Often we get the feeling that it is better to do something yourself than to delegate it to someone, for you can do it quicker than explaining everything from the scratch - not worth the effort!

But the answer lies in prioritizing more sensibly and in improving time management skills.  

Here are a few tips that can help in being more time savvy and efficient in your work:

1. Evaluate the tasks at hand: Divide your tasks into those that are critical/urgent, those that are important but not urgent, tasks that are of little importance and those that are neither critical nor urgent. Eliminate the last category and work your way up. Details are important but if you feel you are wasting more time in the little things, you are doing something invaluable. Stop and ask the question “Is this the most important task for today?”

2. Eliminate or delegate “non-crucial” tasks: If it is not important, it is better to delegate or eliminate the task. It is critical to understand and decide if the task is important to your role and the organization and outsourcing or delegating the other tasks on hand. If you are at the end of the ladder, ask for volunteers who can help you with things that you are not good at or appeal for more resources. In a nutshell, make time for work that matters.

3. Change your mindset: Thinking that you can do everything can be detrimental to your well-being, your confidence and can give false impressions to people who can term you as egotistical or over confident. Delegating is about letting go of tasks that can be done by others and the output of which can benefit you in terms of time, achievement of the stated objectives and enhancing your credibility as a leader. And in this process, your team gets to develop, become proficient in their tasks, supports communication and which enhances their self-esteem.

4. Make efficient use of your time: After prioritizing sensibly, use the time that you have freed-up towards those tasks that have been on the top of your mind but you have been stalling them for some reason. These are tasks that are specific to your roles and responsibilities and that can only be done by you. 

5. Be committed: Consistent commitment to how you manage your time in a particular way is essential to working effectively and efficiently. Time management process is a self-directed process that needs total discipline on your part. Make sure that you align yourself with you peers, colleagues, team and even supervisors so that you are able to communicate your challenges and strengths through such a process. It is about asking the right questions to yourself and answering with honesty.