Racing against the clock is nothing new for event organizers. In fact, they eat, sleep, breathe, and live the fast life. But when things start to feel a bit too much, it might be high time you scale back and see what you can change to keep your productivity and efficacy going.

Why is this vital? Because in a time-dependent field, it leaves little room for errors. Although the occasional late night is unavoidable, a string of these can make you burn out sooner rather than later if you don’t learn how to manage your time.

So without further ado, here are our top five tips for becoming a more efficient event planner.

1. Tackle the big tasks first

There’s a reason why big tasks are called “big”. They’re the ones that take time, patience, and more effort towards completion. Instead of starting with smaller tasks and ticking off more from your list, tackle the most important ones first. So while the ball is rolling on the big tasks, you can refocus on other work without worrying about major tasks.

2. Quit incessantly checking your emails

It may seem like a small thing but emails actually take a chunk of your time if you clump it together. Instead of checking and responding to emails as they come in throughout the day, set aside a dedicated time for your email management. In fact, if you could turn off push notifications for incoming emails, then do it! This will help avoid distractions for unread emails. As they say, out of sight, out of mind!

3. Set daily objectives

Knowing what you need to get done for the day will help you allot your time for each task. Additionally, setting a personal deadline can help you be more efficient by forcing you to zero in on the task at hand and move on to the next item.

4. Learn to say “no”

This is perhaps one of the hardest parts of being an event planner. Clients often fight for what they want in their events, no matter how impossible or outrageous it is. While pushing the border isn’t bad, it can take a bad turn if it isn’t planned properly. Thus it is paramount that you learn to say no. This will save you not only money but also time to try making the impossible happen in a short period!

5. Leave time for the unexpected

No matter how much we plan, things can always take a turn and go in another direction that we weren’t exactly hoping for. Remember to set some time for the unexpected to happen. Delay in deliveries, a change in weather conditions, and rescheduling events are only some of the unexpected events that can occur when preparing for an occasion.

There you have it! Our top five tips to help you become a more efficient event planner. Remember, pressure and deadlines can motivate you to keep going but it can also bring about negative effects such as unmanageable stress. Learning to manage your time is a challenge but with these tips, you’ll be ticking off things with flying colors!