Effective Time Management Tips
Personal Management Strategies to Accomplish Important Goals
© Muxin Li
Nov 2, 2009
Personal time management is an essential life skill that not only allows people to get things done, but gets them done at the right time. It is not something that can be learned overnight, but it can become a life-long habit with practice, patience, and self-motivation.
Deciding What’s Important for Better Time Managment
Most people believe that time management is simply doing everything in as less time as possible. However, simply being busy and working hard does not mean getting the important things done. At the end of the day, using time wisely means spending time on important tasks. Deciding on what’s important is the first step to effective time management.
Important things do not solely consist of money and work, and there are many other aspects of life that cannot be ignored such as family and friends, spiritual and personal development, learning and health, for instance. Thinking through these areas and making a list of goals for each will help in focusing on what’s important and leave out the unimportant details.
Saying “No” to Unimportant Things
When improving time management skills, one must learn to say "no" to things that will detract from accomplishing the day's goals; this allows one to spend more time and effort on important tasks. If a student wanted to improve their grades, he/she will have to say "no" to going to the movies in order to spend time studying. However, neglecting one’s social life is also damaging, and the student shouldn’t completely ignore friends in order to get better grades.
Often there are difficult decisions that seem to clash one important goal against another. Does a working mother decide to spend more time with her children or stay at the office to help support them? Neither of these two options seems more important than the other, and neither should be ignored.
What the mother can do is decide which area needs the most improvement, and then decide whether she needs to spend more time at home or at work at that moment. Perhaps there is a project deadline she needs to meet soon, or her child is having troubles at school. Selecting the choice that will impact the least negatively will help avoid letting another aspect of one’s life to deteriorate and to cause more problems.
Organizing Tasks by Importance and Urgency
When planning out a week or a day, decide on the important goals and how urgently they need to be accomplished. Are the bills due by the end of the week? Is there a friend’s birthday next month? Sort out which tasks need to be done first, and spend time finishing those before beginning other tasks.
Also decide which goals need a more sustained commitment, such as exercising and spending time with friends. These long-term goals are not as urgent, but they are still important and should be given a high priority whenever possible. A good way to accomplish these goals is to combine them into one activity, such as exercising with a friend or listening to an audio book while driving to work.
Getting a Planner
Planners are excellent time management tools, and can come in a variety of styles and prices. FranklinCovey.com offers high-quality planners, although the budget shopper may be more interested in printable online planners to print and make at home.
Eco-friendly computer users may be interested in planner programs for their desktop to reduce paper waste.
Building Time Management Skills
Time management is a life-long skill that can improve lifestyle and achieve success, and works best when it is developed throughout the rest of one’s life. The key to improving one’s time management skills is to act on the right decisions and finish what needs to be done first. These time management tips can lead to better personal management if they are practiced over the long term.
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