You know that moment when you’ve gone too
far down an internet rabbit hole?
You’re in the depths of Wikipedia, reading
a ridiculously long article about deep sea
fish… those things are so weird.
Then, you look at the clock and SOMEHOW it’s
3 a.m.
You’ve got a reading you didn’t do, a
test to finish cramming for, and class in
the morning.
Or even a job!
And you wish you had managed your time just
a little bit better.
Well, we’ve all been there.
So, today, we’re going to give you strategies
to work more efficiently, delegate tasks,
and manage your time better so you’re not
late, very late, for your very important dates.
I’m Evelyn from the Internets.
And this is Crash Course Business: Soft Skills.
[Intro Music Plays]
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to
time management.
Remember: we’re not going to ask you to
change yourself to become a business robot.
The first step to feeling in control of your
time is thinking about your working style,
your work, and even your personality.
Maybe you like detailed schedules or have
a pretty structured job, like a secretary
or government employee.
Or maybe you think regimented schedules are
suffocating and want the flexibility to work
on your own timeline.
I mean, that’s why I quit my office job
and became a freelancer.
So don’t listen to those management gurus
who say there’s only one way to make a
daily schedule.
Managing your day down to the minute with
a sticky note system and a productivity tracker
is just as valid as prioritizing big projects
and diving in.
And you probably have a time of day that you
work best, too.
Some people are morning larks who get up early
for yoga and a protein smoothie, and then
do their best work first thing.
Some of us are night owls who would love to
sit in our pajamas until 11am, eating cereal
and watching Netflix, and do our best work
later in the day.
Even though us night owls may not appreciate
chipper morning larks, and you morning larks
may assume we’re lazy, there’s nothing
wrong with either style.
Work with who you are and what you got!
Do the super important stuff, like big presentation
prep, when you’re most productive.
And do the low intensity stuff, like sending
daily emails, when you’re in slump time.
No matter when or how you work, there are
ways to make the most out of your time and
stay focused.
For one, always avoid multitasking.
It’s a myth.
You’re just switching inefficiently between
a lot of things.
You’ll be distractible and probably end
up making messes when things could have been
simple.
So to keep you from running around as mad
as a hatter or anxiously dwelling on what
you /might/ be forgetting to do, make a checklist.
Put the important stuff first, and complete
things one at a time.
Once you find your flow, do what you can to
avoid interruptions.
Even little ones snowball into big chunks
of time, and it takes longer to refocus than
you’d think.
Say you’re hard at work and your roommate
offers you something to eat.
It might only take a minute to grab that snack,
but our brains are weird and don’t actually
get back to that peak concentration level
very easily.
This chunk of additional time is called the
disruption cost, and you may need something
like 15 minutes to get back into the zone.
Now, you don’t need to disconnect from people
completely and hide in a cottage in the woods
like the March Hare or Ron Swanson.
It may take a bit of coordination with your
coworkers, but if you can, go somewhere away
from that open-office floor plan for an hour
or two and unplug.
I know it’s hard to disconnect from electronics,
because we give them so much attention every
single day.
You’ve got texts, DMs, and Facebook messages
coming in, plus reminders, and your work may
want you online for emails or Slack.
But you can limit those distractions by printing
out your reports or taking handwritten notes,
setting a certain amount of media minutes
each day, leaving your phone in airplane mode
for a bit, or using a screen blocker app.
Now, sometimes work is pretty straightforward
and specific to you, like writing a report.
But you won’t always be able to work solo.
No matter your job, you’ll eventually be
a team member or a leader.
And if your to-do list has a bit of everything
and you’re spread too thin, prioritize your
tasks, and then strategically delegate things
that aren’t your specialty.
Think about it this way.
With a little delegation, the Queen of Hearts
managed to get an entire garden repainted
in, like, 20 minutes.
Despite her faults, she was an efficient
villain.
But… you probably shouldn’t model your
people skills after her.
So don’t delegate things that could seriously
burden other people, put them in an ethical
pickle, or encourage poor behavior.
Remember setting SMART goals?
Handing work off with ambiguous instructions,
like, “Do whatever it takes to meet our
sales target!”, could leave room for corners
to be cut.
And don’t delegate something important just
because you don’t want to deal with it or,
“it’s not your job.”
Sometimes, yes, you could get a request that’s
out of line.
But for the most part, if everyone said, “it’s
not my job,” a lot of important stuff just
wouldn’t get done.
This avoidance is why HR departments end up
handling most sexual harassment claims alone,
even though messages of support from leaders
and managers about what’s not okay in the
office go a long way.
You should be thinking critically about why
you’re delegating tasks.
So, if you’re the best person for the job
and you have time, give the work a shot.
But if you’re bad at something or your teammate
would be a better fit, maybe pass it along.
For instance, the designer in your office
could work on place settings for the next
company fundraising lunch, while you work
on the corporate guest list.
You’ll accomplish more together if everyone’s
playing to their strengths.
And if you can teach someone a skill, you’ll
demonstrate leadership, save yourself time
later, and make your team stronger.
But if delegation isn’t cutting it and you
still feel like you have too much on your
plate, remember that you can say no to another
project.
Okay, you can sometimes say no.
There are times you’ve gotta do what you
gotta do, especially if you’re getting an
order that’s framed as a request or it’s
basically in your job description.
If you’re a card soldier, you can’t say
no to standing guard.
But when you do have the option, remember:
there’s only so much time in a day, and
you want to put your effort towards things
that matter.
So an extra responsibility could give you
a chance to show your skills.
But think about the time commitment, how important
it is, how good of a job you think you could
do, and if it helps meet any of your own goals.
If you’re not hyped about it, then offer
a polite, “no thank you.”
Just don’t take too long to decide, because
whoever’s asking probably has a deadline
and needs to find someone else.
If you say no, do it respectfully and directly.
Thank them for thinking of you, and maybe
throw in another way you can help them out,
or name-drop someone who can.
To see how you can thoughtfully manage your
responsibilities, let’s go to the Thought
Bubble.
Let’s say you’re in charge of planning
a Fall Fair for your small town.
It’s a big event, so you’ve got a super
long checklist of things to do.
Luckily, you’ve got a talented team, so
you can delegate some of those tasks.
You don’t want to dump random things on
people’s plates, and you know that sometimes
people have skills that may surprise you.
So during the next team meeting, you ask everyone
to tell you where they’d be the best fit.
Together, you divvy up responsibilities.
You’re in charge of vendors and sponsors.
Your financially savvy friend is keeping track
of the budget.
And it turns out that one of your friends
does graphic design on the side, so she’s
making the flyers and posters.
With more of the work spread across the team,
you’re still really busy, but you’re
definitely less stressed.
So when another friend asks you to help plan
the annual fundraising breakfast for the local
police force, you want to say yes.
The event is super important to her, and she
makes a mean waffle.
You’re happy she trusts your planning skills,
but you’re afraid that one more task will
turn your perfectly planned calendar upside
down.
After you sleep on it, you tell her that you’re
flattered she asked, and you’re passionate
about the cause, but you don’t have time
to take on another event.
Then, you suggest that she give your super
meticulous sister a call, since she’s an
expert planner during a crisis.
Your sister’s got the time and even convinces
her boyfriend to help out!
Now, you’re not overcommitted and distracted
by extra responsibilities, and your friend
has the help she needs.
Thanks, Thought Bubble!
It’s easy to overestimate how much time
something is going to take and accidentally
take on too much.
It happens whether you're working a 9-to-5
office job, freelance gigs, or some sort of
combo.
So if you’re struggling to figure out what
you really have time for or what projects
you should say no to, try using a calendar.
After you’ve mapped out your current schedule,
pencil in projects you want to take on and
their deadlines.
That way you can visualize how busy you actually
are.
Then, you can use your SMART goals to figure
out your priorities, and cut what isn’t
important.
Don’t put off projects you really care about
until “the right time.”
Guess what?
You’re always busy.
Now is the right time!
But also remember to pencil in time for you.
The key to good quality work is feeling good.
If you spread yourself too thin, you won’t
be doing anyone a favor.
I know I sound like your Internet Mom right
now but…
You need to get close to 8 hours of sleep.
Just because you’ve heard that successful
people get up at 4am doesn’t mean you should.
Really tired insomniacs who can’t focus
get up at 4am too.
So get the rest your body needs.
And the last thing you probably want to do
when you’re overwhelmed is hit the gym,
but exercise can help you destress and keep
your brain working smoothly.
If you sacrifice your sleep, healthy eating,
social time, or anything else that’s important
to you... you’ll feel worse, do worse work,
and spend more time worrying... and probably crying.
Take care of yourself!
Perfect is the enemy of good, and if you find
yourself stressing, don’t overthink it.
It’s probably great, and it’s time to
put down the pencil.
Aaand... with that, we’ve
officially used up all our time on time.
So don’t forget:
Figure out what works for you, because we’re
all different!
But multitasking isn’t real.
Delegate what you can, and do it thoughtfully.
Prioritize your tasks by using a checklist
and use a calendar to see what’s important.
It’s better to do high quality work over
high quantity, so it’s okay to respectfully
say no.
We know you’re making important decisions
on college, jobs, and just life in general.
So next time, we’ll be talking about how
to avoid thought traps and make effective
decisions.
Crash Course Business is sponsored by Google and it’s made with the help of all
these nice people and Thought Cafe is our
amazing animation team.
Crash Course is a Complexly production.
If you wanna keep imagining the world complexly
with us, you can check out some of our other
channels like SciShow Psych, where hosts Hank
Green and Brit Garner explore the complex
science of the human brain.
Also, if you’d like to keep Crash Course
free for everybody, forever, you can support
the series at Patreon; a crowdfunding platform
that allows you to support the content you
love.
Thank you to all of our patrons for making
Crash Course possible with their continued support.
