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Time Management Made Easy - Why Managing Your Time Is Important
* have an easier time at work? * be more creative? * be more successful? * save money? * do things well - but not over well? * escape from the drudgery of doing the same menial task over and over again? * live in a pleasant environment? * increase your enjoyment of life? So how do you do time management well? Well, first realise that time management is a myth - you cannot create, store or save time to use another day. There are only ever 24 hours and they tick on remorselessly. What you can do is choose how you use those 24 hours to best effect. Start by clearing the decks. Write down everything you need to do (or think you need to do), then ask yourself for each item - does this need to be done? Do I need to do it? Cross off and delegate as appropriate. Repeat this if you ever find yourself feeling overwhelmed by your to do list. Learn to process all the tasks you have to do. Divide them into Today/Next week/Sometime. Look at the daily list several times a day, the next week list, once a day, and the sometime list once a week. Move items up as necessary, at the end of each day, so your subconscious can get to work processing what has to be done. Identify the important and the urgent - important is when good things happen as a result of doing something. Urgent is when bad things happen if you don't do them! Schedule the important things first, using good blocks of time. Bundle the urgent and mundane tasks into job lots and schedule these around your important tasks. However, don't over schedule your time as interruptions and crises will occur. Learn to delegate. You do not need to do everything yourself. Even young children can help out by tidying toys away. One thing that can be helpful here is considering the payback you get for investing your time. If the payback is small, either don't do it or delegate it. If the payback is large, do it yourself. Try to process things only once: if you keep picking up a piece of paper, try the measles test. Put a red dot on it each and every time you pick it up. You'll soon get the message. Similarly simple e mails should be dealt with immediately. Organise your systems to best fit your habits. We waste a lot of time looking for things, be it library books scattered around the house or files on a computer. Set up a system which works for you and use it. Establish routines and stick to them as much as possible. You are much less likely to forget something if it is part of a routine. Identify and reduce environmental time wasters. These are things like interruptions, phone calls and e mails. And you can control them, but it takes discipline. Plan for pleasure. It's important to your well being, so make it important in your schedule. Play to your time management strengths. Are you a morning person - you will work best in the early morning and early afternoon. If you are a late riser, it will be late morning and early evening, possibly into the small hours. If you can only concentrate for 30 minutes, get up and take a break then come back to the task in hand. Procrastination and perfectionism are internally generated time wasters, and can be heard habits to break. Just get stuck in! Use small gifts of time to catch up - when waiting at the dentist, stuck in a traffic jam, or a cancelled meeting. Always have reading material to hand, and use your phone to catch up on e mail. Good time management is a key life skill, and needs to be learned. Rather than trying to control your time, learn to make choices which deliver what is important to you Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com If you are you interested in more ways to manage your time, check out www.time-management-made-easy.com. Susbcribe to my free mini series and newsletter to help you get the most out of every day. |
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