What is Time Management?
Have you ever felt like there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done on your to-do list? Do you find that you’re so busy dealing with all the little things that the big things never seem to get done?
Time Management Defined
Time management is the ability to set up your day in the best possible way so that the important tasks in your life not only get handled, but get handled on time. It’s a process in which you use your time as efficiently and as effectively as possible to complete the tasks at hand so you’re able to take care of work, home and all your other obligations and still have enough time and energy left to actually live life.
How to Maximize Your Time
Since you can’t add more hours to the day (thank goodness), there are things you can do to make each minute count. They are:
- Prioritize. Make sure you do the important tasks first so that they don’t get set aside and replaced by tasks that really don’t matter. Each morning create a list of items you want completed by the end of the day. Pick the most important 1-3 items and do those first.
- Turn off social media. If you check your email, Facebook or Twitter several times a day, you’re wasting valuable time. Commit to only checking those types of accounts once or twice daily so you can keep your focus on the tasks at hand.
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Limit your distractions. It’s estimated that when you’re taken away from a task, it takes you about 20 minutes to gain your concentration back so you can fully focus. To save yourself this 1/3 of an hour, try to limit your distractions. Turn off your phone and television and get your projects completed quicker than ever.
If you fail to manage your time, it will manage you. Keep the control where it belongs by trying some of these time management steps and you’ll find that you don’t need more hours in the day – just more direction on how to use them.
