People are constantly telling you to stop spending so much time on work, they’ll even pay you for it. But that doesn’t seem to make too many people feel better about your time management.
In fact, some might say that you’re being compensated poorly because of all those empty hours in your schedule. It looks like no one is trusting you or believing in your ability to meet your commitments.
If this sounds familiar, you may be in need of help with your time management. Thankfully, there are several strategies you can use to improve yours.
You will find that most effective ones involve learning how to value your time more highly. This is an important first step towards improving your efficiency as a person who has obligations.
Once you have mastered this, you can start thinking about ways to allocate your time more intelligently. For example, you could focus only on high-value tasks for a set period of time before moving onto something else.
This way you’d be giving yourself permission to do less busywork, while still achieving the same amount of work. It also gives you space to consider whether what you’re doing now is worth the amount of time you’ve invested in it.
Take control
A lot of people feel that time is something you’re given to you, it’s not like you can do anything with it. People believe that if they don’t use all their available time, then it will somehow magically reappear.
This isn’t true! If you want more time, you have to make more time. This means being conscious about how you spend your time.
You should strive to only spend time on things that are important to you. Don’t waste time on useless activities that don’t help build meaningful relationships or provide you with an experience that helps you grow.
By taking control of your time, you’ll eventually be able to achieve your goals and live life to the fullest.
Hold yourself accountable
We all have our strengths and weaknesses, and that is totally normal. When you’re running a business or career, there are going to be times when your skills need some work. There will be times you feel like giving up and quitting because of how much time you spend on one task before moving onto the next.
But you must hold yourself accountable for your time. If you don’t, then someone else will!
You should not only keep track of what you do every hour, but why you are doing it and whether you are spending enough time on higher priority tasks.
If you find something you’re doing that’s unproductive, stop doing it immediately. If you’ve got nothing new to add to a conversation, then skip it until you’ve bumped down those that need your attention.
Take a look at your schedule and see where you can make cuts. A simple way to do this is to say “yes” to less opportunities in order to give yourself more time for things that matter most.
By choosing to use your time effectively, you’ll eventually reach a place where you won’t have too many empty hours-you’ll have them filled.
Make it a priority
The first step to improving your time management is making it a top priority. This can be tricky at times, especially when you want to watch TV or hang out with friends after work.
But if you’re willing to make this change then later will take care of itself.
You will feel more motivated as you start spending less time working and more time being socialized. And once you get into a rhythm, you won’t even notice that you are juggling work hours.
Start by setting one hour every day for work. Then allocate an additional half-hour per week for other things like doing homework, running errands, or taking a nap.
Weekends should be completely free so you don’t have to worry about money spent on food, drinks, and entertainment. If you need to save some money, consider becoming a part-time worker to cut down on daily expenses.
Commit to it
A lot of people give up trying to learn how to time manage because they do not put into practice what they know. They are always busy, with too many commitments that make time management difficult.
If you want to learn how to time manage, then you have to be willing to invest in your learning and self-management skills. This means setting aside time every day for work and other activities, and sticking to this schedule even when you don’t feel like it.
Be realistic
A lot of people get stuck trying to measure their time because they believe that if they know how much time something takes, then they can manage their time better.
This isn’t true.
If you try to quantify your time in every area of your life, you will always be wrong. Your work may be different from someone else’s work, so comparing times won’t help you.
Also, things come up, interruptions occur, unexpected events happen – all of these affect what you do, when you do it, and how well you are able to focus.
You have to make decisions about whether to include those elements in your time calculations or not, which makes accuracy even more difficult.
So, while it is important to understand where your time goes, trying to put a number next to it is futile.
Work on your skill set
As mentioned earlier, time management is an ever-evolving process that requires you to continually develop new skills. This could be developing your organizational system, understanding how time works in our daily lives, or even changing the way you manage your own time.
By adding these tools to your repertoire, you will never run out of ways to improve your time management!
There are many different types of time managers out there today with various strategies for improving their efficiency. Some may feel like they’re doing the right thing at the moment, but if you look closer you might find something else that can help you achieve your goals more effectively.
That’s why it is important to evaluate your current methods and see what doesn’t work anymore. By being aware of this, you can make some changes to better your overall time management.
Use a timer
One of the most efficient ways to measure time is by using a timer. This can be for any task, not just time management tasks.
You can use your computer’s clock program or an app on your phone to do this. Simply set the timer for a specific amount of time and work on whatever you need to do for that time limit.
When the timer goes off, check what you were doing and see if you could have done it later. If you had to take a break, go ahead and do so before starting back up again.
This will help you recognize how much time you wasted due to no schedule or poor time management. It also helps identify the factors that caused these delays and can be used to fix them.
Finish what you start
‘Finishing’ something means putting an end to it, whether that is finishing an assignment, quitting smoking or ending a relationship.
In time management, this also includes leaving things behind – unfinished business – so that you can focus on new projects.
You will find yourself with more free time after you learn how to finish things! This will make your life feel more balanced.
And don’t underestimate the power of breaking up either. By acknowledging and accepting that something no longer works for you, you open up space in your life for something new.
“I had to acknowledge that I didn’t have enough time to do everything, and I needed to prioritize which activities were most important to me,” says Jennifer.
She replaced her job as editor at M&S Food Magazine by taking on freelance writing assignments instead, and now she has much less work to get through each week.