Task management is a skill everybody should master. Each of us has things to attend to every day. Whether it’s doing the household chores, shipping a package, submitting a project or anything really, being able to manage one’s time and effort towards achieving tasks is essential.
Although beneficial, task management is something that people usually undermine. Some people don’t pay enough attention on how they’re actually managing the things that they need to do on a day-to-day basis. What people don’t realize is that there is a difference between task management and SMART task management. Not only does SMART task management lead to more efficient work performance, but also it has positive effects on personal growth and health improvement.
If you’re interested in learning more about effective task management and self-improvement, follow this article.
Table of Contents
What makes Task Management SMART?
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Often used in project management and personal development, the SMART criteria is a guide for setting goals, objectives and tasks. The criteria is as follows:
Specific
When making your tasks, these should be strategic and targeted towards one area. Your tasks may be geared towards the improvement of your physical health, relationships with other people (such as your family or friends), career, passion, and many more. Choosing a particular area makes your task clearer to visualize. You address the tendency of feeling overwhelmed because the task appears to be complicated.
Measurable
Tasks should be measurable through forms of documentation such as photos, videos, journal entries, progress reports, etc. When you do this, you are able to see your progress. This is really helpful to motivate someone to continue with the task. Often, people feel discouraged that their efforts go to waste because they don’t see any changes.
Achievable
One’s tasks should be achievable or attainable. This measure requires a person to be realistic and think about one’s resources and capabilities. It’s important to gauge whether the tasks you’ve set are possible given the time and effort you are willing to put into achieving said goal. When you align a task to its resources, it is more likely for it to come into fruition. If a task does not agree with the person’s or business’s resources, it is unlikely for it to be achieved.
Relevant
In-line with the previous measure, a task should be relevant to the concerned individuals, given their resources and capabilities. This should be in-line with one’s vision or long-term goals. Aside from that, knowing what’s important for you enables you to prioritize your tasks. Among the many things you or your business wants to achieve, it’s very easy to feel overwhelmed. Here, it is highly advantageous to prioritize among the tasks to know which are urgent or not. By knowing your priorities, you’ll be able to delegate your time and effort towards what’s important for you now.
Time-bound
A task is time-bound when there is an appropriate time-frame for it. Setting deadlines or checkpoints when doing a task is helpful for managing your pace of working. Along with making a plan, you should also plot out your time-frame of carrying out the plan. This serves as a guide for you to know when you should be putting the work, and when you should be achieving it. Making your tasks time-sensitive also makes your task more achievable because you know that you won’t be working endlessly.
How does SMART task management lead to health improvement?
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For instance, your goal is to lose 20 pounds in 5 months. You then formulate a plan that follows the SMART criteria. This may include tasks such as, “Drink 1.5L of water”, “Move for at least 30 minutes every day” or, “Get at least 10,000 steps every day”. You monitor your progress through photos, videos and journaling. You also set a fitness regimen, nutrition plan and time-frame that is appropriate with your capabilities given your work and other obligations.
By employing SMART task management, you overcome the feeling of being overwhelmed with your goal of losing weight. Since you know where to put your time and effort, the likelihood of stress and burnout is lessened. SMART task management also enables you to feel more motivated in achieving your goals. Because the tasks are realistic, you feel more accomplished and fulfilled. Rather than feeling discouraged and disappointed, you feel more driven to improve yourself.
SMART task management is beneficial and leads to health improvement by encouraging people to work within their means. Since SMART task management is realistic, people would feel less intimidated. Because a clear and concise plan was made, people would feel less confused on what to do and where to put their time into it. This lessens negative health effects such as stress and anxiety, which may further lead to unhealthy behaviors such as overworking, lack of sleep, burnout and many more. Task management becomes more manageable because it encourages motivation and self-control.
What are the benefits of SMART task management?
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1. You become more self-aware. SMART task management involves you putting the time to think about what you or your business wants to achieve. What follows this is making a plan of action for how to achieve what you’re aiming for. Through this, people become aware of what they have, where they want to be, and how exactly they’ll achieve these goals given their capabilities.
Productivity is encouraged.
2. As mentioned earlier, there is a difference between merely managing your tasks vs. SMART task management. What separates the two is that the latter encourages the efficient use of time, effort, and other resources. SMART task management combats procrastination which encourages you to waste the time, money and effort not only of yourself but of other involved parties.
3. You live more intentionally. One great advantage of following the SMART criteria is that you live with more intention or drive. Following tasks that are planned out to contribute towards your goals is helpful in navigating through things that are irrelevant or not. Since you know what you want, you can focus your time and effort to achieve it.
