As people take on more and more responsibility, time management skills become ever more necessary. Part of effective time management is prioritising and organising everything you need to do, be it recurring or ad-hoc tasks. Another element is learning how to reduce the time you waste or use inefficiently. Time wastage is defined as any time that is not productive, beneficial or purposeful. How can you manage your time to cut down on wasted time thus increasing your performance? The first step is to remember that there are only twenty four hours in a day and you are only one person or at best a member of one team. You will never be able to get everything done all of the time.

When you are realistic about the amount of things you can achieve, you can easily plan your day without feeling overwhelmed. Planning your to-do list is necessary to stop you flitting about from one thing to another, without really achieving anything. If there are three things to accomplish today and everything necessary to begin is laid out for you, then it is possible to calmly begin work. Once an item on the list is completed, move on swiftly to the next one without wasting time figuring out what needs to be done next. It is not efficient to have to stop several times to go and check different resources for information you need, so have everything ready and waiting at the start. This will also prevent your concentration from being interrupted so you can focus and achieve more in a shorter time frame.

While it a good idea to collect and collate the relevant resources and information before you begin a task, do not waste time by giving into 'information overload.' This means spending too much time looking over irrelevant information. Keep things as concise and to the point as possible. There is a particular danger of this when researching a topic on the Internet. For any subject there are thousands of web sites crammed with information. You could waste a lot of time looking for something so attempt to collate a list of trusted sites as you go. Use the Bookmark or favourites functionality and organise them meaningfully. This will give you a grounding of Internet resources you can use time and again to prevent time wasted on searching. When something needs to be researched, create a plan of action on how you will research it and give yourself a time limit. This will prevent you spending huge amounts of time burying yourself in a wide range of different sites.

Technology has created marvellous ways to manage time, but remember that often the simple, cheaper technology can be just as effective as the all singing and dancing latest releases. Do not terrify your staff with a massively complicated time management system that they will need a huge training budget just to learn. You wouldn't buy a Porsche if the only journey you ever make were to the end of your driveway to collect the mail. A simple time management solution will prevent time wastage by having to learn irrelevant and cumbersome procedures. Microsoft Office has excellent time management functionality such as calendars and tasks list and most employees will already be using it for their emails. Invest some time learning the technology you do use to ensure that you are using it most efficiently. This time should not be considered as wasted since it will prevent future mistakes and increase productivity.

When considering what new technology and methods to use for time planning, it is worth reviewing the current procedures to minimise time wasted. It may be that Dave has been spending an hour each week taking a trip to the bottled water shop for office water for the last fifteen years. Evaluate the process to see if there is a quicker and simpler way to do it. Obviously nowadays Dave can order the water online with a recurring contract and direct debit fairly cheaply. Since Dave is being paid sixty pounds an hour, perhaps you could delegate the task to someone getting paid less. Delegation should be considered as a tool to allow skilled and valuable workers to carry out their tasks. Simple things that can be done by someone less qualified and cheaper should be delegated. This is a simple example, but there are many things we do every day that could be done more efficiently and that time wasted will add up to a considerable amount. Even little things can make a difference. Take some time to learn some keyboard shortcuts for example.

Part of working more efficiently is being organised. The way in which you work can increase your wasted time if you constantly find yourself having to search about for what you need. Take a step back from your desk and look at it objectively. Are there bits of paper and post-it notes all over the monitor and desk? The chances are you will spend a long time looking for something on a particular piece of paper and there is always a chance it will be misplaced. Reduce the time you spend looking for it by creating a new system of recording things. This may be on your computer using notepad files in different folders or on an excel file so you can search more easily. If there are lots of files and papers that can be filed away then set aside some time each day to clear everything back in its place so you can find it again when you need it. Organisation is the absolute key to reducing time wastage and managing your time more effectively. Whether you are organising and planning your day with a to-do list or organising a simple filing system, being organised will ultimately increase your productivity, reduce time wasted and allow you to feel in control of your life.