Everyone needs to practice good time management skills. You’re more likely to accomplish the things you want to do if you have a schedule. Almost everyone procrastinates here and there, but some people make it a way of life. Good time management skills are essential to making these people productive. The advice that follows will assist you in doing so.
Use a timer to your advantage. If you are having a hard time focusing on something, find a timer and set it for the amount of time you know you can work. Say you wish to work for about an hour. You might set a timer to give yourself breaks every fifteen minutes.
Try working out your days ahead of time. If you can, plan your activities for the following day ahead of time. You can get a jump on your workday by making your chores list a day ahead. When you see your tasks in front of you, you can easily start work.
If you’d like to prioritize your time management better, start using a calendar! Some people like printed calendars that they can scribble on. Others prefer easily accessible electronic calenders on their computers or phone. Regardless of the method you choose, you are sure to be more successful at managing your time when you use a calendar.
Pay attention to deadlines. When you become aware that a deadline is coming up quickly, you must take time away from other priorities to handle the more urgent matter, and you end up behind on just about all the other tasks on your list. The more you are aware of these deadlines, the easier it is to finish all of your work without sacrificing quality in another area.
Begin each day by reviewing your schedule and making any necessary modifications. If you begin your day with the knowledge of what lies ahead, you will be more likely to accomplish your goal. Look over your schedule carefully to make sure that you haven’t scheduled too much to handle.
When it comes to devising your daily schedule, remember to schedule time for unexpected interruptions that are bound to occur. If things happen that aren’t on your schedule, it could throw everything off. If you make allowances for these interruptions, you will be able focus and keep on track.
If time management is hard for you, try taking an objective or detached look at what you really do get out of how you currently do things. Figure out why some projects seem more challenging for you than others. If you desire better time management, you need to find out if your current way of working is meeting your needs.
If time management comes hard to you, plan days the night before. You can create a comprehensive list of all the items you need to do. When doing this, your mind is more relaxed and you can easily deal with time pressure the following day.
Prioritize the tasks you do each day. Sometimes, meaningless tasks can get in the way of your day. Make sure you do the most important things first. Prepare a to-do list, and handle the most important tasks first.
Consider how you are spending your time when you are concerned about time management. Try to use it more wisely. As an example, take the time to review emails or voicemail during a specific time of day, and don’t worry about them when you need to take care of other tasks. Checking them when they come in takes away from the time already allocated for other things.
Unless you just have to, try to avoid talking on the phone, texting or even instant messaging someone when you are in the middle of something else. Once you are interrupted, it is hard to get back on track. Respond to your messages after you have finished your task at hand.
Be realistic about what you can really accomplish effectively. In fact, it is nearly impossible to do so. Aiming to get everything done often results to accomplishing less. Try to complete the things you want but also realize that you might not get to everything.
Try keeping a diary about the time tasks use. Write down the different tasks you accomplish each day. At the end, take a hard look at those times. You may see places where you could have been a lot more efficient.
Get yourself fired up to tackle your most pressing tasks. Sometimes it can be hard to get started and stay motivated, but practice makes perfect! Repeat to yourself that you are capable of staying focused for as long as it takes to get a task done.
Rewards should be saved for after all your goals have been met in any given time. For example, as much as you may want a fresh cup of coffee, if that’s going to put you behind schedule, put it off until later. Reward yourself on a regular basis once you start managing your time properly.
Put your most important tasks at the top of your to-do list. Trying to do too much at once causes the quality of your work to suffer. You may not actually get much done! By attending to just one task, you can get better results.
Do more than one errand in one trip. Never just go to the store to pick some things up. Incorporate your stop at dry cleaners or mailing something out. Think about where everything is located and plan your route accordingly.
Break down to-do lists into four quadrants. Put less important tasks on bottom and more important on top. The horizontal axis must be labelled “urgent” to “not urgent.” Don’t spend any more than 10% of your time during the day in the not important/urgent quadrant. Spend the majority of your time on the quadrant labeled “Urgent/Important.” Still, you do need to allocate a little time towards the important/not urgent section. If not, you could quickly become overwhelmed with those tasks as they move into the urgent area.
It is often tough to work on time management skills, particularly if you are not accustomed to working with schedules. Proper time management can result in lifelong successes without worrying about failure. Make sure you keep these helpful tips close by as you develop the necessary skills to ensure time management success!
