Time Management Tips
One thing we all get in life is the same amount of time in a day. How you manage that 24 hours can lead you towards accomplishing your goals, or not.
When we know how to utilize our time effectively, we help to delay procrastination and distraction while carving out the needed minutes to get a task done.
Time Management Matters
Effective time management helps us to not feel rushed when we are working. That can be critical depending on what you are planning to do.
How many times have you started to work on an article, only to find your mind wandering to the laundry list of tasks that are still outstanding in your day?
It is a common challenge for many of us, myself included.
One of the things I gave up on years ago was the idea of multi-tasking. In my opinion, it is a complete waste of time because when you engage in multiple things at the same time, none of them get done well.
However, the day in age that we live in often presents us with no other choice but to embark on many tasks at once. For those without focus issues, it probably won't an issue.
But if your mind is easily distracted, this can make any job even more difficult and stressful.
Ideas To Help You Better Manage Time
1. What Are You REALLY Doing?
One way to monitor how well you spend your time is to set a timer for 30 minutes. When the time is up, notice what you are doing in the moment.
Have you actually been working on your task, or have you gotten distracted by surfing through social media or checking some other app that could be costing you time.
Being honest in how you spend your time is the first way to see where you are wasting it.
2. Get Rid Of Distractions (Where Possible)
If non-critical information is distracting you, try to avoid it during the time you need to focus. You can shut off notifications and widen your computer screen so that less distraction is visible.
Unless your job depends on every email or notification, consider using apps like Cold Turkey or FocusMe for productivity. These will help you to block out the distractions.
3. Schedule Your Day
Have you even noticed that when your day is planned, you get more done?
To help boost productivity, try blocking out certain hours of the day for specific tasks. For example, you could take the first hour in the morning to concentrate on emails.
So instead of replying to emails as they pop up, delay them until a scheduled time. You'll get more done in a shorter time.
When your day is planned, it can help relieve stress. Being stressed makes everything more difficult.
4. Just Say No
Oftentimes, we find ourselves overcommitting to everyone who needs us. Any moms or people pleasers out there that can relate?
Don't feel badly to say no to things that will eat your time and take you away from what you really need to do.
And don't forget to get your sleep. Many studies have shown that sleep deprivation causes us to lose focus and underperform.
Get your rest. You'll feel better and be able to tackle your day with a more positive outlook.
Final Thoughts...
However you organize your time, make it count. After all, we only have a limited amount of it. In the immortal words of the Latin poet, Horace, "carpe diem."
To your success WA!
Susan
Recent Comments
53
Hello Susan,
A wonderful few steps in monitoring time!
I particularly like setting a timer to test oneself patterns during a period of time.
I find when I am not focusing it is usually distractions like the radio or news, so I often work in silence and then set myself break times to chill, which is often when I get new ideas.
I love the Latin poet Horace seize the day quote "carpe diem".
Best wishes to you
Kind regards
Erica
Hi Erica...thanks so much for taking the time to read my post and drop a comment. I appreciate hearing how you tackle time issues. Glad you enjoyed the post.
Best wishes to you also,
Susan :-)
All great advice, Susan, especially Just Say No. It's one of the most effective habits you can develop. And it mostly earns you respect and makes others value your time more.
Thanks so much Phil. I do appreciate your comments. Saying no is a very important skill to learn...not always easy but definitely important for self-preservation. Hope all is well with you :-)
Hi Susan
Awesome blog and tips
I am using all of the above daily to track my time and monitor my progress
Especially the timing of schedule
Another thing that I do is to use a
checklist and do that one by one until all my tasks are completed for the day
The latter is also done on accordance with my timer
Time is do precious and cannot be regained
We need to make every minute count
Hi Simone...nice to hear from you always. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. I also like checklists as it feels satisfying to strike things off when complete. I'm glad you enjoyed the post. I hope things are going well for you this week :-)
Susan, yes, the checklist is an amazing way to let us know that we are managing our time properly and we are getting things done :)
A very challenging week for me as well
Your post today, is how I live my daily life. Time management is crucial if you want to succeed in accomplishing your goals.
I have lived my life with a daily planner at least over 30 plus years.
I swear by them. Being a single mother of 3, having businesses, and living life with Dr. appt.s for the children, extra curricular activities for the kids, it became a common way to live if I wanted to be THE MOM AND CAREER GURU. lol
Decades later, I still live by a daily planner. The difference today is as you stated there are many more distractions in life, with SOCIAL MEDIA being the no.1.
I do not answer my cell phone at all, while I am working in my office. My daughters know not to call me until after 4pm, unless it is important.
I choose to focus, and control my time with the important things I have and choose to get done that day.
This is crucial for anyone who is serious about building a business or brand.
Very good post, I am glad I live this daily. But for those who do not this is excellent information.
Have an awesome day, and nice to see you like hats as well. lol
Carla
Thank you so much for your thoughtful response, Carla. I do appreciate it! The daily planner still serves its purpose, I agree...especially when you are juggling many things. I enjoyed reading your thoughts and glad you liked the post.
And yes, I'm a huge fan of hats! Nice to see you in yours :-) Maybe we can bring them back in vogue lol.
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Good morning Susan,
Thank you for your interesting blog post, I believe your subject is something that we all struggle with from time to time!
It's interesting that you mention multitasking, I believe for most people, multitasking does not work! We need to focus on one job at a time. I think sometimes people talk about how they are multitasking, thinking that they are achieving loads, but the reality is that they are not!
I definitely agree with your timer idea, I use this principle sometimes, it works and it helps me reach my goals. Unfortunately, although working online and working from home is fantastic, the Internet potentially can bring so many distractions!
Most people probably would not agree with me, but I believe that if we didn't have smartphones we would probably be more productive! I appreciate that they have their uses, but they can also be very distracting.
When I am working my off-line business, I generally received quite a few messages in a day. I wait until the end of the day to reply to the messages and respond to them from my PC. I use WhatsApp and text messaging on my PC, it's far easier from a PC rather than trying to use a smartphone. Especially for a man's hand or maybe it's just me being clumsy! If I responded to every message immediately, it would just be far too time-consuming and distracting.
It's also and as you mention, good to have a plan or a schedule for the day. I like to know what I am facing and what my challenges are each day.
I'm glad you have mentioned sleep deprivation as I believe that many of us suffer from this problem. It's very easy to potentially stay up late and to try and achieve more. However, for me, being an early morning type, if I stay up late, I know that production drops considerably the next day. It's important to take the necessary rest. I think this is another issue with smartphones, is that we can end up not switching off by checking email etc.
Have a great day.
Roy
PS: I mentioned smartphones earlier on in my reply, something that I do like about smartphones is the fact that I can listen to audible books, YouTube and Wealthy Affiliate training etc.! That's something I do when I'm working on my off-line business, a very useful feature indeed.
Hi Roy,
Thank you so much for your thoughtful response. I really appreciate reading your perspective and insights! I tend to agree with many things you've mentioned, including the distractions regarding smartphones. I don't know about you, but I find they really interfere with one-on-one communication. They are people-stealers imo. Guess it's how the world is now, but it can be a challenge. As you've mentioned, they are convenient when you want to source quick learning.
I'm very glad you enjoyed the post. It's something we all face but rarely learn the tools to deal with the hurdles.
Have a wonderful day,
Susan :-)
Good morning Susan,
Thank you for your reply, it's appreciated.
I do believe that time management is so important as it's something that we will never get back! It's important that we are accountable every day.
I agree with you, smartphones definitely interfere with one-to-one communication. How many times have you been with a group of friends and half of them or more are on their smartphones?! It's not only teenagers!
To be fair, the mobile phone, before the smartphone was a great invention, especially for people like me who work outside. It is good that customers can call you directly rather than having to leave messages on the home phone and having to call them back later!
It can be tempting to not answer the phone and let the customer leave a message, especially when I'm busy. However, with my off-line business, if potential customers do not get an answer they will potentially call the competition!
Having said all the above, we need to take responsibility for the way we use our phones. Emails, text messages and social media can quickly steal our time!
Your post was a great post and I believe it's something that most of us need to work on.
Have a great day.
Right
Hi Roy,
Thanks so much for your reply...I can see we share the same sentiments when it comes to smartphones. Being able to call someone directly is a convenience, especially in business.
However, like you I do not care for the distractions when it comes to personal interactions. You'd think it would be just teenagers, but the instant gratification from smartphones is a prevalent social disease. Every time I gather with others, someone is on their phone. I'm sure you can relate. Manners have gone by the wayside. After all, why spend time with others if the phone is more interesting? As you say, we can never get that time back, so use it wisely.
Thanks again for sharing and I'm glad you enjoyed the post. Have a great day!
Susan