Have you ever been swamped with schedules, appointments or activities that you felt additional six hours in your day might just be the solution? You are not unique in this. Most productive and functional people feel this way and it is because they have goals or targets they want to meet up with. This however will remain but a mirage if time is not put under control.
Robin Sharma said that, “Time slips through your hands like grains of sand, never to return again. Those who use time wisely are rewarded with rich, productive and satisfying lives.”
Many people have lived their productive years out with little or nothing to show for it due to poor time management and you might be heading the same way if time management is not an integral part of your life either as an individual , a student, a sit-at-home mother, a manager or even a Chief Executive.
There is cheering news however. Time management is a skill and like every other skill, it can be learned. No matter how disorganized you have been in the past or how much you have tended to procrastinate or get caught up in low-value activities, you can change.
The following tips will help get you organized and fired up to always keep yourself on track no matter the type and amount of distractions that come your way. Before I break these tips down, I will like you to know that time management begins with your being able to set out your goals and on a short-term, medium term and long term scale. Time management actually begins with clarity. You must be clear about what you want to accomplish in every area of your life. Once you are clear, come back to the present and plan every minute and hour in everyday of your life; on paper, so you can accomplish what you desire.
Make a list- You must start your time management practicing with a list. The list must be anchored on priorities. The fact about time management that most people are ignorant about is the fact that you cannot manage time. You can only manage yourself and your priorities, better put. This is what makes time management hinged on self- discipline and self- control. It actually requires that you make well informed choices and decisions that will enhance the quality of your life and work.
Have an action plan- Now that you have the list of your goals, you must begin to plan each day in advance; each week in advance and likely the months ahead in advance. The things you plan to do the next day should be written down the night before. When you do this, experts say that your subconscious mind works on the list as you sleep all night long. When you wake in the morning, you will often have ideas and insight to help you accomplish the item on your list.
Do worst things first- You must make a divide while trying to manage your time. Place urgent task on one side and important ones on the other side. Most times, people spend most of their day responding to urgent task that normally include telephone calls, interruptions especially from colleagues, emergencies etc. Important tasks are those that bring positive impacts to your long-term plans. They include planning, organizing, studying etc.
Now when you have a list of the things you want to do the next day, one task will contain more value than everything else put together. Against all odds, ensure that you do it. How will you identify such a task you might be asking? Normally, it is that thing that puts you off easily. That one thing that pains you the most to think of. That one thing that even if you have accomplished ten other tasks, you will still go home and feel you had a bad day and it will keep flashing in your subconscious. That is the worst thing you should do first. You will most naturally feel accomplished and will have a burst of energy to overcome the other tasks.
Concentrate and practice focus – The difference between rays of light and laser beam is that while the rays are scattered and cover a larger area, the beam converges and cover a very small area. The results? The rays only light up while the beam can be used to light up, burn and even cut through a particular area. In time management, it pays to single-handle a task, work on it with a single minded concentration until it is a 100% complete. Thomas Edison once wrote, “My success is due more to work continuously on one thing without stopping than any other single quality.” That’s the power of focus. When you try to catch up on so many things, you tend to spend much more time than you should have. Many more time management tips abound from several experts that will propel you to being an achiever when you finally get time under your control.
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