Time Management - Save your time and make your life

Currently I am a part-time blogger along with my day job. I do blogging because I love to write. My friends always ask me how I get time to write. They always get surprise when I send them mail for my new article. This was not the case earlier. I also had the same problem “I don’t have time”.

“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.” William Penn

We all get the same time of 24 hours, out of which 8 hours goes into sleep, 9 hours on job, 2 hours in transport and 2 hours in food. After that, we are left with 2 or 3 hours only. In this article, I will show some steps by which you can save time, which can be utilized to make your life better.
“Time = life; therefore, waste your time and waste of your life, or master your time and master your life.”Alan Lakein

Commitment – This is the first and the most important step in time management. Ask yourself a question “How important it is for you to take out time for your family?” Everything starts from a desire, but it has to be a burning one. You might be reading this article because you desire to save time, but when you follow these steps, at that time it becomes the burning one.

Prepare to do list – This one I learnt from one of my previous manager. He always used to starts his day by writing all the tasks he needs to do on that day on a piece of paper. This helps in two ways, first you don’t miss out anything and second you can plan your day efficiently. It is not that you have to stick to your plan. I know that we all get some ad hoc requests, but to do list helps us to stay focus.

Setting Priorities – So you have made your to do list, now you will say; “OMG! I have lots of task to complete. Now it is time to prioritize things which tasks are important. It is a simple formula of 80-20. Dr. Juran's observation of the "vital few and trivial many", the principle that 20 percent of something always are responsible for 80 percent of the results. Your duty is to find out that 20 percent. I am not saying to push your work o n next day, what I am saying is that out of your to do list find out which are important for today and which can be done tomorrow. It is not about delaying your work, but about managing your work efficiently.

Cut TV – Have you ever noticed how much time you are spending in front of TV? You will be amaze to know that our 3 to 4 hours of day goes into that which includes our lunch or dinner time. It has become addiction and people watch serials which do not entertain them. Cut it down and use that time for better purpose like playing games with your family or having pleasant conversation while having dinner.

Cut gossiping – This might not be applicable to all people, but it is applicable to most of you. We spend more time on gossiping about others and less time on improving our self. Gossiping harms the people and harms the relationship. Please stay away from it.

Set the time of your work – It might not be possible for you to reduce number of tasks, but it is in your hand to define the time limit in which you can finish them. I have seen that if someone wants to leave early, then he or she will finish the same amount of work earlier than normal days. It is another magic of mind, when you define the time limit it will show you many ways to finish your task early. Try this, for some days every morning decide the time you want to finish your tasks and see the wonders.

Say no – It is difficult for some people to say no to anyone and ultimately they end up doing more work. You have to set your priorities. It is better to say No then to do it half hearted. For exa: you might be dropping your friend to his house every day in your car for which you have to spend 15-20 mins more and then you will have fight with wife for coming late. You can explain your problem to your friend I am definitely sure he will understand.

Wake up early – Ahh, my favorite one. I look this step as a creating time instead of saving. If not more, then just start with 15 mins to wake up early. After that slowly you can increase if it is feasible. You can use this time to do exercise or prayer or you can use it drop your kids to school personally. To know more click here.

Use internet and outsource your work – Today is a world of automation and outsource. In India many of us still prefer to stand in a queue even when it is possible to do it online. You can automate many of your tasks. For exa : Connect your investment account with your salary account or set recurring payment for your electric and phone bills. Similarly if you are in a business, then you can outsource some tasks, so that you can save time and can focus on main areas.

Concentrate on one thing – Many people might say that you can finish more tasks through multi tasking, but I would say that you can finish task faster if you concentrate on one thing at a time. Power of focus helps you in finishing task quicker and more efficiently.

I know that even after reading above steps some of you will say: “Oh, it is not possible for me, I can’t avoid TV or I can’t set time to work” That is why I have kept commitment at the top. You can do it if you really want to do it.