Time management is one of those things that most people could stand to always improve on, because our schedules are constantly changing and evolving. With just a little bit of mindfulness and will power, you can start gaining more hours in a day by following this tips. We are all busy people, so let me get onto this list for the sake of brevity!
1. Record How you are Using Time
Whether you use the computer or a pen and paper, record how you use time for one week. This will allow you to analyze exactly what activities are eating up your time then you can start to think about how to alter certain behaviors and activities to manage time wasting activities.
2. Plan Your Days
Make a to-do list every day at a schedule time. Whether this is at morning or the evening doesn't really matter as long as you try to keep it to the same time everyday. Don't just make a list though, include how long every activity will take. By mentioning how long things take it will help avoid making discouragingly long to-do lists that will never completely finished.
3. Do Not Make a To-Do List that is too Long
You are only one person! Making excessively large to-do lists muddies the waters of what needs to be done versus what would be nice to get done. Also, you should occasionally expect not to get to everything that is on to your to-do list, that is just life. It'll be okay.
4. Don't Seek Perfection when Not Necessary
Perfection is rarely necessary, and it is a waste of time and energy to seek perfection when it is not needed. Differentiate between the tasks that need your full attention versus those that do not, and apply your perfectionist tendencies to the tasks that need that sort of energy.
5. Prioritize
There are only twenty-four hours in a day, seven days in a week, three hundred and sixty-five days per year, so we are unfortunately very limited in the amount of things we can actually get done. This means you need to evaluate exactly what things are the most important to you, and how you can spend more time dedicated towards these elements of life.
6. Keep Organized
Wasting time to look for things drive me crazy. Keep as organized as humanly impossible to avoid the panic and wasted energy that comes from searching for things.
7. Set Goals
In order to decide what is worth our time, we need to set long and short-term goals. This will help us decide the types of things that we should be focusing on to eventually reach those goals. Don't just write your goals down one time then forget about them though! Constantly remind yourself of what you ultimately want to achieve, so that you can dedicate time towards getting closer to those goals everyday.
8. Use Your Downtime
Whenever you anticipate there will be time where you have nothing to do fill, that time up with something useful. Whether it is something fun like reading a book or boring like checking emails, have the tools you need at hand to fill up that valuable empty time!
9. Aim to Be Early
By being late or just on time, it wasting your own time on top of someone else's! Try to always be early, so that you can avoid the stress that comes with just getting to things right on time.
10. Continue Refining
As we mentioned at the beginning of our article, schedules and lives are constantly changing. In order to make sure you continue good time management, you must constantly monitor and evaluate exactly how you are using time. Re-visit these exercises a few times a year to make sure you are getting the best bang for your buck out of every minute.
