My 3 Most Important Time Management Tips

 Time Management can always be tricky especially when you cannot anticipate the things that might affect your day. Often, there are factors that change the way we want our lives to roll out.

Especially with the pandemic affecting the entire world, it is very vital that we get structure incorporated in our daily lives since the new normal right now is to work from home, not just for safety but convenience as well.

I have been working from home even before the pandemic so not much of my schedule has been affected. I am a Social Media Specialist.

Here are some of my 3 most important Time Management Tips that are guiding me through every week. Of course, these are flexible and are always changeable whenever there are emergencies or other stuff unexpectedly happening in my life.

MAKING SOCIAL MEDIA CALENDAR AND STICKING TO IT

After closing with a client, I transcribe everything that we have discussed in the discovery call. What the client wants as contents in their business, posting schedules, and consistency of postings. This is very vital to manage the client's expectations, as well as to not get sidetracked with posts from others. The hardest part of coming up with a Social Media Calendar is coming up with contents for the entire month.

Ideally,  a Social Media Calendar should contain all your supposed content for the whole month. It should serve as a guide for when you are in a creator's block.

CALENDAR BLOCKING

Calendar blocking is very simple. It's taking your calendar and using the blocks/events to space out time for all of your routines, work and social events.  Essentially taking your calendar and blocking out every hour block to totally co-ordinate the day ahead.

TIME BATCHING

Time batching is a time management technique that includes grouping similar tasks together and setting aside time to complete them all or work on them until a predetermined point of progress. The purpose of time batching is to minimize distractions for a workflow that enables concentration, attention to detail, and productivity.

I time batch according to what I will be doing for the week. I entirely work from home (I MISS TRAVELLING!), so that will mean do I need to go out or not. If yes, I need to look presentable, I will schedule selfies, photos and/or filming or whatever that would need me to be presentable on those days. If not, I can just throw on my pajama, with my bare face and focus on content creation and blog posting on those days.

But since everything can be delivered now and I don't have to out anymore for any government transaction (The PH government announced a "bubble"), I won't schedule anything for the filming day.

Digital Marketing Trends For 2021

Digital business pivots may become permanent.

Diversify your social media activity to connect with more engaged users. To that point, enrich the user experience on your social profiles by leveraging shop and other features that break down barriers towards purchasing from you.

Social media will become a top channel for purchase, instead of just discovery.

Social media platforms are now making it easier for consumers to go from discovery to purchase without leaving the platform, creating a simple and seamless path to purchase.

 

Informed buyers want to buy from informed brands.

This is not just a matter of brands meeting consumers where they are; it’s about brands telling them what they want when they want it. 

Virtual events started out of necessity, but are here to stay because of ROI and accessibility.

In the face of the COVID pandemic, events became virtual out of necessity. As we move into 2021 and beyond, many events will stay virtual not only because of continued safety concerns but also because it means a lower cost for more people and a higher ROI.

Reduction of social media channels.

With so many channels available, so many businesses have tried to stay relevant on all of them, the need to declutter is a necessity. FOCUS IS A MUST!

Live interactions with virtual events.

People are craving for human interactions so virtual events are on trend with the market more than ever.

In life, we really do not know

The year is 2021. 

Everyone is claiming that this is their year. But we are already 11 months in from the lockdown. How can we make most out of this year? Remember when we all said that to 2020 and the pandemic happened?

The health sector, the Government too told us that these are uncertain times.

I admire the Covid-19 response of other countries but I mourn for the Philippines. We are sinking deeper into the grave that the colonialist, the capitalist, including the past generations of them and the past and current government administration dug,

  

THESE ARE UNCERTAIN TIMES.

Is it not that way for many years though? Nothing is really certain. No single thing is set in stone. Contracts are amended. Minds change, so are goals. Nothing goes according to plan.

I was in a conversation with my sister earlier, she was asking me if our cousin shifted her course from Tourism to IT. I told her I didn't know but maybe she studied IT since Digital Marketing is the most in-demand industry right now and for the years to come. Who would have thought that I would be using what I studied in college now? In life, we really do not know.

I graduated with a degree in Business Administration, Major in Marketing. I have learned that Digital Marketing cannot be offered as a Business course since, by the time the students are graduating, their learning is no longer applicable to always changing market.

I also have a degree in Law which I have only used for 3-4 years after studying for it for 5 years. I did not know back then that I would not be able to practice Law. Physically and emotionally, I cannot.

I realized that I wasted my time. If only I heard it the first time that Law School was not for me, I would have saved myself from countless sleepless nights and heartbreaks from exams and subjects I failed and for taking and failing the Bar for three consecutive times.

If I just went according to my plan, college-MBA-Law, I would have ample time to hone my craft and be a digital marketer in 2011, instead of 2021.

In life, we really do not know.