Nobody Likes a Multitasker! Level Up Your Time Management Skills

The Work in Sports Podcast - Insider Advice for Sports Careers

Despite the likelihood that you or your peers have claimed to be expert multitaskers, almost no one can multitask effectively. If you work in the sports industry, you WILL be asked to juggle many projects simultaneously, and managing time effectively will determine whether your career prospects sink or swim. Today's question for the WorkInSports Podcast comes from Justin in Atlanta, who wants to know how he can build his time management skills into an asset in his career:

"Hey Brian – I'm having major trouble with time management lately -- I feel unorganized, scattered and stressed. Working in sports is hard, but I really think if I got better at time management, I could enjoy this a lot more. Can you help?"

Time Management Skills in Sports

There are few better examples of time management skills at work than the day-to-day lives of collegiate student-athletes. Throughout their careers, student-athletes must manage the following:

• Physical training

• Practice

• Travel

• Competition

• Rehabbing injuries

• Classes

• Homework

• Exams

If a student-athlete falls behind significantly in those areas, their career can end instantly. It takes discipline and dedication to juggle their expectations, and any lapse in judgment or performance is costly.

Part of the thrill of working in the sports industry relative to others is that no two days are exactly alike. On a game day, you may be hosting a company party in corporate suites of an exciting home contest, and the next, you're catching up on emails about possible season ticket sales leads with no in-person interaction. The first part may be a lot of fun, but you won't last long if you can't buckle in and attend to the latter tasks and keep the revenue coming into the organization.

Time management is about prioritizing where you spend your effort on the job and why, then creating a system that allows you to accomplish tasks efficiently. For VP of Content and Engaged Learning Brian Clapp, that comes in organized lists. Here's a look at how his mind works:

• Break down tasks into categories:

• A1: Must be done today

• A2: Finish these in 2-3 days

• B: Important, but not time sensitive

• C: Long-term goals (reading, skills exercises, and career development)

• Spend 30 minutes every day reviewing these tasks and goals

• Tackle the A1 list (no multitasking) in the first part of the day

• Reset with a quick break

• Visit the A2 list and start working on those tasks

• Evaluate the remaining tasks and re-order assignments as necessary

Enjoy the full episode of the WorkInSports Podcast to learn more time management skills to apply to your day-to-day work. Subscribe for more sports career advice and catch additional content on our YouTube channel!