Do you ever find yourself wishing there were more hours in the day? Is overtime becoming the norm for you? Do you wish you had more time to spend doing the things that you really want to do?
Most likely you answered yes to one or more of these questions and feel like you are not really where you want to be in life. Maybe work is not going how you would like. Or you could be feeling guilty because you are not spending enough time at home with your family.
However, don't worry just yet. There is a solution to this problem and it is far easier than you might think. It only takes a few small adjustments in the way you use your time to change your life forever. This is not only about managing your time effectively, it can change your life fundamentally and for the better.
This time management article shows you the importance of managing yourself
There are 24 hours in the day. This is something that will not change and we can do nothing about it. While you may not be able to control this, you can manage yourself. Once you realize this you have taken the first step towards effective time management. You must look at the things that are important to you in life and devote your time to these. Everything else should be eliminated from your life.
Managing your time effectively will bring about some dramatic improvements in your life, but you must be prepared to make some fundamental changes. Because of this, you need to take one step at a time. If you bite off more than you can chew at the beginning there is a chance you may fail.
Time management article helping you to know yourself
To take the first step in effective time management you need to know yourself. As we grow older it is easy to lose track of the things that really matter to us in life. It is amazing that we can let this happen to us, but it happens all too easily.
Therefore, the first thing you need to do before you even begin to manage your time is to get in touch with what you really want from life. This is where you find your vision. Remember a time earlier in your life when you felt anything was possible. How did you envisage your life at that time? This could help you to get in touch with your vision. It is likely that some of your priorities will have changed since then, but many will have remained the same.
Think about how you would like your life to be at home and at your work. Also consider your potential and what you think you can really achieve in life. This is your vision.
Where are you now?
If you followed the steps above you should be able to picture your ideal life accurately. The next step is tricky. I want you to compare this vision of your ideal life to your life as it really is now. For most people, the difference between the two can be quite daunting.
Don't worry if this is the case as bridging the gap between your ideal reality and your life now is much easier than you would expect. You may think of effective time management as a tool that will help you to get you to meetings on time. Not so. Effective time management is much more about you and how you choose to spend your time.
Living your life and spending your time the way you want to will involve a few changes - some big, some small. An example of a minor change would be eating healthier. Quitting your job and starting a business, that is a big change. There is a big difference between the two, but both goals are attainable. You need to examine how you spend your time each day and make the necessary changes to achieve your goals.
Planning your day.
You should start by picking two things you want to achieve, one big and one small. Once you have chosen, you should decide on one small step you can take towards achieving each of these tomorrow. If you can complete the one step towards achieving each goal then you have made an excellent start.
This is just one very small step on the way to effective time management but should show you that if you go at your own pace that it is far from impossible. However, you must be much more meticulous in planning your days so that you complete everything you need to do while only spending time on the things that really matter to you.
Many people go through life satisfied with status qua, stomping ants, handling the routine, not reaching their God-given potential. Others make Hippos fly, reaching their potential, accomplishing something major. Which type of person do you want to be?
The two major components of time management are practice and purpose. The practice component refers to what you do with the minutes of your day. The purpose component refers to finding and knowing your purpose in life. When you manage your time, the minutes of your life, and it falls in alignment with your purpose of your life, you have a fantastic chain reaction. This alignment can enable you to accomplish your tasks more effectively, to reach your goals more quickly, and to give you a greater sense of peace.
Quiet Time
God gave each of us a brain and a soul, but many of us don’t make time to exercise it. I begin each day with a cup of coffee on my front porch. I watch the sun rise, pray, and ask God for direction for this day. I think about my goals and projects, and I listen for new ideas. I then head off to my office to begin work. Every person must make time to think. Schedule an appointment with yourself, close yourself off, and don’t allow interruptions. You will be amazed how clear your life’s purpose as well as the quality of your life will become.
Create A Hippo Goal
The best way to accomplish a major goal is to break it down into smaller pieces. The old saying, "How do you eat an elephant?. . .One bite at a time." The same is true with major goals. For example, when I wrote my first book, I broke the writing down into smaller pieces. I got up an hour early each day and wrote approximately 250 words. At the end of the week, I had completed a chapter. At the end of the month, I had completed four chapters.
I continued on until I completed the book. This process can be applied to almost any major undertaking. Focusing on the smaller parts makes any task much easier and keeps motivation high. When you reach goals, reward yourself.
Greg’s Ten Tips
1. Prioritize. Feeling overwhelmed by all you have to do? Stop and Think--which item must be completed today? This does not include items you’d like to get done today, but only the item(s) that must be completed today. A friend woke up at three in the morning feeling overwhelmed by the many tasks for the coming week and was worried that she could not get it all done. In desperation, she asked herself, what has to be done by Monday afternoon? Tuesday afternoon? The result was she discovered she could indeed accomplish all of her deadlines for the week on schedule when she prioritized!
2. Be realistic. One way to set yourself up for a panic situation is to plan an unrealistic amount of work for one day or one week. Use your common sense to recognize when you have over-scheduled yourself. Enthusiasm is wonderful, but it doesn’t add more hours to the day.
3. Delegate. A person who refuses to delegate will very likely be a very busy and frustrated person. For anyone to personally handle every item is unnecessary and unwise. One very successful regional manager readily attributed part of his success to the fact that he trusted his administrative assistant to handle routine items that did not require his personal decision. This left him free to concentrate on working with sales personnel outside the office.
4. Work Efficiently. For example, make sure your electronic calendar does not cost you time. People who love electronics will shake their heads no at this idea. But sometimes it can take longer to enter and maintain information in a gadget than to jot it down with a pencil in an old-fashioned paper planner.
5. Organize Meetings Wisely. According to a Wall Street Journal survey, meetings account for the greatest amount of unproductive time--topping telephone calls, paperwork and travel. With a little preparation, meetings can be transformed into productive assemblies helping you and your group steam toward, instead of away from, their goals. The key ingredient for a good meeting is preparation. Ask yourself--Is this meeting really necessary? Can the information be presented best another way? If there is still a need for a meeting, plan it well.
6. Learn to Say No! Many people have a tough time saying no. They allow themselves to become members of every committee even ones that are outside their particular talent or spiritual gift. I once knew a man in my church that dedicated his life to youth. He was the pastor’s dream come true. He organized youth trips and retreats. He was always at the church. He taught Sunday school for the youth and they were being led to the Lord. We were all shocked when we learned his wife asked for a separation. She was upset because he spent all his time with the youth and very little with his family. People, who can’t say no, quickly discover their life is out of balance; it is being pulled in the opposite direction. No matter how important the obligation maybe, do not allow your family priorities to suffer.
7. Destroy the Paper Monster. The best guideline for paperwork is to either file it or toss it. We never use 80% of the paperwork we keep. Paper, magazines and other forms create clutter and confusion, which could turn into stress.
Another principle for paperwork is handle it now. Spend 20 seconds filing that important paper now rather than 30 minutes searching for it later. Take a moment to jot down that phone number on your permanent list instead of spending ten minutes tracking it down again later. A third rule for paperwork is organize it. Use colored folders to prioritize your work; colors allow you to see at a glance, which jobs, need your immediate attention. Sub-divide files for greater efficiency. An administrative assistant, tired of rifling through the thick folders left by the previous employee, took time to sub-divide each large file into smaller, separate files. The time saved was worth the time invested in the task and the compliments from the boss who recognized the ease of use of the reorganized files was an unexpected bonus.
8. Manage Mail. Answer E-mail immediately. Don’t read it and then let it pile up in your in-box; keep your in-box clutter free. Create a "keeper" folder and transfer the mail you want to retain. Create another folder for "actions pending." Respect other people’s time and avoid forwarding all those stories people love to send you. Delete junk E-mail without reading it and use your filters to eliminate spam. Sort regular mail next to a trashcan. Handle it once-open it or throw it away. Don’t stop doing the important things in your life to sort mail.
9. Make Lists. Making a list can be a legitimate time manager. Keep a pad handy to jot down projects as they arise, items that come to mind to do later, and even phone calls you need to make. At the end of the day or week, whichever is best for you, mark off the items handled. Then, make a fresh list and prioritize the remaining items. This shouldn’t take but a few minutes each day or a little longer if done once a week. Using this process can help you avoid that familiar sinking feeling when you realize you forgot something important and also help you feel on top of things on a daily basis while freeing your mind to concentrate on the job at hand.
10. Allow Time for Fun and Surprises. Don’t carry time management to the point of where everything in your life is plotted, calculated, and placed on a calendar. Allow some spontaneity and fun in your life. I know a manager who decided to invite everyone over to her office for ice cream floats. This was a lot of fun and created a very positive work environment. I know another company that provides their employees 22 tons of M&M’s to eat each year. Every now and then do something nice for someone totally unexpected. Call someone up and tell him or her how much you appreciate them.
Time Management Quotes
This is where a time plan comes in. You need to have a very clear idea of what needs to be done, how long it will take, and when it is going to be done. If it is your first time using a time plan you may want to keep a time log for a week or two first. With a time log you write down in detail how you spend your time. Do this for a few days and you will get a clear idea of how you spend your days and how long various tasks take you. When you know how long each task will take, you can plan your day much more accurately
Now you can move onto looking more closely at the things you need to do each day and deciding how to handle them. For this you will need the four Ds of self-management. These are:
* Do it - Get it done, the sooner the better. * Delegate it - This task doesn't suit you, get someone else to do it. * Dump it - Not important. Forget about it. * Defer it - Something for the 'to do' pile. Come back to it later.
You should be able to file any task that arises in your average day under one of the four Ds.
Time wasters
Now let's look at time wasters. Time wasters can destroy any attempt at effective time management if they are not identified and eliminated. The biggest problem is that they are often very hard to identify because they can be very trivial.
These are some time wasters to watch out for:
* Lack of or poor planning - File things properly, write down appointments, that kind of thing. Basically, you need to be organized to use your time effectively.
* Procrastination - Many people keep deferring things when they are best done immediately. Don't fall into this trap.
* Not delegating - You can't do it all yourself. Do the things that you are good at and enjoy. Someone else can do the rest.
* Interruptions - Set up your workspace so that there are no distractions that will disrupt your work flow.
These and other time wasters are probably eating into your time, so try to identify them and get rid of them.
Hopefully, this will help you get started in managing your time more effectively. Breaking old habits isn't easy so take the changes you need to make one step at a time. As you continue on the journey to effective time management you will find yourself more fulfilled and with more time on your hands for the things that matter to you.
The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.
- Albert Einstein
In the real world, nothing happens at the right place at the right time. It is the job of journalists and historians to correct that.
- Mark Twain
Clock watchers never seem to be having a good time.
- James Cash Penney
Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save.
- Will Rogers
I saw a bank that said "24 Hour Banking," but I don't have that much time.
- Steven Wright
Try not to have a good time... this is supposed to be educational.
- Charles M. Schulz
The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot.
- Michael Althsuler
It's not so much how busy you are, but why you are busy. The bee is praised. The mosquito is swatted.
- Mary O'Connor
The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot.
- Michael Althsuler
Never fight with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig enjoys it!
- General Abraham’s Pig Law
If you win the rat race, you’re still a rat.
- Lily Tomlin
Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils."
- Hector Louis Berlioz
Time is a great healer, but a poor beautician.
- Lucille S. Harper
I
Hi Success Seeker, 
