom or a less-used corner of the office. Think of where you won't get distracted by well-meaning colleagues, since a hello and exchange of pleasantries may cost you some more time.

3. Proximity to facilities

If you're slumping at 3pm and the nearest coffee machine is on another floor or even outside the office and in a café across the street, plan this in advance - or ask a kindly colleague to get you one - if you're pushed for time. If you know you've got a manic day ahead, bring in lunch to eat as you work rather than running to the local supermarket to get the last of their sandwiches. Have water on hand before you start work - since dehydration can cause lack of concentration, and in turn, you lose time on the job in hand.

4. Noise control

If you've managed to get away for a couple of hours where people may not be a distraction, time may still be eaten into if you're somewhere noisy. Is there a window you can close, a door you can shut with a do not disturb sign, or a place away from the constant drone of a printer, scanner or even lifts in the office that will put you off your stride? Time management is much to do with quality over quantity and you can't turn out quality work if you're wincing and covering your ears.

Overall, most of the time we're happy in our environments, but these tips should help when you're really against the clock, aiming for a deadline and must really use every minute of the workday to achieve your goals on time.