8 Time Management Tips
Guest Post
Whether you’re in business for yourself, or working for someone else, time management is an essential skill for success. Sure, you’ve probably taken time management classes or read about how to manage your time in books; maybe you use a day planner of some type in an attempt to stay organized. Despite the fact that most of us have some idea about how to manage our time effectively, and despite the fact that most of us are armed with a myriad of gadgets, many of us feel intense stress because we feel we just can’t finish all the things we need to get done each day. Here are eight simple tips for making the most of the time you have available each day .
1. Work in Real Time. There are two kinds of time. “Clock time” is the actual time of day – it’s when things are supposed to happen. “Real time” is when things actually do happen. While you may have to schedule some things by the clock, try living in real time as much as possible. To do this, conduct an experiment by keeping track of everything you do for an entire week. Note whether activities are productive, or if they are unproductive. Then, begin cutting out unproductive activities, or saving them until you’ve finished handling each day’s necessary projects.
2. Assign “Clock Time” to Important Activities. Anything that’s important to your success needs to have an assigned time. If you’re working for yourself, pretend you have to show up to work at a certain hour and stay there for a certain amount of time. If you have goals you want to meet, assign specific blocks of time to the activities, conversations, or creative processes needed to make those goals a reality. Schedule appointments for yourself, noting when things begin and when they end. Cultivate the necessary discipline to stick to this schedule.
3. Schedule Time During the Day for Interruptions. If you build in 30 minutes for interruptions, you won’t feel stressed when something takes you away from your work.
4. Create Goals for Each Task. Before you begin a task, spend a moment thinking about what you ultimately want to achieve. Make every action, thought, and conversation you engage in during a set task count toward meeting goals.
5. Get a “Do Not Disturb” Sign, and Use It! In the same vein, if you work from home, ensure everyone in the home knows that it’s unacceptable to disturb you when you are working. Cultivate the ability to refrain from checking in on Facebook or reading emails when you’ve assigned yourself with other tasks. Focusing will help you make better use of your time, no matter what you do.
6. Let Your Voicemail Do Its Job – Unless answering the phone is part of your job description, let calls go to voicemail if you are working on another task that demands your attention. Schedule a block of time to make calls, or schedule several small chunks of telephone time throughout the day. Catch up with friends and family during downtime.
7. Disconnect Instant Messaging – Unless this is how you stay in touch with business partners, get rid of instant messaging or disable it when you are focusing on important tasks. You might miss it at first, but when you see how much time eliminating this and other distractions creates, you’ll be glad you decided to go for it.
8. Plan every day at the beginning of that day. Give yourself 30 minutes to plan, first thing in the morning. It may take some time to build this habit, but it will help you make better use of the time available to you.
Finally, remember to take some time out for yourself every day. Do something you enjoy, and give yourself time to relax. As a wise person once said, 20% of your activities, thoughts, and conversations ultimately produce 80% of your results. Whether those results are positive or negative is completely up to you.
Debbie Phillips provides business and entrepreneurship advice at SqueezedBooks.com. Visit for information on Five Dysfunctions of a Team summary, Paradox Choice Summary and more.
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