Why Should I care About Time Management?
1440. There are 1440 minutes in a day and 10080 in a week. We all have tasks that we need to complete, people we need to meet up with, and work we have to get done but with so many distractions that get in our way, how can me manage our time better so that we get things done? Time management has become more and more important as our lives are filled with more and more distractions. It has never been more important to have a plan and hold yourself accountable to it.
Time Management Tips
Below we have 5 ways you can improve your own time management so that you get your work done much faster and more efficiently.
1. Create A Weekly Plan
Time Management Tip #1 – Weekly Plan
Every Sunday night, make a list of all the tasks that you have to complete during the coming week. This should take no less than 3o minutes and up to an hour. It may seem like a big investment of your time, but compared to the amount of time that it will actually save you, 60 minutes is nothing.
On Tuesday evenings, review your weekly plan and evaluate your progress so far. If you need to reorganize the rest of the weeks tasks, do so on Tuesday night.
Pro Tip: If you want to push this point even further, list each point under each day of the week. Have at least 5 tasks for each day and take into account how long each tasks should take to complete, and don’t over stretch yourself. You want to make sure that each day is full but not so full that tasks remain incomplete or untouched.
2. Have A Daily Plan
Use the weekly schedule to make a rough outline of each days tasks, but at the end of each working day, set aside 15-20 minutes to make a detailed schedule of the coming day. Keep in mind the tasks that you have set yourself for the week, and add any additional ones that you may have forgotten. With the daily schedule, you can add more details to each task such as names and phone numbers as well as the time of day that each tasks should start and finish.
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3. Carry A Personal Scheduler
Time Management Tip #3 – Carry A Scheduler
As a time management tool, a scheduler is a must have. It can be something as simple as a small notebook or a note on your cellphone. A notebook with a calender is preferable, because it’ll allow you to schedule the time of day each task should be done, and you can tick off tasks as they are complete and transfer incomplete tasks to the next day easily.
A note on your cellphone can be used to jot down ideas that come to you as your on the go. Never rely on your memory because you forget things and by writing them down you ensure you have a reminder.
Time Management Tip #4 – Wake Up Early
4. Wake Early
Waking up at 7am as opposed to 8am means an extra 420 minutes a week. As long as you’re getting the recommended 7 hours of sleep, an early wake up call can mean you get so much more done before the rest of the people in your neighborhood have even woken up. Don’t use the snooze button and use the extra hour productively. Exercise in the morning increases your metabolism throughout the day and works much better than coffee in waking you up.
5. Make Time For Family And Fun
When you begin to take your time management seriously, you can forget to make time for the fun things that you enjoy to do throughout the day. Make sure you allow time for lunch with friends, dinner with family, and social events. If you forget to allow time for these, you can plan for too many things to be done in one day and over book yourself.
These breaks ensure productivity and they make sure you don’t burn out. You have to make time for fun, because that’s the whole point of it all. By improving your time management, not only will you work more productively, but you’ll have more time for the things you love to do.
Further Reading
This book is for all those who are overwhelmed with too many things to do, too little time to do them, and a general sense of unease that something important is being missed.
