Time Management

If you are anything like me, I am sure that almost every morning you wake up with a mission to make the most out of that day. You set goals and make to-do lists and hope that by the end of it all, you would have achieved them. However, by the time it clocks 5:00 pm you realize that you weren’t as productive as you’d wished. And a little part of you dies, or maybe not. Just work with me here…



You set these bars and make all these lists, but are they the right ones? Although you understand intellectually that time is your scarcest resource, you probably find it difficult to gain a strategic perspective on how you actually spend each and every day.

You have the same number of hours in the day as Bill Gates, who is the world’s richest man as ranked by Forbes. Despite that, it always seems like these big shot moguls always seem to get more work done and we are all left wondering how they manage to do it.

Just the other day, I took a short course on time management and it was such a huge eye opener. As usual, I will share so that you can also get the most of it and improve your productivity while attaining your day to day objectives. One huge take away from the course was this, “It’s not about managing your time, it’s more about managing yourself.” You can take that to the bank!

1. Identify and prioritize your goals.

Review your goals and assign a priority to each of them. Critical goals are those that must be accomplished, enabling goals are those that create a more desirable condition while nice-to-have goals are those that are merely for enhancement but not necessarily for revolutionizing the business or personal conditions. Distinguish between urgent tasks (those demanding attention) and crucial tasks (those that support critical goals). Not all urgent tasks are crucial.

2. Break your goals into manageable tasks.

Divide each goal into the key tasks required to achieve the goal. Prioritize each task according to the goal that it supports. Sequence tasks in the order in which they must be accomplished to achieve the goal, estimate how much time each task requires and set a deadline for completing each of them.

3. Analyse how you are currently spending your time.

Create an activity log for a week, listing every activity that you engage in, how much time each activity takes, and what category the activity falls into (email, phone, social media etc.) Analyse the log to see what kind of activities are consuming most of your time and whether you are using your time in ways that support your most important objectives. Then identify ways to improve your use of time.

4. Recognize and defeat common “time-wasters.”

Watch for common “time wasters,” such as procrastinating, schedule overloading and unnecessary travel. Develop strategies for defeating such like delegating tasks to combat procrastination.

5. Schedule your time more effectively.

Make use of scheduling tools, such as “to-do” lists, calendars or weekly planners. Develop your schedule allowing for some “free time” to accommodate unexpected events and opportunities.

6. Monitor and improve your time-management strategies.

At least once a day, take stock of how you’re doing relative to your schedule. Look for common patterns that can be reviewed and improved.

7. Seek opportunities to free up personal time

Letting your work life eclipse your personal life isn’t healthy. Keep both sides of your life in perfect balance. You can free up significant personal time with a few straight forward practices like evaluating relationships (get rid of those one-sided bonds that are physically and emotionally draining in order to invest in healthier and more fulfilling relationships), building energy (eating right and improving ones general fitness creates deeper reserves of energy that can help in attacking goals with greater vitality and speed) and reducing clutter (material possessions absorb time. Therefore by getting rid of possessions you don’t need or use, will free up time for more important things.)

I hope these pointers will be as useful to you as they have been to me. But one of the biggest mistakes is to assume that you will be excellent at it right off the bat! No, you won’t. The good news however is, just like anything else, this is a skill that can be learnt. All it takes is practice. Practice makes perfect. See you on that Forbes list soon!

Thank you for reading. Have a good afternoon.
PS. It's September! Hello birthday month!!

#HappyDays