Have you ever felt like the 24 hours time in a day isn’t enough for you to do all you need to do? Do you keep procrastinating because you feel overwhelmed by the number of things you need to do? What you need is TIME MANAGEMENT.
Managing your time wisely improves work-life balance and increases happiness. Good time management also reduces stress and allows you to achieve your goals faster and easier and benefits you in every area of your life. Here are five ways you can manage your time.
You Are in Control of Your Time
The first thing to know is that Your Time Belongs To You and Only You. You are in control of your time, you determine what you spend your time on. The phrase “I don’t have time” is not entirely accurate. You should come to terms with the knowledge that you own your time and how you spend it is up to you. Now that you know this, you can easily decide that you will spend your time the way you want and not let others teach you how to spend it or spend it for you.
Learn to Say No for Effective Time Management
Many people don’t utilise one of the most crucial and straightforward strategies enough. The key? It just requires understanding when to say “NO” and having the courage to do so. Individuals that struggle with scheduling sometimes take on more than they can handle and accept assignments that they won’t have enough time to finish, which leaves them feeling overburdened.
This is frequently the result of their improper estimation of their available time and the amount of time needed to complete the chores they currently have on hand. But frequently, it’s also because they don’t know when to employ the crucial word, “NO.” Recognize when to say no to requests that aren’t practical and add no value to you.
HIGHLIGHTS, TO DO LISTS AND TIME BLOCKS
This is three tips in one (you should thank me). The act of deciding on one task that you wish to complete each day is known as a daily highlight. Because it spares you from having an excessively big to-do list, this works. You can use a to-do list if you have a lot on your plate and find it difficult to prioritise. If not, this method might not be effective for you.
There is just something so real about crossing things off but if you prefer an app, I recommend Google keep notes. Make sure you research and find your way around it because it’s a notes app.
Another strategy is time blocking, which is more targeted than daily highlights. It’s as easy as it sounds: just block out a schedule on your calendar whenever you have tasks to complete. Thus, you can plan a crucial activity for between 12 and 2 pm in your calendar.
While all of these suggestions are helpful, try not to overschedule yourself to the point where you are unable to do any tasks.
Take Advantage of Fake Timelines
Parkinson’s Law states that work expands to fill the time we allocate to it. If you give yourself a week to do a task, it’ll likely take you a whole week. This is the idea of Parkinson’s Law. But what if you gave yourself only 1 day? It turns out that with this time constraint you’d likely get it done in 1 day or a little bit more.
To leverage Parkinson’s Law you need to give yourself artificial deadlines or timelines. Give yourself fake start and end dates for tasks. And you can even delegate tasks that can be done by others. When we’re not pressured with an external deadline, setting one will help us get the task done. This way, you can do more things in less time.
End Your Day Feeling Accomplished
It is important to be proud of yourself at the end of the day whether you hit all your targets or not. Getting angry or beating yourself up does not change the amount of work you have done. So be content and proud of yourself at the end of the day. Affirm yourself and encourage yourself to do better.
With these time management tips, you should be able to regain control of your time. Leave a comment on the tips you used to use and the ones you will be trying from this list.
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