Sit back, relax and take all the praise: 5 time management hacks for office managers

Everyone is subject to time pressures at work. Therefore, we're all aware just how precious our time can be during so many busy days. Anything that can make our tasks quicker or easier to complete is well worth considering. This is why we’d like to offer the following five suggestions that have proved useful for our own team…

1. The Headspace App

Just as you would use proven techniques to train your body in a gym, this terrific app, which can be downloaded to either your mobile or computer, use the same process, but for the mind rather than the body. A fit mind is surely a great help with tasks, from the routine to the challenging. They even offer a terrific ten-day starter programme about the basics of meditation for free – and you can find out all about it here.

2. Swift document conversion across many formats

If our first tip covered self-improvement, here we suggest a resource for that most practical of tasks – yet one that can be so time consuming - document conversion. The Toshiba e-bridge Re-Rite is a terrific tool that converts scanned paper documents into any of 21 electronic file formats, including PDF, Word and Excel. Our own team regularly uses it and find it a brilliant time-saving aid. More details here.

3. Get a better understanding of time

A fun exercise at a team meeting is to ask everyone to close their eyes and raise their hands whenever just one minute has passed. Some hands often hesitantly head skyward after 40 seconds or so; others remain obstinately low until 80 seconds are upon them. It's a simple way to demonstrate that it's important to be accurately aware of time passing. It's also key that time spent bears relevance to the importance of the task being undertaken.

4. Tracking time

Following on from the previous point, it’s vital for people to keep an accurate track of their time. We’re great fans of Toggl. This time tracking tool can help informed decision making, and help make sure that you know the ROI from the time invested on projects. You can even share timesheets with your clients, one of so many advantages this tool offers.

5. Signing documents online

If you haven’t yet tried Signable, it’s a superb way to get those vital documents signed almost instantly. No time spent in transportation, or the costs of courier or other services. Signable adheres to the latest in UK electronic signature law, and recipients can sign on their desktop or mobile. They even offer a 14-day free trial – so you can quickly see for yourself how much time and energy can be saved.

There you are: five different tips, aimed at both thought and practical time saving processes. We hope you find them of benefit to you and your business!