What Is the Connection between Time and Task Management?

Time management is about using time effectively to perform a task or a series of tasks by creating a priority for them. This identifies the tasks that are more important than others. Task management is about working effectively to complete the task within a specified time period. Time management manages the time necessary to complete one or more tasks, but task management involves efficiently working to complete the task in an orderly manner. The connection between time and task management involves how to use time effectively to complete a task quickly and completely.

The problem for many people is trying to complete many tasks in a limited amount of time. If a person has to perform only one task, however, his or her sense of urgency might be limited, depending on the task. The task of washing dishes might carry little urgency, but a surgeon who must perform a critical operation would have a great deal of urgency.

Urgency also plays a role when there are multiple tasks that must be performed. The tasks might be independent of one another, or they can be sequential or related. Another aspect of time and task management can develop, however. For some tasks, the time required to complete the task might not be known. This is especially true when one is performing a new task or creating something new.

Task management also involves looking at tasks that might independent of one another but can be combined in a project. That means that it is possible to perform the short-term tasks quickly, but a series of them can take longer. For example, if a project is to clean a house, the separate tasks are to clean each room separately, until all of them are clean. At that point, the house is clean, and the project is complete.

There are other sequential tasks, however, that are not arbitrary — they must occur in a sequential order. When this is the case, a priority scheme can put the tasks in the best order. For example, if one must clean the kitchen, wash the dishes and prepare dinner, it might be best for him or her to clean the kitchen and wash the dishes before making dinner, because he or she might find it difficult to make dinner in a messy kitchen and without clean dishes to use.

The connection between time and task management is strong. Tasks typically must be completed within a given time period, and performing the tasks in an order that does not involve repetition or skipping steps or returning to previous steps is part of time and task management. Time management makes use of urgency, and task management involves establishing priorities.