Posts Tagged ‘time management’

Time Management Basics

Friday, May 29th, 2009

Optimizing Your Time and Keep Yourself Sane!

The best way to make full use of your time is to prioritize the goals you first need to achieve. Most of the time, we feel that we have too many things to do and too many requirements to fulfill.  When we feel overwhelmed, we often just give up and choose to do nothing as an alternative. Instead, we sulk and complain about the load of work we have. Mind you, complaining is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, airing out our feelings can be very healthy. There’s a fine line, however, between constantly complaining and blowing off steam. Yes, we do need to let out our emotions every so often. But when we use this excuse to delay work, then we are simply wasting our precious time.

Remember when your parents told you that you can never turn time back? Growing up, I personally thought that this was such a cliché. Yes, we could never take time back. So what? Big deal! Only when I had responsibilities of my own did I realize what this statement really meant. Finally, I caught on with the wisdom of the adults. Knowing that I had too many things to do with too little time did I come to discover just how precious each moment is. The more time we waste, the more our tasks will pile up. If we keep putting off things for tomorrow, we might end up with responsibilities up to our necks. By then, what do we actually do? There’s this word in Spanish that some people use. The act of putting things off is called the mañana habit. By definition, this Spanish word simply means tomorrow. Having to constantly convince ourselves that we can do things tomorrow is a type of habit that everyone should get rid of.

How exactly do we allot the time for each and every responsibility? How do we achieve everything while still having time for ourselves? Like everything important in our lives, it starts with a list. When we have a list, we are able to see the bigger picture. Then, you need to set your personal and business goals. Below each goal are the steps we must undertake to get to the end.

Once the list is made, put the piece of paper on a wall. Make sure that you constantly glimpse this portion of the wall. Life places so many demands on each of us. When we don’t look at the list, we will definitely forget about it in our attempt to meet each new demand. Oftentimes, we often forget to take care of ourselves. We work ourselves to the bone, until we become exhausted.

It is therefore important to optimize our time simply because we have to take care of ourselves. We need time with our loved ones and we need some place to recuperate from all the stress. The only way to do this is when we know that we don’t leave anything half done. Celebrate life and do it now! This is only possible when we get to grasp the importance of time.

It’s only through management of our time that we can literally “make” time for ourselves. Without this time, we won’t be able to make those self improvement changes that we strive for.

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Create and Enjoy Spare Time for Yourself

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

“What is spare time?”, you ask as you lurch from one task to another.

With the very busy world that we live in, it’s often hard to squeeze in some quality time for ourselves. Some people work hard and don’t get enough rest for months at a time. If you look at statistics, the number of breakdowns experienced by people continues to increase. Why? It’s simply because people have forgotten to take care of themselves. They work and take care of their duties thinking that they don’t need a break. They find that finishing a task is more imperative than giving themselves a moment’s breather. They continue to trudge through life, until one day, they simply collapse and lose control.

I’m all for hard work and determination. Success can only be attained if these two traits are present. But we also need to know when to say that enough is enough. Our minds need to rest, or else it can fail us when we most need it. In fact, universities recommend that students study ahead of time. Last minute cramming can lead to lack of sleep. On the day of the test, many of these students have had total mental blackouts, instances wherein everything they read about and studied for just leaves their mind. Everything has simply flown out the window, and everything they’ve worked for has become moot.

If there’s one way to enjoy life, it’s knowing the importance of rest. We do need to fulfill all our responsibilities. But we also need to learn how to enjoy life and bask in its unique moments, lest we forget what we’re really here for. We are all blessed with friends and family. If we don’t give ourselves enough time to spend with them, then we may as well watch all our relationships crumble. No one wants this to happen to them. While many do go on vacations with their loved ones, they also take their work with them. This simply isn’t quality time.

So, how do we actually get to enjoy our spare time? Here are a few tips to follow:

  • Inform everyone at work so that they will know not to bother you.
  • Finish what needs to be done and keep the pending items safe in a drawer.
  • Write down what you need to work on when you get back.
  • Know that your friends, family and loved ones are just as important as your work.
  • Give yourself time to reflect on your life and work out ways in which you can balance everything.
  • Keep yourself surrounded with friends during your spare time to lessen the chances of thinking about your responsibilities.
  • Learn how to organize your life.
  • Learn to ask for help when you have difficulty sorting something out.

The most important thing to know here is that we’re not alone. We have people we can count on, as long as we also know when to help a person in need. Your friends are there to help you rejuvenate your soul and keep you from breaking down. Life just seems less tough when you have someone to lean on. Remember, as we enjoy our spare time, we need not feel guilty. We simply are enjoying life and we are giving ourselves a chance to recharge and bring back the enthusiasm we have for work.

Good luck. Read the rest of my blog (in your spare time!!!)

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How to Deal with Stress on Busy Days

Monday, May 11th, 2009

Managing Stress on Busy Days

Feeling like a lead weight is on your shoulders is probably a very common feeling. With the busy lives we lead, we can’t help but feel that there aren’t enough hours during the day, as if the 24 hours that were allotted to us weren’t enough to cover all our priorities.

We can all honestly say though that the overwhelming feeling of having too many things to do is, at some point, our own doing.

When it comes to work, you have to ask yourselves if it’s all worth it. If your efforts bring a promise of triumph, then by all means, push yourself forward. Giving up is probably one of the biggest mistakes you can ever make when you strive to win. Every trial surpassed is a step closer to your goal.

Now, if you’ve made up your mind about going forward and overcoming all the hurdles, here are a few helpful tips that will make your mission easier:

1. Focus on what needs to be done – with the amount of work you still have to do, you need to know which elements are your priorities. Lower priority tasks can be rescheduled while you concentrate on the higher priority tasks.

2. Break down your schedule and allot a reasonable amount of time for each of the tasks – this applies more to the smaller tasks. While you cannot let go of and forget about the trivial matters, you only need to give a fraction of the overall time completing the less important chores.

3. Eliminate clutter – if you find yourself working in a chaotic environment, you will soon see that you also become less productive. Clutter distracts your mind, and if you need to clear the space before starting anything, then by all means, do so. In the end, you can concentrate better and finish your work faster.

4. Set goals – without goals, you simply drift through life like a fish that follows the current of the sea. Goals give you the adrenaline that you need to complete what needs to be done. Attaining your objectives will make you happy, and one way to get to this happy place is by working towards it.

5. Focus – make sure that you set up a corner in your house where there are fewer distractions. Don’t give in to temptation and position your work station beside the television. Be strong, be firm, even with yourself.

6. Know when to pamper yourself – spoil yourself and give yourself small rewards. The gratifying portion of your day does not have to be elaborate. In fact, a simple neck message or a cup of herbal tea will do.

7. Ask for help – know that even the heroes in movies needed help at some point. For us normal people, we would most likely need it even more. Seek the advice of friends and know that you can also delegate tasks to the people in your life.

If you continue to stress about everything, your health is bound to fail. It’s not a choice between your job and health. It’s simply a matter of balance, in knowing when to say no and let go. If the amount of work reaches the point wherein your health and relationships are affected, then maybe it’s high time to do sit down and consider rethinking what you’re doing.

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Time Management Brings Happiness

Friday, May 1st, 2009

The Big Benefit of Time Management or What Makes The Effort of Time Management Worth the Bother.

Exercising time management requires–you guessed it–time.  It seems a bit of a paradox, doesn’t it?  In order to develop effective time management skill, you must take more time out of your busy schedule that already contains more tasks than you have time to accomplish.  But the investment of time used to schedule your time will create more time available to you in the long run.

So if you’re already overwhelmed by your to do list, and you find yourself making excuses not to do what you know must be done, then you need some motivation.  You can find that motivation in the Big Benefit of Time Management.

And what might that big benefit of time management be, you ask?

Happiness!

Think about it for a moment.  Why is it that when you can’t seem to drag yourself out of bed at 7:00 to get to work by 8:00, you will jump out of bed with great enthusiasm on a weekend at 5:00 to spend a day in your favorite hobby or pasttime?  Because the leisure activity brings you joy.  You are motivated to get out of bed because you know the day will bring you happiness, as opposed to the workday that brings misery.

So, in order motivate yourself to exercise effective time management, you must use the carrot of the Big Benefit of Time Management rather than the stick your boss likely uses–increased productivity.  Remember, the more time you can free up, the more time you will have for your favorite activities.

To develop effective time management skill, begin with what motivates you.  Don’t worry about mundane tasks or activities that increase productivity, but rather think about the things you love to do.  Think about the things that drive you to try and earn more money so you have more money to spend on them.  Then make those things your priority, schedule them first, and schedule other things around them.

There are many places on the internet you can download a daily planner template or a free printable daily planner.  Don’t get too caught up in what tool to use.  A legal pad or wall calendar is enough for now.  The important thing is you get into the practice of planning your time and writing it down.

Let’s say the activity that brings you the most enjoyment is camping.  First, decide how many days this year you want to spend camping.  Then decide what times of year you want to use those days.  Now that you have the number of days and the season, take a look at the calendar and begin planning which days specifically you want to spend camping.  Block those days out on a calendar.

Now you must evaluate what you need to accomplish to be able to spend that time camping.  If you’re going to be gone for a week, what must you do prior to being able to be gone for that week?  Consider the “must do” items only, write them down, and then schedule the necessary time for those activities.

This is a simplified example, but you will notice how much more motivated you are to schedule other tasks when you first schedule your favorite activities.  You are motivated because there is a reward of the Big Benefit of Time Management – Happiness!

Tags: Motivation, Effective Time Management

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