FINDING WAYS TO SAVE TIME AND ACCOMPLISH MORE TOWARD GOALS
By Connie Limon
A definition of time management might be a process of gaining flexibility and cutting back time. The advantage to having a time management plan is that we are losing something that brings us reward and gaining something that brings us bigger rewards. We end up with a "no lose" situation if our time management plan is right.
To develop a successful time management plan, we must first evaluate our time. We must sit down and ask ourselves how long it takes to eat. How long does it take us to get dressed and groomed for work? How long does it take us to prepare the meals we have to eat? Everything we do takes a certain amount of time.
You might start out by writing down just how much time it takes to do each of your "have to" tasks each day. Then sit back and evaluate your list. Are you wasting 10 minutes here and there on those "have to" items that could be used for something else?
Where our time goes is an essential element to determine our entire time management plan if we want to begin spending more quality with the most important people in our lives and less wasted time on some routine task. This is the absolute first step of creating your own personalized time management plan, a time management plan that will allow you more time to do the things in life that are most important to you. You must determine where you're wasting time and then decide how to use that time more effectively. Once that time is lost, there's no calling it back.
Another important element of a successful time management plan is to be sure to finish tasks before moving onto another task, unless you're at work, in a job that requires doing multiple tasks at one time (multi-tasking). Once you finish one task, move onto the next task and follow in pursuit of finishing all tasks. Once you finish the last task, sit back for a moment in a comfortable position and think of what you've accomplished.
How much time did it take you to complete the tasks? Don't forget to jot down your start and end times. Of course this type of listing works best for those things you do as routine each day. You want to work on completing the tasks in as little time as possible, in case you have unexpected events that day, or so you can do something you really want to do (like visiting with a friend, reading, etc.).
A successful time management plan provides us with a source for more flexible schedules. When we have flexibility, we have more time for ourselves. Once you have determined your priorities for time usage, then you can start adding tasks that you've been putting off because you just didn't have the time to do them.
So...you now need another list of goals and plans and things you want to do. One of the best ways of keeping these lists is on your computer where you can quickly erase and add to. But then again, paper in a notebook is also good, perhaps a special book.
We also have to decide what our goals are, then work toward them using our time management plan. You will probably have to sit down and really ponder what is needed to reach each goal of a set of goals, and of course, decide how much time each step of the way you'll need. Some people like to set short term goals, reach that goal and then set a long-term goal. It might be a better plan to try and set short and long-term goals in the same time-management plan. Whichever way works best for you, however, is what you should do.
Time management is essential since it demands that a person plan, act on those plans and stay focused on those goals with motivation. You must also keep reality in mind, and plan for the things out of your control that could go wrong and therefore steal time from your time management plan. Some examples would be computer failures, family illness, personal illness, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. It's always wise to include elements of your time management plan in accordance with what could happen out of your control. You many want to have a plan for how you'll use your time if your computer fails. For example, you could catch up on paper filing, etc. Right now, for me, I am experiencing an Internet outage. I've groomed many Shih Tzu today, in the time I usually spend answering emails and working on my websites.
Time management is working to succeed. If you want to succeed, then you must work hard every day to meet your goals. I recently cut down my preparing and eating breakfast time by about ten minutes. Instead of my usual meal, I now mix up a Zone Shake and drink it while doing some other chore like adding to or emptying the dishwasher, or even while opening up my daily emails. In reality here I'm using ten extra minutes to work on my goals, rather than preparing and eating a regular breakfast.
Connie Limon offer a self-improvement book, with information about personal growth, as well as self-help tips. It is an organized directory, referencing information in other websites on the World Wide Web. Sign up for her newsletters by visiting: http://www.selfimprovementbook1.com
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