THE SECRET OF TIME MANAGEMENT
By : Natalie
Almost everyone of us end up racing with time and complaining that there is never enough time to do everything we ought to do. We are often surprised to see the successful people and how they can do so many things at once – sometimes even wondering whether their days are made up of longer hours! Well, we all are given the same amount of time in a day – but the main difference between those who are successful and those who end up losing the race against time, is that they know how to manage time. Time management, one of the main tools for success, is the art of managing time more effectively and efficiently.
One of the main reasons people end up racing against time, and feeling stress, is because most people tend to put aside more important work until the final deadline knocks at the door while spending time in unimportant things that they feel more interest in. This is called procrastinating and is the main barrier to time management. Of course, time is limited, but as there will be no way to increase the constantly depleting time we have in hand, the only way to reduce stress is through effectively managing the scarce time we have. And the first step to it is to beat procrastination.
Procrastinating is a destructive habit, but a very common one. The main reasons people don’t get out of this habit is that they don’t realize they are procrastinating or they do realize it but don’t want to get out of it. Unfortunately there is not much help for these two types of people, but if you do understand that you are procrastinating and you really want to get out of it – there is something that can be done.
The key to controlling this destructive habit is to recognize when you start procrastinating, understand why it happens and take active steps to manage your time and outcomes better.
The first active step is to make an activity list where you track all the tasks you do and for how long – including all the small things like making a coffee, or watching the TV. Once you track your activities for a few days, you will realize that you spend most of your time in things that have little importance and/or outcome. Once you have this information clearly engraved in your mind, you will develop the intention to focus more on the important tasks instead of avoiding those and choosing easier but less important tasks.
The next step is using the common tool used by most effective people of creating a to-do list that lists all the tasks you have in hand. Then assign priority to each task and re-arrange the list with the tasks with top priority on the top and lower priority tasks near the bottom. If you have this list in front of you, it will be easier to focus on the more important tasks first and thus, managing your time more effectively. You will get the most important stuff done first.
However, it must be remembered that the tools mentioned must be utilized. There is no use in any of these, if no action is taken. And so, it can be summarized that the secret of time management lies in selecting the most important task right now, starting on it right now and then staying with it until it is done.
About Author:
Natalie writes about Time-Management . For more information about Time-Management visit Thoughtful-Self-Improvement.Com
