Staying On Task - How to Be Better at Time Management
Wednesday, April 20th, 2011We all procrastinate from time to time. Usually a small dose of procrastination is harmless. However for others still it can spell disaster and mean the difference between getting things done and not. If this is the type of person you are it’s most likely as easy as fixing your time management skills. Fortunately this is a skill that most people can master easily. Cut down on your distractions and work hard to develop your skills. Here are some time management tips that anybody can use to help them increase their focus and productivity.
While mapping out your goals and your day is good, it is also good to be flexible. You have to be open to the unexpected, and it can be stressful to impose too much structure on your routine. It becomes more difficult to focus on the tasks you have to complete when you’re tense and uptight. Learn to let some things slide for the sake of your sanity. You can do this and still stay focused on your important objectives. What it does mean is that you don’t have to panic if something you planned to do in the morning has to be put off until the afternoon. In such cases, just go with the flow. Too much structure is not good for your productivity, or even your health!
Begin each day by making a list of the things you need to accomplish before you go to bed that night. After you’ve got them all on paper begin ordering the list by priority. You’ll want to put the items that need to be done first up top and those that can be fit in later near bottom. You can now use this organized list as a “to do” list. The feeling of satisfaction you get by completing a to do list at the end of the day cannot be compared to any other feeling. These lists will save you the time and frustration of wondering what you should do next, instead you can ask what’s next on the list.
Time management experts agree that one of the most important skills you need to learn to better manage your time is delegation. It’s hard to be efficient if you have to do everything yourself. If you delegate some of the less important but time consuming activities, you’ll have more time for truly important ones. This way your day will not be spent on hundreds of trivial tasks and you will be more productive and creative. If you spend too much time on trivial tasks, they can be a real distraction. Delegation is something that many people have difficulty with. If you make it a habit, though, it will soon feel perfectly normal.
You have a lot of options for management skills. Time management is possible no matter what your situation is now. All you have left to do now is begin making some new habits, good habits. You won’t ever have to worry about losing a day to daydreaming again and it won’t take to much time either.
James Spacey is a prolific online wordsmith. As well as writing about time management he also writes about topics as diverse as purchasing car insurance and the PT Cruiser!