Until you value yourself, you will not value your time.
Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.
M. Scott Peck
Time management can be done by almost anyone. Most people would like to believe they have full control over their time, but this is simply not true. Most of the time we are consumed by trying to fit every single thing we believe to be a priority into the limited time we have available. There will always be deadlines. So the question you must put to yourself is, how can you effectively manage your time when you only have control over a percentage of it?
Here are some simple techniques that you can do to provide a solution to this sometimes daunting task.
1. Time study. The first thing you need to do is take note of where you spend your time. Make a log book or a “to-do” list where you can make note of what you are doing and what else needs to be done. This will help you better manage your time. This can sometime be a lengthy process, but this exercise will help you start off in managing your own time by highlighting where you are spending (or losing) most of your time. Then you’ll be able to evaluate what you are doing and decide whether or not you need to change your current time emphasis.
2. 80/20 Rule. The 80/20 rule simply means that 80% of your results come from 20% of the time and effort you use. Analyze and work on what you can do best that can guarantee the best results for the effort you make. You want to find out what gives you the biggest bang, result or reward for the amount of effort that you put into it. Then you can spend time doing that rather than doing some other activities that are unproductive and can lead to a delay of your more important work.
3. Leaving things unfinished. This may sound counter intuitive for your time management, but there are a lot of things that will come across your path that can safely be ignored or postponed until some other time. An example would be checking your email to see whether or not they have arrived at the in box of your recipient. If it is really urgent then you can ask for someone’s help to take your place so you can make sure you still accomplish whatever really needs to get done.
4. Skipping the news. The daily news on television will continue to progress and unfold whether you watch it for 30 minutes a day or not. You will find that cutting out watching the news on television every evening has a good side effect of automatically cutting out a lot of the negativity in your life. Additionally, this gives you thirty more minutes each day.
5. Learning to say no. Perhaps one of the most effective time management techniques is practicing saying “No” to less important tasks and events. When you say “No,” you gain an assertion technique. This is a technique that can and should develop. When you can do this, you can finish more of your important tasks, earlier. You will avoid cramming more items into your already overbooked agenda just to get everything done on time.
6. Hiring the services of others and outsourcing. When you really need help to finish all the things you need to get done, you can always hire some help. For instance, you can hire cleaners for your home or a gardener to keep your yard up while you do your work. This will work as long as you trust these lesser important tasks to the people you hire.
What other techniques do you use to find time for the important things?
photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/7239958506/sizes/c/in/photostream/
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