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Time Management Techniques |
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...your time spent
should be something more than efficient; it should also be
meaningful.
People seeking time
management techniques are generally looking for something elseIt's
analogous to the story of the man looking for a shovel: He didn’t
really want a shovel; he wanted a hole. Like the shovel, time
management techniques are a means to an end. But before your can
decide how to improve your time management, you’ll first need to
identify what your goals are and what obstacles stand between you
and your goal. Improving your time management will only be effective
if you can prioritize, and you can prioritize only after you
have a plan—or GoalPlans®—in place.
Once you have
a workable plan, time management is what allows you to stick to that
plan. It allows you to make decisions throughout each day based on
your priorities. Time management according to a plan allows you to
more effectively avoid distractions, over-committing, and
procrastination. Time management techniques are achieved by adhering
to these important components:
Time Management
Techniques, Component #1: High-Level Prioritization
Good
time management first requires that you have some idea of what it is
you're trying to accomplish with the time spent. This requires that
you set goals. If you aren't sure what goals you'd like to pursue,
the first step is to identify what things are most valuable to you
in life. These are your core values. Once you have identified them,
selecting goals will follow more naturally.
Time
Management Techniques, Component #2: Low-Level
Prioritization
Once you have identified your goals, the
next time management step is to create plans for how you'll
accomplish them, such as using myGoals.com's goal-setting wizard.
This tool helps you plan by breaking the high-level goal down into
bite-sized tasks, such as those that would end up on a daily to-do
list.
In good time management, the most important aspect of
to-do lists is to have one place where you can list all of the
things you need to do in the near term, such that you can see what
you're dealing with all at once. The next step is to prioritize
these into things that must be done soon or immediately, as opposed
to those things that can or should be done later.
Time Management Techniques, Component #3:
Efficiency
True masters of time management carry out
steps 1 and 2 instinctively, but then go further by being more
productive during the same limited 24 hours in a day.
The
first step in efficient time management, after you've prioritized,
is to match tasks of a given size with appropriate available time
blocks. Try to accomplish large tasks first. You can always fill in
the gaps with smaller tasks. Anything that lets you break large
tasks into small tasks, such that they can be performed during the
inevitable delays forced upon other tasks.
Next, find ways
to multi-task. Examples include handling calls while driving (using
a safe, hands-free cell phone setup), and listening to recorded
books-on-tape while exercising.
Finally, if you feel
yourself switching back and forth from one task to another, without
making much headway on any of them, it's time to switch gears.
You've entered "overwhelm," and it's common but curable. Switching
between tasks takes time and energy of its own, so the solution is
to force focus. Clear other items off the day's to-do list, or just
circle one of them and say "I will accomplish this before working on
anything else."
Time Management Techniques, Component
#4: Motivation & Overcoming
Procrastination
Procrastination is the enemy of all time
management plans. The problem is best thought of in terms of
momentum: When you're not doing something, it's hard to begin. Once
you've started, it's easy to continue, and sometimes even difficult
to stop.
The trick when you can't get started is therefore
to take some very small, easy step forward. It can even be a trivial
step, such as looking up a phone number or doing a search on the
Web. In this way, we don't get intimidated by the enormity of the
large objective in front of us. We just focus on the first baby
step. And then take the next, and then next, and pretty soon, we're
so involved with the task that it's easy.
Another great
trick is to enlist outside help. Just as having a personal trainer
or workout partner makes you virtually guaranteed to show up at the
gym on time, any outside influence (for better or worse) usually
gets more attention than our own inner voice. Use this to your
advantage, such as with myGoals.com's email reminders that gently
nag you to work on any given task that you have prescribed for
yourself toward the completion of your goal.
Time
Management Techniques, Component #5: Flexibility
Those
who are most skilled at time management understand that
unanticipated events are a normal part of life. They schedule their
time with the expectation that they will need to make last-minute
changes. The first thing to keep in mind is that constant adjustment
WILL BE required. A good plan is one that permits flexibility and
has built-in contingency alternatives.
One simple trick for
making all of your time management more flexible is called "pad and
fill." "Padding" refers to giving yourself a little more time than
you expect a task to take. This is particularly helpful when
planning tasks that contain much uncertainty or involve other
people. A simple example is drive-time; if you expect a drive to
take 20 minutes, give yourself 30. This allows for unanticipated
traffic, the need to stop for gas, taking a wrong exit, etc., and
will actually make you a much safer driver because you won't feel
compelled to take unnecessary risks out of haste.
"Filling"
is what you do with unused padding, such as if your drive only takes
20 minutes when you have given yourself 30. The key is to always
have something handy that can easily be worked on in 10 or even
5-minute increments, such as while waiting for an appointment to
begin. By carrying reading material, or notes required to make a
business call via cell phone, you can turn 20 minutes waiting for an
oil change into productive or even quality time.
Time
Management Techniques, Component #6: Perspective
It's
worth noting that all time management should be done within a larger
life perspective. Taking time to smell the roses is not just a
cliché, it's vital to making your time spent be something more than
efficient—it should also be meaningful.
If you find
yourself getting too stressed about time management, consider taking
a big step back and revisiting Step #1, in which you take a close
look at your values. If health and happiness are two of your values,
then it runs contrary to them to get stressed by the details of time
management. Figuratively speaking, it may be time to climb a tree to
see the woods. Don't be afraid to just take things off the front
burner and put them onto the back burner. It's even okay to put
goals on hold, or cancel them altogether if your priorities have
changed.
myGoals.com is designed specifically to encourage
flexibility in your goal setting. Life tends to throw
unexpected things in our direction every day, and the ability to
adapt in realtime, without losing sight of the big picture, is
paramount.
Due to this need for periodic adjustment of
plans, myGoals.com is better suited to goal management than
paper-based systems. But the real advantage comes in the form of
email reminders that you set to come just when you need reminding or
motivation to work on a given task.
Additional Resources for Improving Time
Management TechniquesFor more
information about myGoals.com, our goal-setting wizard, and our
famous "pre-made GoalPlansTM," visit our goal-setting
homepage.
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