The right task management tool will help you streamline your job, but improving efficiency goes beyond stocking your tool kit with calendars and appointment reminder devices. Personality traits are just as important as the tools you use to help you manage your busy schedule. You should also assess your dominant personality traits and determine how you can leverage your natural tendencies for better task management.
Personality traits can be easily discernible for some and perhaps a little harder to depict for others. The common thread here is that we all have traits that are strong and ones that are weak. Identifying strengths to highlight them and knowing your weaknesses can help you work to improve them.
We won’t always be able to perfect certain aspects of our personality, but knowing your traits and working them is a key in being a success in life. There is no wrong or right personality type; everyone brings something to the table. We are all a different flavor, and everyone has a different taste.
Finding your flavor and using it to your advantage is smart. People-oriented personalities develop relationships that are more social, while task-oriented personalities focus on getting things done. Both are equally important serving different needs.
To help in identifying which personality traits best represent you, please consider the outlines of each below.
Task-Oriented vs. People-Oriented Personalities
Task-Oriented Personalities Tend To:
- Focus on a to-do list daily.
- Have concern for productivity and efficiency.
- Maintain concrete goals and a detailed list.
People-Oriented Personalities Tend To:
- Focus on the needs of the people around them.
- Are concerned with building and maintaining happy relationships with the people around them.
- Place more importance on the feelings and happiness of the people around them than on their to-do list.
Obviously, we could easily say that that you can’t have good task management outcomes without good people management skills. This point is largely true and, conversely, you can’t have great relationship outcomes if you are always falling short on your obligations and commitments. You must be able to achieve balance by leveraging your strengths and working on your weaknesses.
Consider your personality traits and apply a sense of logic, evaluate what you are required to do in a day, who is affected, the amount of time necessary for tasks, and your skills. Sounds like a lot, right? In reality it’s not; you have already mastered a portion of the exercise and it is only the remaining portion that requires your attention. Just like anything we do, with practice, we become perfected.
In the end, you will be able to effectively consider your important relationship, maintain them in a healthy, productive way, and complete the tasks outlined on your to-do list with balance.
Task Management Tools and Beyond: Working on Your Skills
Task-Oriented personalities working on people-oriented skills may want to try the following:
- Set aside time to focus on important people in your life. Write these individuals’ names down on your task list as a part of your daily schedule. Reach out in email, text, by phone, or in a social media forum.
- Give your full attention to someone speaking to you by consciously making eye contact.
- Do something personal for someone, like send the individual a birthday card or ask the person about his or her day or family.
- Make it a point to remove yourself from your task list by going to lunch, visiting a museum, or taking a walk with a friend or family member.
People-Oriented personalities working on task-oriented skills may want to try the following:
- Use a task management tool to make a task list daily and review it every morning.
- Look for opportunities to break tasks into several smaller tasks and include team members or family where appropriate.
- Consider areas that could be leveraged for multitasking.
- Schedule a meeting with a team member to work through a project task together.
Remember, you are your best resource, so keep that point in mind as you develop your strengths and weaknesses. Be honest with yourself and stay on task.
Implement the right project management tools to help you compensate for some of your weaknesses if you’re struggling to stay organized. With a helpful task management tool in hand, you can stay organized easily, freeing more of your time to focus on honing your best personality traits for the job.
