What Are Time Management Skills? Examples
Time management skills enable individuals to prioritize tasks efficiently, maximize productivity, and achieve goals effectively within set deadlines. Find time management examples and learn how to add them to your resume.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
What are time management skills? + examples
Time management refers to completing work on time, organizing daily tasks, prioritizing projects, and communicating your progress to coworkers and supervisors.
Top 10 examples of time management skills
Time management is an ability that requires various other base skills to achieve it. We’ll outline some of them here.
Here are 10 time management skills examples with explanations:
Focus
Keeping focused on your work and tasks is crucial to time management. Employers value people with focus because they finish tasks on time without getting distracted or sidetracked.
Organization
Being organized is the key to having a clear and efficient workflow. That includes keeping an up-to-date calendar, knowing where all your tools are, and setting up your daily schedule to maximize productivity.
Self-motivation
Being self-motivated means staying focused on tasks without needing reminders to work hard or fast because you do those things automatically. Self-motivation requires a mixture of responsibility, work ethic and integrity.
Planning
Planning is a cornerstone of time management. Having every step planned, including how long things will take, helps you use your time wisely. People who plan things out in advance are more likely to reach their goals on time.
Prioritization
The ability to assess and prioritize your tasks based on time sensitivity or the most logical workflow is a huge asset. Prioritization ensures a sensible and efficient approach to daily tasks and larger projects.
Communication
Your communication skills help you to share information with your coworkers and managers in an efficient and timely manner. Good communication and writing skills ensure everyone is on the same page regarding schedules, procedures, roadblocks and deadlines.
Delegation
Delegating tasks is a prized skill for managers, supervisors and executives. Delegation helps ensure teams work efficiently and each individual contributes their part. Delegation requires interpersonal skills to motivate people to work hard and achieve the team’s goals.
Technical expertise
Time management is easier when your technical skills allow you to use all the modern tools and hacks. Whether using an online calendar or AI to do the work for you, your computer skills can help you manage time better.
Judgment
Judgment skills enable better decision-making, allowing individuals to prioritize tasks more effectively and use time where it’s most impactful. This enhances overall time management by reducing wasted time and increasing productivity.
Problem-solving
People who can overcome problems, hiccups and snags in the work process tend to meet deadlines better. Surprises will always happen at work, and employers value problem-solvers who think on their feet and apply smart solutions.
Find these, plus hundreds more skills, in our Resume Builder. It’s a stellar tool for time management because it’s fully automated and can help you produce a resume in under 15 minutes!
Why time management skills matter and benefit you
Time management skills make you more reliable, productive and adept at multitasking. Employers seek out people with good time management skills because they perform tasks on time with little oversight or guidance.
Good time management skills can help you to win a job or advance your career.
So, next, we’ll show you how to include time management skills when applying for a job.
Time management skills for resume examples
The first step in including time management skills on your resume is to check the job post to target the employer’s specific needs.
The employer could mention “time management” and similar requests like “meeting deadlines,” “efficient workflow” or “accountability.” Your resume should echo the keywords used in the ad.
When you’ve identified the right time management skills, there are several places you can mention them in writing your resume:
- A dedicated skills section.
- Your work experience section.
- Your professional summary or objective statement.
Next, we’ll explain the goals of including time management skills in each.
Including time management skills in a dedicated resume section
A resume skills section is the easiest place to list skills the employer wants. Include a mixture of technical, hard and soft skills and list six to eight in total.
Reflect the language used in the job post or ad to help pass an applicant tracking system (ATS). Employers have programmed ATS to scan your resume and look for specific keywords.
Time management skills in a job post example:
We seek a highly efficient and motivated server to join our dynamic fine dining team at Chew Restaurant. The ideal candidate will possess excellent time management skills, ensuring that guests receive prompt service and a memorable dining experience. Your role will be crucial in maintaining the flow of our restaurant operations by efficiently multitasking, from taking orders accurately to delivering food and beverages quickly.
Adding the job post’s time management skills on a resume:
Skills
- Prompt service
- Friendliness
- Excellent time management
- Multitasking
- Teamwork
- Highly efficient
- POS systems
- Fine dining
Including time management skills in a resume work experience section:
The best way to sell your time management skills is by adding them to your work experience bullet points.
Prove your time management skills are effective by showing the results you’ve achieved, not just by claiming that you have the skill set.
Here are some resume examples of time management skills in the work history section.
Time management skills on an executive assistant resume example:
Executive Assistant | Lola Properties | Boca Raton, FL | May 2021 – Present
- Manage a complex calendar for the CEO, including scheduling over 30+ meetings per week.
- Spearhead the organization and execution of annual board meetings and quarterly staff retreats for over 100 attendees.
- Coordinate logistics, manage timelines, and liaise with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless execution.
Time management skills on a delivery driver resume example:
Delivery Driver | Moon Lake Restaurant. | Brighton, ME | April 2022 – March 2024
- Coordinated delivery routes to handle 35+ orders per shift.
- Utilizing sophisticated route planning tools to minimize travel time and maximize efficiency.
- Achieved three 5-star Yelp! Reviews mentioning “fast delivery.”
- Prioritized delivery orders based on timing, location, and order rate.
Time management skills on a warehouse assistant resume example:
Warehouse Assistant | Delphi Logistics | Austin, TX | March 2021 – May 2024
- Streamlined inventory checking processes, cutting down the time required for stock audits by 25%.
- Coordinated and expedited the packing and shipping processes, increasing the team’s ability to handle urgent orders by 40%.
- Developed a prioritization system that ensured urgent shipments were processed first, enhancing customer satisfaction through improved delivery times.
- Introduced innovative workflow techniques to reduce bottleneck issues in the warehouse.
How to include time management skills in your professional summary
A professional summary lives near the top of your resume after your contact information. Since it’s the first thing an employer reads about you, mentioning time management skills here is a bold move.
Time management skills examples in a nurse’s professional summary:
Dedicated and compassionate Registered Nurse with over 7 years of experience in fast-paced hospital settings, specializing in emergency and critical care. Demonstrates exceptional leadership abilities by efficiently prioritizing patient care tasks and adapting to rapidly changing conditions. Proven track record of managing multiple patient caseloads under tight schedules while maintaining high standards of care. Committed to leveraging clinical expertise and organizational skills to contribute to high-quality patient outcomes and hospital efficiency.
See more: Nurse Resume Examples
Time management skills examples in a supervisor’s professional summary:
Highly effective Supervisor with 12+ years of experience overseeing operations and personnel across various industries. Exceptional time management skills enable successful coordination of complex schedules, deadlines, and project deliverables. Known for a strategic approach to resource allocation and workflow optimization, consistently achieving goals ahead of schedule while maintaining high-quality standards. Proven ability to mentor and lead teams, improving productivity through efficient task delegation and clear communication
See more: Supervisor Resume Examples
Time management skills examples in a software engineer’s professional summary:
Resourceful and detail-oriented Software Engineer with over 6 years of experience in fast-paced tech environments. Proficient in managing time-sensitive projects, consistently meeting deadlines and handling tight turnarounds without sacrificing code quality. Adept at prioritizing tasks and collaborating effectively with cross-functional teams to deliver innovative solutions on schedule. Proven track record of thriving in dynamic settings that demand quick adaptability and robust time management skills to drive projects to successful completion.
See more: Software Engineer Resume Examples
If seeing all these examples has inspired you to prepare your document, use our best tool for the job: our Resume Builder.
The builder is fully automated and walks you step-by-step through the writing process. It also features prewritten content you can add with a click to complete your resume in minutes!
How to develop time management skills: 6 tips
Time management skills improve with practice, so apply these time-saving hacks to develop and enhance your life.
Here are six tips for improving your time management skills:
1 Make a schedule:
Write down all your tasks for the day, week, or month to keep track of everything. Prioritize the most critical tasks and allocate enough time for each one. Follow the schedule as much as possible.
2Avoid distractions:
Put away your phone, turn off notifications and close unnecessary tabs on your computer. Focus on one task at a time without getting distracted by anything else including social media.
3Take breaks:
Taking short breaks can help you stay productive. Take a 5-10 minute break every hour or so to rest and recharge.
4Re-think your process:
Always look for ways to adjust your workflow to make it more efficient or better. It’s easy to fall into patterns with our tasks, but sometimes new approaches and your critical thinking skills find better results.
5Set deadlines:
Goals keep you accountable. Setting a timeframe to complete your work will help you adjust your pace, flow and output.
6Learn to say “no”:
If you have too much on your plate, learn to say no to additional tasks. This can help you avoid feeling overwhelmed and keep your workload manageable.
Check out our best tool to help you, Resume Check. You can upload your resume, and it will give you a score and suggested fixes for more than 30 of the most common resume errors, including formatting, word choice and typos.
Key takeaways
Let’s recap all you need to know about time management skills:
- Time management is crucial for organizing daily tasks and improving productivity and efficiency.
- Employers highly value time management skills for smooth business operations.
- Highlight time management skills in your resume’s skills section, as well as your work experience and professional summary.
- Use concrete examples in your resume to demonstrate effective time management, such as meeting tight deadlines.
- Continuously improve your time management skills through practical methods like planning, scheduling and prioritizing tasks.
- Developing strong time management skills can significantly enhance your job performance and career progression.
In addition to featuring time management skills in your resume, you can feature them when writing your cover letter.
Making the perfect cover letter just got faster with LiveCareer’s Cover Letter Builder. Since it’s fully automated, the writing process becomes a series of easy-to-follow prompts.
That can help shave the writing process down to 15 minutes!
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