All over the world people run out of time each day because they don’t understand proper time management. If you are one of these people, or maybe you would just like to get better at it, don’t worry because the following article is for you. There are many proven strategies for good time management, and you can read about them below.
One good way to improve your productivity is to start with tasks you know you can complete easily. Prepare a to-do list for the beginning of the day that only includes quick tasks that you can get through quickly. Starting your day with a burst of productivity will motive you to take on bigger tasks as you continue working.
For many people, time management is a matter of multitasking. If you want to maximize your productivity, this might not be a good strategy to pursue. Multitasking splits up your attention so that no one subject gets the full benefit of your skills. Instead of splitting your focus, put off new tasks and continue to concentrate on the job at hand.
The first 30 minutes of the start of your day should be used for planning the entire day. Do not begin your day until you have completed a plan that includes the times that everything is to be done. You can consider this time block used for scheduling your day one of the most important times of your day.
Try to avoid answering the phone or e-mails just because they ring or appear. If you can, try disabling or disconnecting instant messaging. You don’t need to instantly give people attention unless it’s essential to the instant human response aspect of your business. You should try scheduling time for returning calls and answering emails.
Sometimes, people have problems with time management because they do not set a time limit on tasks they need to accomplish. Write down each task that needs to be finished on your daily schedule. Now, set a time when each task should be finished. As an example, if your have morning correspondence, then set 10am as the time all correspondence must be completed.
Don’t dismiss the simplicity of a simple pocket sized planner with pages for you to write in appointments, birthdays, lists and other important things. People tend to rely too much on electronic gadgets to help them manage their lives but paper and pen can often be the most effective way to organize your thoughts.
Learning to prioritize is an important skill. You need to be able to get the most important things done first. Some things absolutely have to be done by a certain time and some things can be done any time. So focus on the most critical tasks first and then worry about the little things.
To get things done, make a priority list with all tasks placed in the order of importance. This is the best way to get your day organized. What’s important to do today? List those first on the schedule. This way you work from most to least critical on your list each day.
Give yourself a goal time for each task in your day. Be realistic as you delegate your time. Set the times that you should finish each task by and do your best to stick to it. Do not feel rushed if time becomes an issue, since lesser priorities are scheduled later in the day.
As stated in the above article, time management is a simple skill to learn when you are dedicated to following certain proven strategies. Make sure you put the things you learned in the above article to good use, and get started right away. Soon enough you will see how simple it is to accomplish all the things you set out to do each day.
