Time Management Tips From Marketers: How to Deal with Weekly Commitments

As a marketer it can be tough handling countless, never-ending obligations on a week-to-week basis. If only we were tasked with sitting down and banging out 20-plus stories by the end of the week we would feel infinitely less stressed.

But this is the real world where marketers have calendar pop-ups and strategically placed post-it notes to remind us to update editorial calendars, review client workloads, conduct weekly client calls and attend monthly internal team meetings, among many other responsibilities. Before you know it, that once blank schedule is now filled to the brim with a number of seemingly small tasks that quickly add up—and it can be completely overwhelming.

This process makes me think of the way credit card spending works; you make seemingly small, miscellaneous purchases that very quickly add up until you’re looking at your statement wondering: “How in the world will I be able to pay all of this off quickly?” In many ways, time management can feel like paying off a mountain of debt; we work to shave off items on our weekly schedules within an allotted time frame—all while feeling the pressure to complete projects on time and within budget.

I may not know what projects or deadlines you have ahead of you this week, but I can promise you that they are doable with the right time management plan in place. For instance, I would suggest avoiding multitasking. With research showing that only two percent of people can successfully multitask, chances are you cannot multitask as well as you think. Not only this, but multitasking (ex: catching up on emails while in a weekly team meeting) has been linked to a number of negative, brain-damaging effects. For instance, aggregated research from Forbes shows that high multi-taskers have less brain density in their anterior cingulate cortex—a part of the brain responsible for empathy as well as cognitive control. Additionally, the research shows that multitasking is directly linked to decreased productivity and lesser quality work.

Therefore, your best bet is to take one thing at a time; hone in on that one task until it has reached completion or expectations, and then move on to the next.

Here are some other time management tips from my team that seem to work well for us marketers:

• “Use Google Trends instead of combing the Web for relevant information if you need a quick topic,” Gerald Baldino, Digital Content Editor.

• “The key with time management is to get really good at prioritization. Not every task is a must-do; some can be pushed to the backburner. When you get a better handle of how to prioritize work, you can execute more swiftly,” Carrie Majewski, Director of Content Marketing.

• “Never handle the same item twice. That is, whether you’re opening an email or listening to your voicemail, be prepared to address its contents then and there. If you put it aside for another time, you’re adding to the time each item requires of you,” Peg Ventricelli, Quality Control Editor.

What other time saving or management tips would you add to our list? Let us know!

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