Business Productivity
Personal Time Management in Companies
AUTHOR: Francisco Sáez
I still hear in certain management environments and business schools that it is crucial for healthy time management to separate between personal and work-related aspects of life.
Efficient work time management cannot ignore personal time management. Any productivity considerations in organizations always require a dual perspective, that of the organization and that of the individual. If this perspective is lost, the need to balance interests that are not always aimed in the same direction is overlooked.
From an business productivity point of view, it is necessary to have the necessary people available at all times, to be able to adapt human capital to operational needs, and to achieve an efficient use of available resources, so that a proven profitability can be achieved.
But every organization is made up of people, and it is impossible to achieve a fully productive system by ignoring the needs of the people who make up that system. In order to achieve the desired productivity levels, it’s necessary to take into account that:
- The best results in terms of quality usually come when workers have a genuine interest in the work, and have high levels of support and autonomy. This can only be achieved in results-oriented work environments.
- The main productivity problems are rooted in a lack of concentration, and this can have multiple causes, both work-related (meetings, distractions generated by the environment, overwork, etc.) and personal (family, financial, health, etc.). The key is not to manage time or to separate work from personal time (something completely impossible in the mind of the individual), but to help employees manage their attention.
- In order for a person to efficiently manage their work time, they must be able to prioritize the most important tasks at any given moment, and this cannot be done if the goals to be achieved and the means to achieve them are not clearly established. It is not only necessary to know what to do but also why you should do it.
The productivity of the organization depends on the productivity of its workers, and this is based on the ability to use their available time in an efficient way in terms of contribution.
Precisely because GTD is primarily a personal management system, it’s a very interesting organizational method for companies, as it allows them to balance the personal and professional needs of workers, and helps them assume responsibility for what they do, focus on what is important at any given moment and adapt to changes.
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