Alpha Serve Blog
We publish articles on different topics related to project management, agile methodology and philosophy, software and application development.
How to Manage Time Efficiently to Keep Work-life Balance
Published: February 24, 2020
Updated: August 18, 2022
Author: Nataliya Timoshina
Project Manager in Alpha Serve
Speaking about time, I recollect the movie "Lucy" by Luc Besson. This is an action thriller about a woman who accidentally got the ability to use her brain to its full potential.
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"Time is the only true unit of measure. It gives proof to the existence of matter. Without time, we don't exist".
Indeed, it's difficult to overestimate the value of time, especially nowadays when almost all tasks and projects are time-sensitive.
Here’s what we’ll cover in this blog post:
Freelance as One of the Work-life Balance Solutions
Project Management Software
Conclusion
Freelance as One of the Work-life Balance Solutions
Project Management Software
Conclusion
Here’s what we’ll cover:
It is a table of contents. Click on the needed subheading and switch between parts of the article.
Freelance as One of the Work-life Balance Solutions
Searching for life-work balance more people reject the constraints of traditional offices and shift to freelance, remote workstyle, digital nomad culture, and workations.
Did you ever have a feeling that the more you work, the less you actually complete?
To get rid of this obsession Millennials take their work and leisure time under personal control. They change the depressive office environment and rigid schedule for the flexibility of freelance projects, special collaborative atmosphere of coworking spaces, and exotic destinations of work and travel programs.
Did you ever have a feeling that the more you work, the less you actually complete?
To get rid of this obsession Millennials take their work and leisure time under personal control. They change the depressive office environment and rigid schedule for the flexibility of freelance projects, special collaborative atmosphere of coworking spaces, and exotic destinations of work and travel programs.
The paradox is that the happier and more relaxed we feel, the more productive we get. I guess the secret is in the iteration of intense work and inspiring events. Besides, if you join the right coworking community, you will have many more possibilities for growth. You will attend training and workshops, network with other entrepreneurs that are at different stages of business development, listen to mentors, share your thoughts and ideas and get sincere feedback, etc.
In other words, you will overcome challenges, improve your working skills, and participate in the activities of the community of like-minded people.
In other words, you will overcome challenges, improve your working skills, and participate in the activities of the community of like-minded people.
That's not all
It's much easier to be productive when you know that you don't need to get out of bed early in the morning and hurry up to the office rain or fine. You are free to decide on your work schedule. If you are more productive at night, you can do what's natural for you. Modern coworking centers cater to every member requirement including shower, gym, beauty salon, healthy food, and whatnot.
If you feel tired, go stretch your legs on the sofa. Are you missing the company? Go to the kitchen to have some tea or coffee (which is free) and chat with other members. Do you like the weather outside? Take your seat on the open terrace.
Thinking of all those perks and amenities, it's not surprising that people thrive in the coworking spaces. They become happier, healthier, avoid stress, pressure and get stuff done in time.
Though, this way of work-life balance is not for everyone. You need to be disciplined and organized to be your own boss. Nobody is going to scold you if you take an extra day off or even a vacation. However, you will probably notice a reduced salary. If you don't want to get disappointed by numbers, you need to manage your time efficiently.
If you feel tired, go stretch your legs on the sofa. Are you missing the company? Go to the kitchen to have some tea or coffee (which is free) and chat with other members. Do you like the weather outside? Take your seat on the open terrace.
Thinking of all those perks and amenities, it's not surprising that people thrive in the coworking spaces. They become happier, healthier, avoid stress, pressure and get stuff done in time.
Though, this way of work-life balance is not for everyone. You need to be disciplined and organized to be your own boss. Nobody is going to scold you if you take an extra day off or even a vacation. However, you will probably notice a reduced salary. If you don't want to get disappointed by numbers, you need to manage your time efficiently.
Project Management Software
This is not really complicated with the abundance of project management platforms and time tracking tools available in the market. For instance, many software development teams, including the remote ones, choose Jira. The system is the number one choice for agile projects where every move is result-driven and aimed at customer satisfaction.
Jira project management tool allows you to plan all the work on the project, makeup user stories and issues, plan sprints and distribute the created tasks across the team members.
After all tasks are assigned, you can track them checking the progress on each item. This context and visibility enable you to prioritize and discuss the work of your team for better understanding.
When you complete the coding job, you can release it worry-free and be confident that all the information you operate is current.
Look through the insightful reports generated in Jira and improve team performance based on real-time data and visuals.
Well, suppose your project is curated, the team knows what to do and how to do it. Sounds great but what about time? How will you know the estimated delivery time? Are you sure that you meet the deadline?
Let's exclude the guesswork. You just need to enhance your Jira with an awesome time-tracker, like the one developed by Alpha Serve.
Jira project management tool allows you to plan all the work on the project, makeup user stories and issues, plan sprints and distribute the created tasks across the team members.
After all tasks are assigned, you can track them checking the progress on each item. This context and visibility enable you to prioritize and discuss the work of your team for better understanding.
When you complete the coding job, you can release it worry-free and be confident that all the information you operate is current.
Look through the insightful reports generated in Jira and improve team performance based on real-time data and visuals.
Well, suppose your project is curated, the team knows what to do and how to do it. Sounds great but what about time? How will you know the estimated delivery time? Are you sure that you meet the deadline?
Let's exclude the guesswork. You just need to enhance your Jira with an awesome time-tracker, like the one developed by Alpha Serve.
What Can Time Tracker for Jira Do for You?
The plugin has been developed to track the time spent by team members on closing tasks and delivering projects. You can also turn it into intelligent reports which keep your customers or administrators updated.
Time Tracker for Jira is a handy tool for tracking your hours and generating work reports in terms of tasks, projects, teams, roles etc.
It allows easy creation of user or team reports, along with extra filtration that can be applied to the report for the user, such as issue, worklog or project. Time Tracker for Jira is ridiculously simple to use: all you need to do to start logging the time is just click the "Start" button.
Time Tracker for Jira opens an additional functional window which is linked to an issue where time is currently being logged in. This way the user has a clear indication of what is being tracked at the moment. For the convenience of the users, this window can be resized or even hidden.
Time Tracker for Jira is a handy tool for tracking your hours and generating work reports in terms of tasks, projects, teams, roles etc.
It allows easy creation of user or team reports, along with extra filtration that can be applied to the report for the user, such as issue, worklog or project. Time Tracker for Jira is ridiculously simple to use: all you need to do to start logging the time is just click the "Start" button.
Time Tracker for Jira opens an additional functional window which is linked to an issue where time is currently being logged in. This way the user has a clear indication of what is being tracked at the moment. For the convenience of the users, this window can be resized or even hidden.
Conclusion
As you see, it is not that hard to reach a work-life balance. It all boils down to having the right tools to manage your project and track the time spent on each task. They will make any team more efficient even without radical decisions to leave the office and become a freelancer.
Though, the latter is a general trend nowadays. Even big companies encourage their employees to work from the comfort of the coworking spaces. On the one hand, a healthier and happier employee is more productive. On the other hand, it's much more cost-efficient to use the benefit of a shared economy. Managers don't need to think about office utensils, cleaning, device maintenance, coffee and snacks, as well as other irritating distractive trifles. They don't need to hire people to welcome customers at the reception. All these are taken care of by the coworking space, so both managers and employees can spend their time more productively and direct their energy on creativity.
Though, the latter is a general trend nowadays. Even big companies encourage their employees to work from the comfort of the coworking spaces. On the one hand, a healthier and happier employee is more productive. On the other hand, it's much more cost-efficient to use the benefit of a shared economy. Managers don't need to think about office utensils, cleaning, device maintenance, coffee and snacks, as well as other irritating distractive trifles. They don't need to hire people to welcome customers at the reception. All these are taken care of by the coworking space, so both managers and employees can spend their time more productively and direct their energy on creativity.