Time Management To Improve Your Life

Hello everyone 

So today we will be talking about time management.
If you feel like 24 hours are not enough, if you feel like you never get to carry out tasks when you're supposed to, if you're always late to, on and with everything.... then this post is for you!



What is time management? 

According to Wikipedia (2017), Time management is the process of planning and exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency or productivity.



Notice 3 words:

1. Effectiveness
2. Efficiency
3. Productivity
If you're not using your time for these three things, then its a waste

 (weeeist! ). Okay, jokes apart I'm sure you get the gist.

Why do we need to effectively manage time?

1. Lost time can never regained - it is a finite resource.
2. Time waits for no one - it is not a respecter of person.
3. Time is fluid - meaning you can use it to create whatever results you hope to achieve
4. You can accomplish more within a short period of time, which gives you free time for more things.
5. By managing the time drain in your life, you improve the aspects of your life that are lacking.

How can we manage our time?

1. Stop procrastinating.

Do you feel any of the following:
A) You push things you need to do now until later
B) You continuously do unimportant things until you get too worn out to do more important things
C) You always perform tasks at the last minute and end up not doing it as good as you could if you started early enough
D) You allow distractions make you unproductive in your studies, place of work or business
E) Do you waste time before taking major decisions?



Guess what? You're a procrastinator.

You can't achieve much if you don't kill that habit. Stop allowing distractions, make the important stuff your priority, start your tasks early enough to avoid last minute rushes and ensure you take decisions as timely as possible. It takes a conscious effort to kill procrastination.



2. Set deadlines

This works best for me. Deadlines can come in form of process maps, wall charts, and even to-do lists. For personal use, to-do list might be best. Organise your to-do list into segments I.e. things to do this year, things to do this month, things to do this week, things to do today. By doing that, you break the end goal into tinier achievable fragments. If anything spills over from your to-do list, for any reason, please make sure you put it on the next list in that category, until you get it done.



3. Find balance

Contrary to popular belief, time management isn't about not making time for your hobbies (mine is SDK blog for example ), its about finding enough time slots for everything. If you deprive yourself of the things you like to do, then make sure you're paying a price in some other way. If not, i think it's unnecessary. Many people belive the fad that ignoring their hobbies makes them come across as serious-minded. Please, find a balance and invest some time in your hobbies. Hobbies might be a game of chess, a sport, work out session, shopping, cooking or even a video game. Set a timer, enjoy your hobby and then get back to doing what you must once the timer goes off.

One good way to do this is to reward yourself. So let's say you achieve something you've been targeting, reward yourself by indulging in your hobby for a set time and then continue with your day. That makes the reward more anticipated. But please, don't add food to your list of rewards. Thanks




4. Don't waste too much time crying over spilled milk. 

Yes, time and energy was wasted on something that didn't quite turn out as it was supposed to. It happens to the best of us. What you think is a 'waste' is part of an experience..But dwelling on the 'what ifs' on its own is poor time management. Do everything possible to get yourself together, or you might regret the time you waste on crying over that bad business decision, failed relationship, lost job opportunity or money.



5. Don't be too hard on yourself.

If you try to manage your time better and you fail at it; don't feel stuck. Acknowledge your weakness, try harder to block out distractions and then try again. It's that simple!

How have you effectively managed time at home, school, work or in your place of business?
Are there any precrastinators here? Yes, the opposite of procrastinators. Have any tips to share? Thank yoooouuu.