The 4 Ds of Time Management are four categories – Do, Defer, Delegate and Delete – that make time management easier.
There is a direct relationship between time management and job stress. Stress is a perfectly normal part of life, but if workload becomes overwhelming it can detrimentally affect emotional and even physical wellbeing. Introducing healthy workload management into your business can significantly improve employee health, happiness, and productivity.
The 4 Ds of Time Management explained.
One of the key solutions to manage a heavy workload is to turn it into bitesize chunks. The 4 Ds is one model that can be used to achieve this.
- Do – work on tasks that only take a few minutes to complete. Accomplishing quick wins and a series of smaller tasks builds momentum and motivation for working on larger or more complex projects.
- Defer – postpone tasks that are not time sensitive, and schedule when you have the availability.
- Delegate – reassign work to someone who has the skills to fulfil the task. This is one of the most efficient strategies of time management.
- Delete – learn to say no and remove unnecessary tasks from your schedule and move on.
How can businesses help employees manage workload stress?
- Set realistic deadlines – clear visibility of tasks, work in progress and workflow can help you see what capacity you have for more work and adjust incoming workload and deadlines accordingly.
- Collaborate more – being able to see what projects staff are working on, can help see if workload is fairly distributed within a team. If some members of the team have more than others, new tasks can be distributed or redistributed to other team members who have more capacity.
- Talk more – creating a communicative culture where staff can discuss their workload, means that employees do not suffer in silence and can voice concerns if things become overwhelming.
- Encourage breaks – take a quick walk, encourage staff to take proper lunch breaks and encourage coffee breaks. This often results in increased productivity too.
How Alphatec’s software solutions can help
The aim of all Alphatec’s software solutions is to improve, streamline and manage work processes better. Features of our software include task automation, workflow management, notifications and reminders, time recording and task allocation, at a glance work in progress and much more. The powerful reporting functionality provides invaluable insight so that employees and managers can quantify workload and see where the 4 Ds methodology can be implemented. Additionally, working hours can be easily checked, and steps taken to promote a positive work/life balance.
The best way to find out how our software can support your business is to book a demo
