Imagine getting $86,400 deposited in your checking account each and every day and told that you had to spend it and what you don’t spend you lose. How would you use it? Would you help others? Invest in businesses? Bless family members? What would you do?
You see, each and every day that’s exactly what happens with time. You are given exactly 86,400 seconds and you must make good use of the time you’re given because you will not be able to carry it over to the next day. I think if we all looked at time in this way we would make better use of it. The truth is time is the greatest commodity in the world.
So, while you can’t actually manage time, you can manage yourself and how you handle the gift of time that you’re given each day.
Below are 5 Ways to Effectively Manage Your Time:
1) Get Clear on your goals. It’s easier than you think to fill your planner up with activities that have absolutely nothing to do with your goals. By the time you reach the end of your week, none of your goals are accomplished. So, it’s important that you’re clear on your goals and know what it is that you would like to accomplish by each Friday. Once you’re clear, you can then schedule the tasks to support your goals in your planner or schedule follow up sessions with the individual you’ve assigned the task to.
2) Know your priorities. Not knowing which goal you should be working on first can waste a lot of time, so it’s important that you identify what you should be working on first. When you don’t prioritize, everything you’re working on becomes a priority and you’ll find yourself going back and forth not really accomplishing any one thing. To make the best use of your time, always identify the top 3 priorities of your day and that’s what you should be working on.
3) Delegate. You may have important tasks that you find yourself struggling with. This could be because you lack the skill or training to complete the tasks. Consider assigning the tasks to a virtual assistant or service, which will move your goal along quicker and relieve you of the stress.
Note: Remember, when you delegate you must always give a clear description, expectations and deadline to complete. Then schedule follow up meetings for accountability until the tasks are done.
4) Choose one calendar system and stick with it. There is no one calendar or planner system that will help you to keep things in order unless you are 100% committed to using it. So, if you prefer a paper planner use it. If you prefer using a computer calendar use it. What you don’t want to do is to have a bunch of separate planners for each area of your life. It doesn’t work that way. Your goal should be to have one planner that helps you to plan your personal and professional sides of your life.
5) Schedule “ME” Time. One of the easiest ways to feed the habit of procrastination is to never give yourself any down time to relax, spend time with family or take care of your personal needs. Have you ever tried to complete a task, but no matter how hard you try your mind is fuzzy and you can’t seem to focus or concentrate on getting anything done? This can happen when you don’t take enough time off for yourself. The mind and body has an incredible way of shutting down when it has had too much.
When you schedule “me” time, you’ll find that you can get more done and make the best use of your time.
