The Impact of Time Management on Dairy Farms

Profile Picture of Post's Author Helen Korzec | Posted August 7, 2023

Does your to-do list ever feel like it is endless? Are you constantly looking at it and a wave of feeling overwhelmed washes over you? If you’re anything like me, it becomes daunting to think of all the items that land themselves on your to-do list, or perhaps you don’t even keep a to-do list and all the tasks swarm around in your head like killer bees, ultimately leading to none of the tasks being accomplished or tasks that aren’t a priority somehow end up being the first ones that get done.

Particularly on farms, keeping an organized to-do or task list that keeps deadlines, priorities and long-term goals in mind can be extremely difficult to manage. On the farm, you never know what might arise that day, like employees calling out, a commodity not showing up or unexpected weather. This is all the more reason to maintain a to-do list. For those of us that work on farms, a traditional to-do list simply doesn’t cut it. We need to further organize and prioritize our lists. For me, organizing my tasks or to-do’s is best using the 4 quadrants of time management matrix, designed by Dwight D Eisenhower.

Basically, the matrix divides tasks into four categories: Urgent and Important, Not Urgent but Important, Urgent but Not Important, and Not Urgent and Not Important.

Below is an example of what a matrix may look like on your dairy farm.

Time management is essential to productivity when running a business, especially a dairy farm. It can relieve the stress and organize your tasks into more manageable components, and also help reach long-term goals. Next time your to-do list feels overwhelming try the matrix to help plan, prioritize and delegate tasks.

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