A Step By Step Guide to Taking Control Of Your Time
Introduction
Time is the most valuable resource in the world. To you, to anyone else, it is the one element that we can not get more of no matter how we try to do so. Consider this fact. The most successful of business people today have the same amount of time in their day as you do. They do not have more and contrary to what most people believe, they do many of the small, everyday things themselves.
This should show to you just how essential it can be for you to actually manage your time properly. When you do that, you can accomplish more in your everyday life than you thought you could. Most importantly, you can be just as successful at accomplishing the tasks that you need to as the next guy, even the most successful of people that you look up to.
In time management, you are managing your time better. You are not giving more of your time to your job or to the endless tasks that you have to do. You are simply making better decisions about what you do and how you will do it. The end result is that you find yourself in a much better place at the end of the day. Perhaps even with hours to spend watching television and playing with your children.
If this is the time you want, this book will help you obtain it!
Chapter 1: Defining Time Management
What is time management and how can it change the way that you live your life?
Time management is the method that is used to organize your time so that each decision you make regarding your time is a decision that is useful, constructive and the most beneficial to your life's structure.
Managing your time better is like figuring out a jigsaw puzzle. Putting the pieces together helps to make the whole look right and function in the right way. When you try to put the pieces together in the wrong fashion, you get overwhelmed and stressed because it just does not work.
When the pieces lay well together, though, they function correctly together, making the end result worth the work to put it together. With time management, you can put the pieces of the puzzle together to obtain the goals that you have easily and reach your goals faster, less stressed and even with better results.
How Are You Living?
Ask yourself right now how you are living each day. Are you feeling overwhelmed by the vast number of things that you need to do? It does not matter if we are talking about work or your personal life, too many things leaves you in a constant state of being overwhelmed, which ends up pushing your buttons and causing nothing to be achieved as it should be.
Most people live every day in this constant state of being overwhelmed. This happens because your body can not take in and process all of the information that is required of it. More so, you are on a constant overload in every activity that you do, which just intensifies the worry, frustration and the lack of concentration that you have.
When you are successful at time management, you are able to maximize use of every hour of the day. This means using each hour of your day to do the right things to accomplish all of the tasks that you need to in the most efficient manner.
Time. There just is not enough of it. That is the first thing that you need to remember and make a conscious decision to face. There is not enough time in the day to do all of the things that you want to.
You have to make decisions, and smart ones, about what can be done, what should be done as well as what there simple is not enough time to do.
Your goal is always to work on the most important parts of your needs. When you focus on only what is important, you can transform the way that you think and relieve a lot of the stresses that you face.
Indeed, focusing your time on the most important aspects to you means that you are making the very best decision for your time. Focus on the most important aspects of your day and you will always make the very best use of your time when you do so.
Five Things to Do Now
While reading through this book, you will find many great methods and tips to help you to achieve your goals of good time management. Some things can be put into place today, while others will take a bit more time to establish.
Here are five things to do right now to get started on the right track.
1. Make the decision that you can not accomplish everything that you want all at one time. You need patience to be a successful time manager.
2. Relax your mind set. You need to be able to focus on what you need to do and how to accomplish it. When you can relax your mind from its frantic, overwhelmed state, you are better able to see just what it is that is the most important aspect of you time.
3. When it comes to deciding what is the most important thing to accomplish at this moment, go with what your senses and your gut tell you to. The fact is that your body is working hard behind the scenes and while you may be overwhelmed, your body is still able to know what the best decisions are. Go with that gut feeling!
4. Make a list. Those that are successful at planning their time are people that have a list of things that need to be done. This way, you can see what is in front of you, make decisions about their importance and not feel like there is no end in sight. Include everything you can on that list that you need to accomplish, small and big. Then, invest the time in organizing it by the most important to the least important.
5. Get a planner and plan your work day. Plan out what you need to accomplish in blocks of time. You need to schedule time to accomplish your goals and your tasks. When you do this, your mind is less overwhelmed and you are more likely to achieve the goals that you have, too. This simple step will be the most important aspect to overcoming your frustrations and the overwhelmed feeling you have.
These five things are simple, right? You can accomplish them right now in a matter of minutes in most cases. Do that and see what your first initial reaction is. You may find yourself in the best position that you have been in over the last few weeks or months.
But, don't stop there. There is much more to learn and to implement into your daily life.
The 80 to 20 Rule
It is important for you to understand the situation that you are in. How well are you managing your time? For those that study time management, there is the principle of 80/20 that you should know about.
This rule is also called the Pareto Principle, and it works very easily. It says that in most situations, your unfocused energy is only providing you with a mere 20 percent of the results that you have. That means that the other 80 percent of results that you have are derived from a mere 20 percent of the effort that you are putting in.
Perhaps for you it is not actually 80/20 exactly, but it is likely that you are putting a lot of work into achieving just very little with that time.
What does this mean for you? In short, you need to direct your attention to the parts of your day or your tasks that can deliver the most return for accomplishment, rather than worrying about all of the smaller things in the meantime and accomplishing very little.
Your goal is to get as much as you can from your time, without sacrificing too much time to accomplish any one task because you are unable to focus on that task. By focusing, you reduce the amount of time necessary to complete the task.
As you can see, there is much to be gained by managing your time appropriately. When you learn how to do that, you can accomplish much more with your time; find yourself in a better position either in your business or in your personal life and even have extra time.
While it sounds too good to be true, it will take some understanding and restructuring but the end result is likely to deliver for you the type of rewards that you seek. That is, of course, the one thing everyone wants more of but struggles to obtain: time!
Chapter 2: Procrastinating, Who Me, I Don't Do That!
Procrastination is the end to your time. It is that because once you begin to procrastinate, it is likely that you will face a long road to getting back on track.
Procrastination is the means of putting off something for another day even though you have the ability and the time to obtain those goals right now.
If you are someone that is known for waiting until the last minute to get the work done, this could be causing you a variety of problems that can be wrecking your day and your time. The fact is, though, most people go through the process of procrastination, in different amounts every day.
When you procrastinate, you are actually not getting to achieve what you are capable of achieving and that can cause you to miss out on many opportunities for success in many ways. Procrastination can ruin your career because it may be the one thing that shows others that you are unable to achieve your goals.
How in the world can you actually get around this problem, then? Start with learning what is happening and knowing how to react when you begin to procrastinate. When you realize that you are procrastinating or about to, you can recognize this, stop it and get back on track to better managing your time.
It is also important for you to understand why people procrastinate and in doing so you will be in a better position to avoid allowing it to happen to you, over and over again.
Finally, you need to take the right steps to managing your time so that you can manage the outcomes of your time by learning how to deal with procrastination. It’s a mind set that you can not afford with the limited amount of time that you actually have.
Why Do You Procrastinate?
Procrastination is something that many people, if not all people, actually deal with. You should not believe that this is something that only you go through. Yet, it is something that you need to take care of as quickly as you can so that you can take back the time you are losing.
Procrastination is defined as putting off doing something that you should be putting your attention onto right now. Usually, people do this when they want to do something else that is favorable, a bit more fun or even just easier.
Is this you? Do you spend long days working hard at what you are trying to accomplish but you are investing your time in accomplishing the easy tasks instead of taking on the larger, more important tasks?
A common problem here is that many people can not see the difference between priorities in tasks. For example, you have an important task to complete. You also have an urgent task to complete. Which do you go to first? You should accomplish the important task because it is just that, important!
Far too many people look towards accomplish the things that they think are necessary to complete right now, forgo the important task and then need to find a way or a time to balance the ball in their favor.
Here are some common examples of this. Let's say you are working at your desk and in walks your boss. They need you to handle an important client. The phone rings, it is another employee, struggling to accomplish his task and wants your help. You get back to work. The other employee calls again. They need you. Which task do you do; the important client or the employee that will keep calling until you help?
The task here that you should be completing is that which is important, the one that needs your full attention and that will get you the most bang for the buck.
Unfortunately, far too many people strive to accomplish that other task because that person has complained, called and got into their head and they now are the loudest voice there telling them what to do.
But, when you react to that person, you change the way that the day is flowing. Now you need to deal with the important client, when you are stressed and overwhelmed. You'll also have to explain to the boss why you made the client wait, why the task was not completed soon enough and in the end why the job was not done completely right (because you could not concentrate, of course.)
Other times when this can happen include when you think you are doing the right thing by asking fast. Or, perhaps you did not even think about which is the best task to complete and just jumped on board. That isn't going to serve you well down the road when you need the help the most.
Are You Overwhelmed Yet?
One of the other reasons that many people struggle with procrastination does not have to do with any of these other situations. It has to do with the feeling of being so overwhelmed that you feel like you just can not do it.
For example, you have a large and important project on your desk. There are many steps to accomplishing it and it will take time to go through the project, organize and accomplish it.
The instant feeling of being overwhelmed attacks. You can feel it in your shoulders, in your head and all of a sudden, you just can no longer focus on the process and you end up facing the fact that today just got very long and complicated.
Perhaps you are not sure where you should start the project. You may even feel as if the task is so large or so hard that you do not have the skills or the ability to complete it or complete all of it. Perhaps you do not think you have all of the information and tools to get the job done right. Instead of accomplishing the task, then, you put it off to the side, for another day.
Why would you do that? Most people do this form of procrastination because it feels easier to accomplish something that they can do and know that they can do. They feel that the big project is just too hard.
Whether you have the intention of going back and completing the project or not, you have now sidestepped the job so that you can gain the comfort and the benefit of completing a job that is easier for you to do.
Since that was an important job, you realize at the last minute that you need to complete it and the overwhelming worry starts up all over a gain except; now there is more problem to deal with. Now, time is limited which means less focus and less ability to complete the job with the same quality that you could have done beforehand even though you think you could not have done so.
Important jobs and projects that are larger and harder do not just go away. They can not be shoved under the carpet until the next day, week or whenever you get to it. If you do that, you are likely to never be able to complete the project like you could complete it if you did it today, with your full attention and the time to do it right.
Procrastination can cause all types of negative situations for you. For example, some additional reasons that you may procrastinate include not being able to organize your thoughts and your needs, fearing that you will fail at the task, and waiting for the right time to start on your project. No matter what, it is still procrastination!
Many people need to work on improving their situations so that they can improve the overall need that they have for achieving time management skills. For some, being a perfectionist may be the reason that they do not step forward to complete the important tasks. For others, making decisions is not something that they know how to do correctly and thoroughly, which leads to not making any decision at all.
All of these signs of procrastination are just that: signs for you to stop doing them and to start taking back control of your time and your life.
Understanding why it happens is the first step. Examine your life and the tasks that you are procrastinating right now. Why are you really putting off doing something that you could be doing today?
Getting Past Procrastination
Now that you understand why procrastination happens, you need to examine the methods of getting past procrastination in your daily life. This means taking the time to work through the situations that you face and yes, this is time that is well invested.
There are several things that you need to do to accomplish overcoming procrastination. Here are some tips to help you to do just that. Follow this order for the most success in getting over procrastination.
Realize Your Are Procrastinating
The first thing that you need to accomplish is to know that you are procrastinating. Many people will realize that they are procrastinating just by doing it. Be honest with yourself as that is the best way to know that you are procrastinating in the first place.
Still, you need to consider a bit more. For example, if you have a task that is not considered an important task, putting that small item off to the side is not necessarily bad procrastination. It could be a wise decision especially when you do something more important in return.
Yet, to know this, you need to know where your priorities lie. This means making yourself an priority list and also working from your to do list, both of which you will learn more about in just a few moments. You should do this every day to get the most out of your tasks and your time.
You are likely making the right decisions and procrastinating if you are doing any of the following activities and doing them at the wrong time:
• Are you doing things that are on the bottom of your to do list?
• Are you leaving important items off that to do list, even when you know it is something that needs to be paid attention to now?
• Are you starting and working towards achieving your important task or are you finding other things to do with the time dedicated to this task?
• Are you doing unimportant tasks because you have been asked to even though you know your task is more important to accomplish?
• Are you committing to your important tasks fast enough and planning into your day where you will include them or are you putting it off to accomplish another day?
Now that you have a good idea that you are procrastinating, move on.
Why Are You Procrastinating?
Why are you doing what you are doing? There is likely to be a very real reason even if you truly do not know what that is. For example, you may be putting off a task because it seems like it is too much work.
That is a form of procrastination and you are doing it because of this. You may find that the task is too hard, too overwhelming or just too boring and otherwise not something you want to do.
Understanding why you are doing this can help you to move to a more satisfactory situation as well.
Step Through It
Seeing what your problem is, you can now find a way to get through it. To get over procrastination, you generally need to explore what options will work for you. Not everyone will experience the same type of benefits here, so look for the type of benefit that will work for you.
For example, motivate yourself with rewards. Many people enjoy being rewarded and an unwanted, unpleasant but important task is definitely a reason for you to become motivated. Pick a reward that will work for you.
You may also want to put yourself in a position for someone else to push you and motivate you. If you are someone that does well with time limits or you need someone to come in and ask how things are going, recognize this and ask for some help.
Realize what will happen when the task is not completed. It is definitely motivation for many to see that if this project is not completed by a specific time they will not be paid for it, will face disciplinary results at work or they may not get the raise that they deserve. All of that is motivation but you may have to spell it out for yourself to see just how important it really is.
These things will work very well in situations where you are just putting off the task because it is not something you want to do. Yet, what happens when you are so overwhelmed that you do not push forward?
If the task is really overwhelming and you are procrastinating because of that, you may need to step back for a few minutes. For example, if possible, break it all down. If you need to accomplish many parts, just focus on the first one, realizing that there are others behind it but that this one needs to be accomplished first. This makes it a smaller tasks that is much more manageable and often less intimidating to complete.
Another route to take to overcome this feeling is to look for the easiest part of the task and complete that first. Sure, it is not necessarily the best place to start, but when it comes to feeling like you've accomplished something, that's going to help you in the and to feel like you have accomplished something.
When you do these things, to remove some of the frustration and overwhelming aspects of the project, make it much more livable to handle. You can now move forward because you feel like you have done something.
There are many times in life that this type of situation will happen and there is little chance that you will be able to just push through it. Instead, stop, breathe and make up a plan that will help you to get through the project easier and much more successfully.
The key aspect of fighting procrastination is to know that you can overcome it. Realize that you are doing it and work to obtain your goals by pushing past it through the right means. When you can learn to do this, you are more likely than ever to avoid procrastination and obtain your goals.
From a time management point of view, this is the best first step in making your success real. Procrastination is likely to be a big factor in how successful are currently are to managing your tasks.
Chapter 3: What Type Of Time Manager Are You Now?
Often, you can see where your problems in time management lie by taking a close look at yourself right now. The way that you do things now can often be your ticket to improving your situation into the future. But, how can you accomplish this?
You need to find a way to actually record what you do each day. This may be small things or larger things, but it all needs to be accumulated and used to construct a plan of action.
A good place to start is with your average work day since this is often the largest chunk of anyone's life. Pick a day and explore it. Through this chapter, we will show you how you can see where your time management problems really lie so that you can fix them and overcome them so that the end result is successful time management.
Your Possible Time Drains
If you think of time management as being a small hole in which grains of sand pass through, you need to determine what is allowing them to pass through.
There are many things that seem small and insignificant that really will add up to being a potential problem for most people. Here are some of these things that you need to take into consideration.
• How much of your time do you spend reading email, reading an online news report, checking out the sports games from the night before and finding out who is online at any given time?
• How much time do you spend eating lunch, getting a drink or making a cup of coffee for yourself?
• How much time does it take you to get into the place you work? For example, do you need to stop and chat with friends and colleagues first, greet the boss, check your mail, grab the newspaper, etc….?
• How much time do you spend working that is really being spent on things other than work?
Consider all of the things, small things too, that are potential drains on your time and your work load?
You may see clearly how easily it is for these small things to overcome the larger elements. In fact, all of these small things are so insignificant you may not remember doing them which means even more of your time is drained.
Now, flip this around. How much actual time, minutes and hours, do you put into actually doing your work? Actually working, that is.
You may be very surprised to learn just how much of your day is considered to be doing things that are unimportant, unrelated to work or even just simply a wasted time. You may be appalled by the way in which you really spend your days.
Time of Day Drains
Another common problem for those that are wasting time is that of the time of day. For example, for many individuals, the time of the day that they are in is the reason that they struggle to accomplish tasks. A good example is after lunch time. You are sleepy and tied, generally from having a full stomach and a tired mind. You are less likely to be successful at any task that you complete at this time of the day and that may be frustrating enough that you simply stop working during this time making it even worse on you altogether.
There are other times of the day that may drag you down. Here are some examples of common problems that people face during the day.
• The amount of blood sugar in your blood. Blood sugar is the amount of glucose in your blood that often slows people down.
• You may not have had a break in a while, which can cause you to slow down in the successfulness of your work.
• You may have distractions that happen every day at the same time. For example, if you work at home, it may be that you are heading strong until noon comes and you have to get your child off the bus from school.
• You may be physically uncomfortable from sitting all day or your body may simply need to get up and move around from time to time to be successful in concentrating.
• Stress levels change over the course of the day too, which means that this can affect the effectiveness of the things that you do.
As you can see, there are many things that can effect the way that you react all day long any day that you are working in fact.
Recording in Logs
An activity log is an ideal tool to help you to look at the position that you are in and to see the results that you need to make happen. It is very easy to sit back and say that you need to get more out of your day, but you can not do this if you have not made the right explorations of what you do with the day that you have.
For this, an activity log can be helpful. It helps you to structure your plans by allowing you to know where your weaknesses actually are. For many people, it is necessary to go through this type of activity virtually every week, so that they can see their progress.
What is important here is that you make the decision to get through an activity log right now so that you can clearly see where you stand at this point. Then, you can explore ways to make your time more useful to you in the long run.
This is a step in the process of becoming an effective time manager and that means not skipping it!
Since most people can not actually remember every step that they took, you will want to use this tool to help you to get the most out of your day. This is a small part of becoming an effective time manager, but a part you must take on.
Use this sheet, or one similar to help you to track the things that you do over the course of a day. The more that you track, in detail, the better the results will be.
Under the Time field, mark down the time of day that you start the activity. Be sure that you mark down the Time you started the activity here.
Under the Activity field, mark down what you did. You can be as specific as you like here. Be sure to track all activities including and especially those that pull you away from your job at any time for anything.
Under the Duration field, mark down the length of time that you completed the activity. While doing this, you should see that the Time field should flow correctly, with a match in minutes to the duration of the activity. For example, if at 1pm you ate lunch for 25 minutes, you should have 1:25 marked as the time that the next activity begins.
Finally, under the Priority field, include the level of priority that the task is. High, Medium, Low are your choices here.
Activity Log
Date Completed ………………………………..
Time Activity Doing Length Priority
Total time Spent On: High, Medium, Low projects
As you can see, this log is designed to help you to see exactly where your time is being spent. Now, why invest the time in this type of log? The answer is quite simple. Doing so will allow you to accumulate the times of certain activities.
For example, add together the duration of all activities that are low priority. Do you see just how much time you have spent on activities that are less important?
This chart is a staple for tracking where you stand in the time management learning curve. You need to be sure you understand just how much time is dedicated to those tasks that are listed as a high priority or an important task. That is time that is dedicated to that sole activity.
The more time that you can pull from other activities and place into the category of important tasks is the time that you will be able to say that you did as you should. For example, if you note that you spend about 85 minutes per day online doing non work related activities, moving 60 of those minutes to completing an important project allows you to get that much closer to achieving an effective goal.
Finally, you should record in your log the way that you feel at that time of the day. This can help you to pinpoint the times when you are at your best and at your worse, so you can make adjustments as necessary.
Chapter 4: Developing Your Plan of Action For Time Management
Now that you have a pretty good idea of where your time is being spent, spend the next amount of time gathering the information that you need to develop an action plan.
As an effective time manager, it is up to you to determine the best route to planning your day so that you can accomplish everything that is necessary from the most important on down the list. There are two parts to making this happen.
First you need to have a to-do list that provides you with a good amount of detail on it for each of the activities that you need to perform over the course of a day. An action plan is a guide that helps you to define each step to making the element or the project happen. It is a detailed account of how the element will work.
Sample Action Plan
For example, perhaps you are working on an article for the column that you write. In order to make up an action plan (or a detailed expression of what needs to be accomplished to make that happen) you may include details such as these.
• Brainstorm ideas for article
• Develop main point
• Interview Mary Jo about her experience.
o Write out interview with Mary Jo
o Cut out portions that will be used in the text of article
• Develop paragraphs
• Organize message
• Write piece
o Edit piece
o Get to editor
As you can see, this details the exact method that you would need to follow for writing the column. Now, you can clearly see what it will take to get the job done.
Some items can not be done before others, such as the writing of the piece before the interview and the facts are gathered. On the other hand, you may be able to get that interview done first, as it is an important part of the piece for you, then go back and do the lesser important aspects such as the brainstorming of the piece.
In making a To-Do List, you are gathering all activities not just for the project but for your day as well.
Sample To-Do List
For example, the To-Do List for this day may include these items as well.
• Collect incoming mail, answer all business related email
• Sort out next week's projects
• Organize and meet with editor about project for later in the week
• Research XYZ Company's business plan
• Check with Amy about lunch next Tuesday
• Call school and let them know that Jason will be late tomorrow
• Notify Abigail about posting on the web for job opportunity
• Write up interview and article for column
• Etc…
These all may be activities that you need to do today. While this list is a list of things you need to accomplish and it may change over the course of time, you can clearly see everything that you are responsible for.
On the following page is a graph that you can print and use to help you to prioritize all of the tasks that you need to complete for the day for your To Do List. The Next Sheet is an example of an Action Plan you can then use.
To Do List
Date ___________
For: Work, Personal, Both?
Task To Do Priority: Rate 1 to 20,
1 Is Top Priority
Notes For Use:
Action Plan Worksheet
Use to complete each task that needs to be completed for:
Task:__________________
Date:__________________
Action To Be Completed Priority: Rate 1 to 20,
1 Is Top Priority
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List in order that they need to be completed!
Developing Your To-Do List
As you may expect, a To Do list is very easy to put together, when you have the right information, the right tools and the know-how.
Remember that a To-Do List lists all of the things that you need to keep track of for your day to day activities. It is often a list of everything; both personal and business that you need to get done in that day.
If you reference the included chart, you will be able to see that it is also important to prioritize each element so that you know which times are the most important to complete. When you keep a To Do List, there is no reason not to just list everything that you have to do and then put numbers next to the item to show how important it is. With the number 1 being the highest priority, you can easily scan down the list, find all of the number 1’s, complete them and move on to the number 2's and so forth.
When you do it this way, you do not need to keep rewriting the list when you find that you forgot something or that something was not recorded that has just increased in priority for you.
For those that believe a To Do List is a simple exercise and something that you can do in your head, think again. Most successful business people actually use some form of a To Do List to keep themselves on top of everything that needs to be accomplished in any given day.
This allows them several benefits.
1. You do have everything down in writing where you can reference it.
2. You can prioritize your day faster and easier without forgetting something in the meantime.
3. You also get a bit of relief off your shoulders because you no longer need to remember everything that you need to accomplish.
In fact, this is the first step in really becoming an effective time manager and with good reason. It is well proven that when you remove the overwhelming number of things from your head, place them on paper and then use the paper as a guide, you are clearer in the direction you need to move to achieve the goals that you have.
It is essential that you start your day with a To Do List. If you did not complete tasks from the last day, then go ahead and place them on your To Do List as well. This gives you a clear indication of what needs to be done, when and how you will accomplish it.
The benefits of a To-Do List are quite simple. When you use one, you are better able to see all that needs to be completed over the course of a day. Then, you can:
• Have all of your necessary tasks written in one location for easy access.
• Prioritize each task
• Plan on when you will work each task
• Determine what requires the first and most immediate attention
• Remove all the clutter from your mind so that you can work faster but more solidly.
Remember the 80/20 rule. When you have a To-Do List that keeps you organized, you actually will accomplish much more in a much shorter period of time because you are focused on what needs to be done.
If you want to overcome the overwhelming feeling of stress, anxiety and just too much to do, the To-Do List is the first step in making that happen. You simply can not accomplish this in any other way.
To be effective at time management, you need an organized To-Do List.
Writing An Effective To-Do List
Now, it is time to get that To-Do List on paper. Easy enough, right? While it seems to be a rather simple plan, you should realize that you need to do all that you can to get as much detail on that paper as you can.
The process of creating one is very simple. Print off a few copies of our included To-Do List worksheet. Next, write down all of the tasks that you need to complete over the course of the day. Be sure that you include large and small items. Break the large items down into smaller chunks to make it more manageable for your needs. Break down anything that takes longer than two hours to complete into smaller pieces for easier management.
You want to have everything listed on this sheet. Once you have that completed, you can then go back, reread your list and prioritize it. Use the number 1 for all items that are very important. Then, go back and mark those that are less important on a sliding scale from the number 1 to the number 20.
If you would like to, you can rewrite this list at that time to make all of the number 1's at the top of your list. Do take the time to be sure that those things that you have placed at the top of your priority list are that important to you. Otherwise, you could be simply procrastinating and pushing yourself further and further behind. That will not accomplish the goals that you have!
Use Your To-Do List Correctly
Your To-Do List needs to be used as you see fit. For some, shorter lists that are completed each day works well for motivation. For others, a running list of all that needs to be completed helps them to organize all thoughts and needs on an ongoing basis, helping to keep everything organized and on task.
Choose the method that is right for you and the type of business or personal schedule you are keeping. But, do come back to your list often and look at, cross off and accomplish things from it. The feeling that you will get when you do this will help you to stay on track and even can serve as motivation for the next task to be completed that much sooner.
What happens when you can not complete a task in a given amount of time and you are fast approaching the deadline? That's when a task can change priority, which is another aspect that you need to take into consideration for time management. Plan so that you have the ability to move priorities up for items that fast become important tasks to complete.
Develop Your Action Plan
As we mentioned, the action plan is the method that you will use to track all of the individual actions that need to be completed in order to be able to go over to your To-Do List and scratch it off the list.
Your action plan should be written because this helps you to accomplish your goals faster and without forgetting anything along the way. It also helps you to accomplish each of the goals that you have without putting yourself at risk of another problem later (such as forgetting an important task!)
Now, you do not have to use an action plan for simple things, such as checking your email or eating your lunch. But, you should develop a clear action plan for any and all activities that become important tasks.
Action plans will help you to achieve the things that need to be done in a clear manner. You can also see where you are at, make changes as necessary and know what happens next.
Make your action plan as organized as possible. Someone should be able to come in and fill in for you if you are unable to do so yourself because you have clear instructions left for them to accomplish.
You should also plan to keep the plan updated and you may need to add in more activities or remove some as you go along, but this helps to keep those aspects organized as well.
Another benefit of an action plan for large tasks especially is having the ability to utilize a plan that works for the next time you complete the project. Perhaps you found that going along you should have done something first or perhaps you needed to do something completely unique to accomplish the goal. This will allow you to make the right decisions next time, making your job that much easier to accomplish then.
Now, one aspect to remember is that when and if your project is growing you can often include (and must include) other people. Now that this has happened, your simple and straightforward action plan may not work effectively for you. In situations like these, you do want to move on to developing a project management style in which you learn and manage larger projects and the schedules of several other people. For this, take a course specifically on project management.
Using Action Plans correctly can and will help you to achieve your goals faster and even in a better manner. You remove so much of your stress and frustration that even large jobs can be much easier to make happen.
Chapter 5: Scheduling For Effective Time Management
Now that you have an effective plan in place for each of the tasks that you would like to accomplish, you need to make a schedule for yourself to work as a guide and help you to actually pull together that action plan.
Scheduling yourself each hour of the day seems like a chore and it can become overwhelming if you let it. Yet, the control and guidance it will provide to you once you get it down pat is going to help you to get the most out of your day so that you can excel when it counts the most.
One aspect that you need to consider prior to making up effective time management schedules is goal setting.
Goal Setting Defined
Goal setting is not something to just think about. It is an effective time management tool used by many advanced business professionals, athletes and those that are successfully running their lives and fulfilling their dreams. You can achieve the same benefits if you learn how to successfully record your goals.
Goals should be established for both the long and the short term. This will allow you to see what you are working towards in the future while still helping you to see the path to getting there in the short term. They work as strong motivation and guidance to help you to achieve anything that you want to.
Goals also help you to put one foot in front of the other so that you know what knowledge you need to gain, what steps you need to take and how you need to organize your time to achieve those goals. Goals can do much more for you as well. For example, when used correctly, you can use them to help you to increase your productivity and that will help to increase your overall self confidence. You are able to see what you are capable of accomplishing more clearly than ever before.
To begin, start with listing your long term goals on each of the following target areas. Then, you will work on breaking them down in how you can achieve each area.
Work out goals for: Attitude and mindset, Career, Educational goals, Family goals, pleasure goals, Physical goals, financial goals, Charity or public service goals and other areas that are important to you.
Once you have worked out all of the large, long term goals you have, break this down so that it is in clear, 25 year then 10 year then one year brackets, all of which provide you with a clear understanding of where you are heading.
Writing Effective Goals
One key to success in goals is learning how to write them effectively. You can do this by working out the details of each goal that you have and then writing them on paper in a clear way. Here are some tips to help you to accomplish this.
1. Be positive in your goal writing.
2. Be as detailed as possible in the writing of the goal.
3. Set a timeframe from which you will complete the goal specifically.
4. When you have more than one goal, you must set a priority level for that goal in comparison to the others.
5. Be sure that your goals allow you to achieve them by your performance, not whether someone else does their job. Did you do your job to make this happen?
6. Be realistic, frank and honest with yourself.
7. Get them written down on paper so that you can display them and see them often.
8. Read your goals daily so that each decision you make for the day is based on achieving your goal.
Making Goals Reality
Now that you have your goals down on paper, you can begin to schedule your day around what you plan to achieve. It is important to complete that step because everything that you do in your life, no matter how large or small should reflect in a positive manner on your goals.
Effective scheduling helps you to put everything down on paper that you need to do, helps you to positively identify the important tasks for you to complete to reach your goals and helps you to ultimately make decisions that are on target with your life.
The end result: you manage your time in the best way possible to make your goals reality.
With any form of scheduling, you need to analyze several key things. First, realize that you have a limited amount of time to make anything happen. Second, you need to find the best use of your time to obtain the goals that you have.
Now, here are some tips to help you to use proper scheduling to benefit your overall life, your time and your goal achievements.
1. Be realistic. Always plan for what can be accomplished in the right amount of time. Overbooking yourself does not help you in any way at all.
2. Plan for important things first. Giving yourself the ability to achieve your goals is important, but some things are must do things that you can not avoid.
3. Provide yourself with some level of flexibility. Bad things happen all of the time. Even just unexpected but important things need a place to be put when the time comes.
4. Do not over commit yourself. It can be quite powerful to say no to someone when you know that you just can not commit to it. This helps you to say yes to those things that are more important to you.
5. Always plan to use your time in the best manner possible.
When you do these things, you can put together a schedule that is well thought out and planned for success. A schedule like this that is used at work or in your business helps you to maximize the amount of time you have so that you dedicate all of your energy to the most important things, accomplishing more in a shorter amount of time. Then, you can have your time to yourself!
5 Step Scheduling Secrets
Now, finally, you have reached the climax where you learn how to put together an effective, time management schedule aimed at providing you with the very best results. It takes just five steps to make this successful.
Step One: Identify and implement time for your tasks. If you are working at home, you need time to be scheduled to be dedicated to the job at hand. If you work in an office, be sure to note that your time is from 9am to noon then from 1pm until 5pm, for example. Your personal life can be scheduled around as needed, but schedule time for work specifically.
Step Two: Now, schedule the time you need for accomplish the regular activities of your job. This may include things like working with others, giving direction, paying invoices, organizing your schedule and so forth. This should be time that you must dedicate to making your job successful. These are items you do not have a choice but to do even if they are at a set time.
Step Three: Use your To Do List to help you to schedule in the important activities on your schedule. Start with all of your number one or highest priority items and block them in on your schedule. Then, move on to the next times until you go through your entire list, allotting time to each of the most important tasks.
Some items may not make it into your schedule. That is to be expected. That is not necessarily a problem if they are truly the bottom of the line. If their priority changes over time, change them to fit into your schedule as you see fit. Be sure that all tasks that can not be given to anyone one else are scheduled for you here.
Step Four: Extra time schedule as necessary. Here, you need to begin by knowing how long it will take you to complete the task. For example, if you have to write that column you may know that it will take you one full hour to actually write out the column. Block in that hour.
But in addition to this, do give yourself what is called contingency time. This is time that is provided to you as a padding because as you know it is not likely that you will get an entire hour that is uninterrupted by something or someone. Over time you can make better decisions on how much of this time you will actually need.
Step Five: Available Time. You should also plan in extra time for the items that you need to plan for such as time to go over your goals, plan your next Action Plans and to achieve what you need to achieve.
You will need to be sure that you are giving yourself enough time here. You may actually find yourself struggling to find the time to accomplish this task too. Yet, go back and find spots and locations where you can grab a few minutes here and there so that at the end of the day you do have this time.
You should also remember that delegation is a key to success. If you have to handle something yourself, by all means do so. But, when you can give off a bit of that to someone else, go for it. All successful business people must master delegation to gain the most benefit for their time and their money.
As you can see from this five step program, managing your time can be quite simple when you work through the program. You will need to consistently revisit your goals, tweak them and your Action Plans to actually help you to make all aspects work at their best, but that is a simple method of achieving success that can not be avoided.
Be sure to take full advantage of the benefits that scheduling can offer to you. Don't jump ahead and try to have a schedule without goals as it will not produce the same results!
Conclusion
Now you have a complete plan in your hand. You have what you need to schedule your life both personal and business to achieve the goals that you need and want today and well into the future.
Do remember that in this world of technology there are many tools at your fingertips to help you to keep all of your goals, your To Do List and your Action Plans in order. They can help you to complete virtually every aspect of your scheduling so that there is no time wasted by fiddling with papers.
PDA's, Computer programs and even online resources can help you to accomplish all of this and are dollars well spent, if and when you use them.
Through effectively understanding the way that you act and the way that you work, you can make the right decisions about your future.
Remember these points:
• Procrastination is something everyone does but something you need to learn to avoid.
• Developing To-Do Lists will help you to include everything you need to do and helps to remove the stresses from your daily life.
• Developing Action Plans can help you to overcome the fine print and helps to break down the task into smaller more manageable parts.
• Goal setting organizes and focuses you so you can achieve anything that you want to.
• Effective scheduling puts you in charge of your day so that you are the most effective time manager out there!
Become an effective time manager and your life will be easier, more productive and goal oriented!