Career & Wellbeing

Time Management for Social Workers: Practical Strategies

January 2025•10 min read

The Time Challenge

Social workers face unique time management challenges. The work is unpredictable, emergencies arise, and there's always more to do than time allows. While you can't control everything, good time management can help you work more effectively and reduce stress.

Planning Your Time

Weekly Planning

  • Review your week ahead every Monday
  • Identify key priorities and deadlines
  • Block time for essential tasks
  • Build in buffer time for emergencies

Daily Planning

  • Start each day with a quick review
  • Identify your top three priorities
  • Check for urgent tasks and deadlines
  • Adjust plans based on what's emerged

Key principle: Plan your work, but build in flexibility. Social work is unpredictable—rigid plans will fail. Flexible frameworks work better.

Prioritisation

The Eisenhower Matrix

  • Urgent + Important: Do immediately (safeguarding, court deadlines)
  • Important + Not Urgent: Schedule time (assessments, planning, CPD)
  • Urgent + Not Important: Delegate or do quickly
  • Not Urgent + Not Important: Eliminate or defer

Risk-Based Prioritisation

  • Child protection takes priority
  • Statutory timescales must be met
  • Court deadlines are non-negotiable
  • Other work fits around these

Efficient Working

Batching Tasks

  • Group similar tasks together
  • Make phone calls in blocks
  • Schedule visits by area
  • Block time for recording

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Recording Efficiently

  • Record as you go, not at the end
  • Write concisely and purposefully
  • Use templates where available
  • Don't over-document routine matters

Minimising Interruptions

  • Block time for focused work
  • Set boundaries around availability
  • Turn off email notifications when concentrating
  • Find a quiet space for writing

Managing Email

Email Strategies

  • Check at set times, not constantly
  • Use folders and filters
  • Deal with quick emails immediately
  • Schedule time for longer responses
  • Don't use email as a to-do list

Meetings

Making Meetings Work

  • Only attend meetings you need to
  • Come prepared
  • Stay focused on the purpose
  • Leave when your input is complete (if possible)

Dealing with Interruptions

Planned Interruptions

  • Build buffer time into your schedule
  • Accept that interruptions will happen
  • Have a system for capturing things that come up

Managing Demands

  • Learn to say no (professionally)
  • Negotiate deadlines when needed
  • Escalate when demands are unrealistic

Travel Time

Using Travel Productively

  • Group visits by geography
  • Use travel time for phone calls (hands-free)
  • Dictate notes while information is fresh
  • Listen to podcasts for CPD

Common Time Wasters

Things That Eat Time

  • Excessive perfectionism
  • Procrastination on difficult tasks
  • Unnecessary meetings
  • Poor IT systems and workarounds
  • Disorganised filing and records

When Time Runs Out

What to Do

  • Prioritise ruthlessly
  • Communicate with your manager
  • Ask for help or reallocation
  • Document that you've raised concerns

What Not to Do

  • Cut corners on safety-critical tasks
  • Suffer in silence
  • Work excessive unpaid overtime

Conclusion

Good time management can't fix systemic problems, but it can help you work more effectively within challenging constraints. Plan your time, prioritise ruthlessly, work efficiently, and communicate when demands exceed capacity. Remember: you're managing time in a demanding job—be realistic about what's possible.