subject: Derek Elliott – Tips for Time Management [print this page] Derek Elliott Tips for Time Management Derek Elliott Tips for Time Management
What is the point of time management tips? Changing time management habits takes time and effort, and it is always much easier when you have a simple system of practical rules and hints that are easy to keep in mind. That is exactly what the tips below are for.
Most of us complain that we have too much to do and not enough time to get it done. This feeling of being overwhelmed is one of the leading causes of stress and can also make us less likely to accomplish anything. The following tips on time management can help you climb out from under those commitments and create a plan to better organize your time, as well as your life.
Know what you want from your time
The proven way to do it is to set goals, and to set them SMART. The rest of the time management tips below will help you be effective in achieving your goals and making time management decisions.
Learn to see the difference between urgent and important
The important tasks are those that lead you to your goals, and give you most of the long term progress and reward. Those tasks are very often not urgent. Many urgent tasks are not really important.
Know and respect your priorities
Aim to do the important things first. Remember the 80-20 rule: 80 percent of reward comes from 20 percent of effort. One of the aims of time management tips is to help you refocus your mind to give more attention and time to those most important 20 percent.
Plan your actions for achieving your goals
Convert your goals into a system of specific actions to be done. The first significant point of planning is the planning process itself. It is a known fact, and you will see it for yourself, that the planning process stimulates your brain to come up with new efficient solutions. Planning can also significantly lower the time spent on routine maintenance tasks, leaving you more time on what you like to do or for what you think is important for your long term success.
Also remember that planning and related time management tips work best when you review your plans regularly.
Schedule time for your tasks
Your concentration can be easily lost in the sea of many boring or less important things waiting to be done in your head. Undone things circulating in your mind are also a big drain of your mental energy. Most often, there is no way to get those things out of your mind except of either doing them or scheduling them in a trust able system, convincing your mind that they will be done in due time.
Know how you spend your time
Keep a time log during some time interval, like a week, and then analyze it to see where your time goes. For example, what percentage of time you spend on urgent and on important activities, what people you devote most time to. You are likely to be surprised, and you will see much better if you could use more time management tips. This is also an effective way to get a feedback on how well time management tips and techniques are working for you, and where you need some adjustments.
Take your own preferences into mind when you're applying the other tips on time management so you can take advantage of your natural efficiency. Schedule your tasks around that preference so you're more likely to get them done.
