How To Manage Time? And Why Is It Important?
The phrase ‘Time is Money’ is quite familiar, but still, both time and money cannot be placed on the same pedestal. With money, you can always retrieve it, but when time is spent, you can never get back. How well do you manage your time?
Time is a great equalizer in life; everyone gets the same 24 hours in a day, yet some people are greater at being productive than others. The difference is good time management. The concept of time management involves a significant input of time upfront to prioritize and organize yourself. When finished, you can see that the small tweaks, the days and so the weeks and months come into place in an orderly manner, with time for everything you need to do. You need to be equipped with the right skills and know-how in time management to successfully achieve your desired result. The fact that you are busy doesn't equate to being productive.
Here are ways on how to manage your time effectively.
- Prioritize
Prioritizing activities in order of importance is of the essence when trying to manage time effectively. Have a to-do list, this would help successfully optimize your productivity as well. You can classify your tasks as
- Important and urgent: Get to work on these immediately.
- Important but not urgent: Pick a time to do these tasks.
- Urgent but not important Designate these tasks if possible.
- Not urgent and not important: Set these aside to do late.
2. Set Time Limits
Allocating a timeframe for your different activities and completion of tasks helps you be more focused and efficient in managing your time. Putting conscious effort to decide on how much time you need for each task can give you foresight on potential problems. Having a schedule isn’t just enough, it is important to follow the schedule you have strictly to avoid time-wasting.
3. Plan and Stay Organized
Taking proactive measures is another key step in managing one's time effectively. Here, you have a precise idea of what is set out to be achieved and take the necessary steps or prep materials to hit the ground running. Set realistic goals and prepare what you will need to achieve them.
4. Take a break
Why take a break? Because you can only be productive when you're sound and in a clear headspace. It becomes harder to stay focused on giving tasks when you don't take breaks and end in low productivity and time-wasting without achieving the right results. Allow some time off or breaks in between tasks to clear your head and refresh yourself. You can consider taking a brief nap, a short walk, or meditating.
Why you should manage your time:
From getting the job done in less time to fast-tracking in achieving one's goal, the benefits of time management cannot be overemphasized. Other benefits include
- Better work-life balance
Many persons suffer from not being able to set a proper work-life balance most times due to bad time management. Managing your time effectively allows room for leisure.
- More opportunities
Being able to achieve set goals at a given timeframe means room for taking more and even better opportunities and tasks.
- Reduced stress and anxiety
The stress and anxiety gotten from having so much to do at the same time can be reduced through time management.
- Self-gratification
It is self-fulfilling to accomplish a set task or set goals at a given time and this can only be gotten through good time management.
When you have control of your time, you feel more in control of your life, and this can be maintained with time management. It is often said 'it is not by how far but by how well' It is crucial to start making time count as opposed to just counting time. Now get on track in making every second count.
