I have managed myself to get so busy that as I write I may fall asleep. I have not been a good blogger lately and I will be working on this. I have many projects in the works and I think I have more time than I really do so I have to work on my time management. I just put some tips together for myself and I thought I would share to help others manage their time.
#1 Don’t fuss about unimportant details. You’re never get everything done in exactly the way you want. Trying to do so is being ineffective. Being to much of a perfectionist will only get you doing more than you need to.
#2 Prioritize. Since you can’t do everything, learn to prioritize the important and let go of the rest. Apply the 80/20 principle which is a key principle in prioritization. Write down a list of things that need to be done that day and number them in the order you want them done.
#3 Delegate. If there are things that can be better done by others or things that are not so important, consider delegating. This takes a load off and you can focus on the important tasks. Sometimes, others want to help. Just ask.
#4 Put similar tasks together. For related work, put them together.
#5 Eliminate your time wasters. What takes your time away your work? Facebook? Twitter? Email checking? Stop checking them so often. One thing you can do is make it hard to check them – remove them from your browser quick links / bookmarks and stuff them in a hard to access bookmarks folder. Replace your browser bookmarks with important work-related sites. While you’ll still check FB/Twitter no doubt, you’ll find it’s a lower frequency than before.
#6 Peg a time limit to each task. Be clear that you need to finish X task by 11am, Y task by 3pm, and Z item by 5:30pm. This prevents your work from dragging on and getting into time reserved for family or activities.
#7 Learn to say “No” (this one is extremely hard for me). Don’t take on more than you can handle. For the distractions that come in when you’re doing other things, give a firm no. Or defer it to a later period.
#8 Use an organizer. The organizer helps you to be on top of everything in your life. It’s your central tool to organize information, to-do lists, projects, and other miscellaneous items.
#9 Use a calendar. Having a calendar is the most fundamental step to managing your daily activities. If you use outlook or lotus notes, calendar come as part of your mailing software. Google Calendar is great(this is what I use) – I use it. It’s even better if you can sync it to your mobile phone and other hardware you use – that way, you get notifications and can access your schedule no matter where you are.
#10 Last but not least, create a daily plan. Plan your day before it unfolds. Do it in the morning or even better, the night before you sleep. The plan gives you a good overview of how the day will pan out. That way, you don’t get caught off guard. Your job for the day is to stick to the plan as best as possible.
Not only do these tips help me keep sane, but I hope in turn this will help you from having a stressful day and more managed time!