How many times have you thought that there are not enough hours in the day? If this sounds like a sentiment that you share, you are not alone. With social media and smartphone technology, many people find it harder to manage their time correctly. It can be even more challenging when you’re working on developing an app. Here are five fundamental principles of time management you can use while you build your app.
1. Schedule Your Daily Tasks
The to-do list is a hallmark of good time management. The best time to determine what you will do to work on your app the next day is actually the night before. According to Lifehacker, 41% of to-do lists never get completed, so how can you avoid this? Avoid putting too many tasks on your to-do lists. Be realistic about your time and ability to complete assignments during the allotted period. For example, you might need to focus on your app and non-app related tasks at the same time. So, set time aside the night before for researching Louisville real estate as well as creating a storyboard for your app. That way, when you get to work the next day, you’ll be able to breeze through all of your tasks. As you become more efficient, you can add more tasks to your to-do list.
2. Check Your Email
According to Forbes, the average worker checks their email 15 times per day—wasting 2.5 hours daily. This wasted time can be spent doing tasks for your app that are more important. Try waiting until after lunch and then again at the end of the day to check your email so that you can regain a nice chunk of your day to dedicate solely to app-building.
3. Eliminate Distractions
If you have a problem with distractions, there are a variety of ways to address this issue. If you put yourself on a strict time constraint, this will help to keep you on task while you’re working on your app. Playing soft music or white noise will also help drown out distractions. If you need to, remove yourself from a distracting environment.
4. Break Large Tasks into Smaller Ones
Large tasks (like completing your entire app) often seem daunting and may incite procrastination. The best way to deal will large tasks is to break them down into smaller ones. This strategy will result in faster gratification, which will motivate you to continue with the task.
Start out by making a list of the various aspects of the larger project (such as defining the core functionalities of your app or designing the database). These smaller steps will, in turn, become tasks themselves. One way to look at this is similar to a company like Defy Extreme Air Sports in Fresno, which has one theme (air sports) that they focus on. Then they spread out their theme into various operations. Focusing on smaller tasks can help you work towards achieving all of your larger goals with your app.
5. Delegate
Delegation is the process of entrusting a task or responsibility to another person—generally a subordinate. It is incredible how much time is wasted by people in authority positions because they are not good at delegation. This is often due to lack of trust in subordinates to do things the way the superior likes them done.
If you’re building your app with a team, you must learn to trust them. If something is delegated and not done correctly, a good delegator knows that the task can always be done over until it is done correctly. The subordinate will eventually become skilled at the task, thus freeing up the delegator to do other more meaningful tasks.
Conclusion
Excellent time management is what separates the successful from the unsuccessful. The people, teams, and companies that succeed do so by being more efficient than the rest. Make sure you’re making the most out of your time, and you’ll be able to build a great app.
