Do you agree that time is a very precious resource? It's like a gift.
But let me guess, you wish you have a lot more of this precious resource? You wish you can have more than 24 hours a day? You wonder how those super-achievers could get gazillion things done within the same 24 hours?
You're probably overworked, pressed down by countless errands, and struggling to keep your life in control. You could be a super-busy corporate executive, an exhausted stay-at-home mom or simply someone losing control of your time!
Most people want to manage their time better so they can do more of the things they enjoy. Like finally being able to attend your kid's baseball games, having an hour or two to scrapbook, taking time off to a vacation every now and then to really unwind...
Life is not about running mindlessly from one task to another or being messed up in unproductive activity. Is it? There's more to it.
Take a good 5 minutes to read this short article on time management by Rigdha Acharya and see how you can apply these practical tips and "get more hours" back into your life.
Enjoy!
Time is the most powerful currency of the 21st century. And this powerful currency demands much of our attention. Unfortunately, most people never make use of this remarkable resource we have – our time. Here’s some tips to help you make the most of your time every single day:
1. Break down large tasks into smaller ones: We all know the feeling of staring at a new complicated project feeling overwhelmed and wishing we were anywhere but here. But, even complicated tasks are not impossible to handle. In fact, most tasks become unbelievably trivial once we break them down into small pieces. Get into the habit of breaking down your tasks into small ones and tackling each individual part one at a time. This will help you stay calm as well as it will help you accomplish your goals without the urge to procrastinate.
2. Get rid of unproductive routine tasks: This included getting up each morning and checking your email. Do not start your day on somebody else’s agenda. Get out there, take some time to focus on the goals for the day and then start working on them. Do routine tasks during slow times of the day. For example, check your emails right after lunch.
3. Look at your habits to see if they could be changed, maybe you could do certain things different ways and save yourself some time in the process.
4. Evaluate yourself to determine if you are a morning person or night person and organize tasks to use whatever time suits you best. I am usually the most productive at night or after 10 AM and that is exactly why I work on my most important goals during those hours. 2 hours of focused work is far more valuable than 10 hours of unfocused work.
5. Learn to say the word “no”: One of the biggest secrets of success is leadership. You need to be able to become a leader and say NO when someone asks you for a favor that can take considerable amount of highly productive time from you.
You need to be very cautious about where and how you spend your time. Time is the most precious resource you have and you need to stop wasting it and start treating it like gold.
To learn how you can take control of your time and use it to achieve your goals, check out Manage Your Time Now - The Time Manual that Will Transform Your Life.
Did you enjoy reading this article? Did you get some practical time management tips out of this article? I did.
The part about checking emails is very applicable to me! I'm guilty of checking my emails first thing in the morning the moment I start up my computer. It's been my routine for a long time. And if I chose to reply to those that need a reply, I could spend well over 30 minutes on them even before I get to my goals of the day!
It didn't strike me that I was starting my day out on other people's agenda. Rigdha put it into a new perspective for me. I used to let my old habits run my day. These days, I would choose to reply to those emails after I'm done with my most important daily goals.
Good thing I've also dropped the unproductive habit of reading my Google Reader first thing (for about a month) even before my emails . It easily extended my "catching up" time by another 30-45 minutes. So yeah, at least an hour was gone even before I get started on my daily goals. These days, I would visit my Google Reader once every few days and during my downtime. I didn't miss out much really.
By assigning a lower priority to these unproductive routines, I can now get started first thing on my daily goals while I'm all fresh and focused. And I'm finding myself getting them done earlier in the day too.
So why not put all or some of Rigdha's powerful tips and see how they work out for you?
I'll leave you with a quote to mull over...
-- Brian Tracy