Are you efficient with your time? Do you even know if you are or aren’t? I sure didn’t. I had no clue. Time management is critical these days. We have piled so much on our plates I don’t even think we know where to start.
My whole life I have been the type of person to give 111% to everything I do. Yes, I just added an extra 1 to the most popular 110% quotes that others throw out. I’m good like that! Or so I thought.
I felt that just because I was always running around like a madman doing this and doing that I was getting things done. After all my job was done at the end of the day. That was my proof and I stuck to this belief well into my 30’s.
My discovery came from an unfortunate circumstance way back in the year 2008. I was fired from a job I gave my heart and soul to. I was a model employee and I really loved being a trendsetter within the company. I was let go for internal politics if you will, but it was actually covered up and said that my time management was poor. So sad!
Curse you corporate world, I gave you everything! Well, as I am wiping my tears I must admit that I didn’t even believe them. Not one single bit, but many, many years later I discovered that that part was in fact correct. I had my own system and I did great but it wasn’t efficient enough. Managing time only happens when you know the process of how you produce. How do you spend your time?
For this, I give you a super secret list to help with managing time and being effective. All absolutely free!! lol I only ask that you share this goodness with those that you believe may benefit from it. Please and thank you!
How to manage time effectively
(all thrown together below)
Delegation. Streamline things you have to do and part out the things that you can distribute to others. We can work with others’ strong suits and weaknesses. No, this doesn’t mean having other people do YOUR job! Distributing responsibilities is only good when it is fair and productive within a team. Be smart about this. If you are alone get yourself an amazing life partner to help you along off the clock! Wink, Wink
Focus. Stop looking at your social media. Stop looking at those cute sloth videos on YouTube. Be aware of the time you have to work. If you are easily distracted as many of us are, try to set those aside. We aren’t productive by multitasking. This is a big one. How can you start one thing then stop and move on to something else and then end up with a finished task effectively? You can’t. Think about the time that your brain has to use to get you to stop something and then think about what other thing you could do. Hopefully, this will make sense to you.
Setting goals. Daily routines will help forecast tasks and will help you understand what you want to accomplish. Once you accomplish one goal you will feel better about getting to the next one. This will help with your time management because you have something to strive for. It’s a balancing act but you will figure it out.
Priorities. Creating a to-do list can really be helpful. Something to be mindful of is if you have to write out a big action list that was built up in your mind, then you could have saved yourself some time by just starting what needs to be done in the first place. Think about it!
Pro Tip: Start with the time-consuming stuff first.
Planning. Get your thoughts in order of how you want the flow to go. This will take practice and you will have to modify stuff as you go. What do you need to accomplish? Start with that.
Eliminate. There may be things that you could scratch off the list that are unnecessary. It could be eliminating certain things that you may physically do to get a job done that aren’t efficient. For example, starting to do your work for a bit and then stopping to get up to go to the copy room for supplies or other things and then back to work again. Then shortly after you get up to do something else. Get organized first so you don’t waste unnecessary time with the ups and downs.
Set a timer. Time boxing is excellent when done properly. Go for a 30 to 45-minute stretch of work then take a mental break. Drink some water, stretch your legs, or whatever helps you. Then get back to it. This will help your brain to not get fatigued.
Conclusion
Get to work now because time is of the essence!!
