Ten Easy Steps To Time Management

Eventually, your body starts protesting, you struggle to breathe, your legs are aching….you can’t keep going anymore … and splat!

For some of you, this is what our daily schedules are like:

You are taking on too much, dropping balls while you madly juggle and tap dance your way through each day with no clarity and limited control.

No matter how you might try, you just can’t stop time – there is simply no pause button.  

You are given 86,400 seconds each day - let’s look at how to make each second count with Get Organised’s TOP 10 TIME TIPS:

You’ve got to give time to get time:  If you can’t afford to dedicate a day to reassessing your busy schedule, set aside whatever time you can, set an alarm and get going.

If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got:  A cliché perhaps but if your current method does not work for you, commit to changing it.  Prioritise your most critical time challenge and work on that first so you don’t feel overwhelmed by changing everything in one day. 

Make a list of everything you need to do:  One life = one list. Stick to the list without worrying about the order of importance for now. 

Next, go through your list and highlight all the things that are both important and urgent, and focus on those first. 

Now check everything else on your list to see if there is anything you can delegate, delete, defer or diminish. 

Decide on a time and a day to get started:  Instead of checking email first thing in the morning and getting absorbed by this, focus on your important and urgent tasks for one whole hour.  That way, if you get distracted with small quick time consuming tasks for the rest of your day, at least you’ve taken time to focus on the important things first. 

Become aware of the time: Surveys have shown that the average email gobbles up 7 minutes of your time to read and respond to, while the average telephone call can take up to eleven minutes. Batch your telephone and email time into 3 - 4 time slots within your day and place a clock on your desk to help you stay focused. If you can shave off even 1 minute from each email and telephone call a day – you can free up as much as forty minutes of your time. 

Choose 1 day a week to review your week ahead. Sunday evenings work well or first thing on Monday morning. This will give you an overview of your week ahead and enables you to minimise surprises. 

Put a time frame to each task you need to commit to. Use your diary to schedule any task that will take you longer than 2 minutes to complete. 

Instead of crossing items off your list to mark it as complete, choose to highlight off the tasks you’ve accomplished. When your list is       60% highlighted, re-write the outstanding tasks onto a new list so you can stay focused without feeling overwhelmed. End each day with a reflection of how much you’ve accomplished instead of focusing on what you didn’t get to. Congratulate yourself for your new found awareness and enjoy the additional time now at your disposal.

Tracey Foulkes