Prevent New Manager Burnout With These Time Management Strategies

A common mistake that many new managers make is trying to do it all. However, after working many long days and dealing with an overload of stress, you’ll quickly realize that mastering time management needs to be a priority.

Here are 5 time management best practices to embrace to prevent new manager burnout:

1. Don’t feel the need to take on everything that comes across your plate. If you’re constantly saying “yes,” you’ll have no time during the day to take care of your own workload. Before taking on an assignment, ask yourself if it’s mission-critical to your team’s success. If the answer is “no,” it’s not a good use of your time.

2. Be selective about the meetings that you attend.  Meetings are notorious for draining productivity. Before accepting a meeting request, determine if the issue at hand could be easily resolved in an email. If the issue merits a meeting, prepare an agenda to keep the meeting on task.

3. Proactively monitor your calendar. When was the last time that you audited your calendar? If it’s been a while, you probably have reoccurring meetings on your calendar that are no longer necessary. Proactively reviewing your calendar and cleaning it up will help you to increase productivity and be more available for your team.

4. Don’t let your email inbox manage your day. Take control of your day instead of letting your email inbox dictate your schedule. As a best practice, establish set times throughout the day to check your email inbox.

5. Master the delegation process. Knowing how to delegate is crucial for maximizing your team’s productive and being an effective leader. To encourage your employees to take ownership for their assignments, delegate objectives instead of tasks. By taking this approach, your employees will take more pride in completing projects and may even come up with their own creative solutions as a result.

All in all, implementing these best practices will help you to be a successful new manager while also maintaining a healthy work/life balance.