If you’ve ever struggled with time management, this blog post is for you. There are various reasons why it can be difficult for us to manage our time, and the items in this toolkit cover a wide range. Depending on your reason(s), you might reach for any number of them at a given time. Let’s see which ones speak to you at the moment!
1- Be mindful of how much time you spend on a task at once.
In other words, recognize when you’re spending more time on something than you need to be. If a task isn’t of high urgency or priority, it might not be best to spend hours on it right now when you have more pressing tasks on your to-do list. If you’re working on a rough draft of something rather than a final product, there’s no need to spend your day perfecting it. This tip is about considering 1) how much time the task at hand warrants, 2) how much time you’re able to give it right now, and 3) how many other tasks of greater importance and/or time sensitivity you’re juggling. Of course, as a disclaimer, if you do have ample time and just want to bang out a time-consuming project well in advance, by all means! It doesn’t have to cause a conflict unless or until it does, at which point you can change course.
2- Set a detailed schedule that includes time blocking.
It can even be helpful to include the everyday tasks that you’d normally overlook. For example, on an especially busy day, include your meals, shower, etc. into your schedule. Seeing it all laid out in front of you should help you stay on track. The key is to be realistic about how much time you need for each task. Maybe you have a creative task that will require a few hours of concentration. If you already know that, don’t short yourself time to work on it. As much as you don’t want to get carried away when you have other things on your plate, you also don’t want to interrupt yourself when you’re in a groove.
3- Organize your schedule in a way that makes sense for you.
My post Schedule for Success: Different Ways to Organize Your Schedule can help with this! It lays out several approaches and explains how each one can be useful. A key component of time management is staying organized. Why just throw together any old schedule when you can create a methodical one designed to work specifically for you and your circumstances/needs?
4- Set alarms as needed.
This may not apply to the tasks that you want to work on uninterruptedly (unless you’re worried about getting too carried away that you forget to eat, shower, etc.) but any tasks you need to stay on track with. Your time-blocked schedule should help you determine when to set alarms. As long as you don’t disregard or snooze the alarms, you’ll be right on track!
5- Limit distractions when working on something.
The easiest way to be behind schedule is to keep getting interrupted. Whether outside forces are distracting you, or these are distractions of your own making, try to get a handle on them. Put your phone on DND, go into a quiet room, etc. Do whatever you can to give the task at hand your undivided attention. Things will run so much more smoothly!
6- Don’t bombard yourself with too much at once.
Putting too much on your plate is an easy way to lose control of your time. It’s great to be ambitious, but when you find that time management is becoming nearly impossible as a result, it’s time to reassess. This doesn’t need to mean giving up on anything you want to accomplish. It just means spacing out your tasks to let yourself breathe.
7- Get ahead when you can.
It’s an amazing feeling to be on top of your to-do list. If you know you have a hectic week coming up, why not tackle whatever tasks you can in advance when things are less hectic? Not only will your future self will thank you for lightening the load, but your other endeavors will thank you for giving your future self more time and energy to work on them!
The bottom line…
Time management is a skillset that takes time (no pun intended) to master. However, with these tools, hopefully you’ll find it a little easier! May you make the most of the time you have!
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