Time Management Techniques

Often, people look back on their day and wonder where the time has gone and why they were not able to accomplish the things that they needed and really wanted to. While it’s certainly true that there are only a limited number of hours within a day that people can use to accomplish the things that they need to do, it’s often not a question of managing your time but more of an act of managing yourself.

All of us have exactly the same amount of time to get things done, yet why is it that studies show that successful people can accomplish in the region of 60% more work within the same time as unsuccessful people?

Do you remember the old saying, “if you want something done give it to a busy person”

Time management techniques and skills are without a doubt an important part of being able to accomplish the different tasks that need to be done within the day. While many think that it’s a difficult thing to do, it’s often more about how a person controls himself. Here are some of the time management techniques that professionals employ in order to accomplish what needs to be done with the minimum of fuss about where the time went.

Review your day and be honest enough in listing down the distractions that you’ve given in to that took up a lot of time. These are the things that manage to steal time out of your day, time which could have been well spent preparing that report that you need to present tomorrow or time used to collect information for the new project that your team is completing. Apart from helping you realize where time went, it’s also a good thing to maintain a daily tracker of activities so you know how you spend time within the day and see if you’re productive. This will help you manage yourself so changes can be made which then makes use of time better.

Remember, time spent analysing is time well spent.

After you realize where you went off track it’ll be easy to set goals that help you avoid giving in to those time wasters. Set a goal that within the week you won’t go for unnecessary breaks or be tempted to browse websites that does nothing to help you do your job. This will help you become conscious of the behaviours to avoid so you won’t fall for the temptation of wasting time you can’t get back.

The next thing to do is to stick to a time management tool that works for you. This can be the outlook calendar or the computer calendar that keeps track of your appointments or impending deadlines that you need to meet. It can also be a great thing if you continue to note down the things you do for each hour you spend. Though it can sound a bit taxing, it can be an immense help in ensuring you remain productive.

As you learn your routine and attain a more productive behaviour, you also learn to stick to your time management techniques. In order to remain productive, remember to be ruthless and prioritize. You can’t let go and give in to time wasters that can so easily suck you back in to the habit of procrastinating or wasting time. Prioritize results over a few minutes of down time that can accumulate to hours of wasted time.
Lastly, keep in mind that it’s not time that needs to be managed, it’s your behaviour and how you deal with your time that you can change and improve.

As Benjamin Franklin famously said “Time management is not time management it is life management, for time is the stuff of which life is made, and if you cannot manage your time, then the seeds of greatness do not lie within you”.