Easy Steps to Manage Your Time

Day in and day out we constantly state that we can't meet deadlines without stress, often we suffer restless nights with very little sleep. Some of us are great planners and have a schedule, some of us have no idea what we're doing, we just wake up to a 'post it' note knowing what we must to get done...but do we follow a schedule? Are you managing your time properly? As a single mother, my kids were 13 and 11 when I divorced. Even at their ages, life seemed so rushed and I always felt like I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off. Now looking back, I wonder how I did it, and my kids could move about themselves. Getting them in the car and off to where we needed to be was a task, nonetheless, I see women and men (some single parents, like myself) with small children and infants and I wonder "How do they do it?" Wow do I give them credit! 

 Regardless of how you go about it, managing your time is crucial both in business and professionally. When you have a plan, whether it be at home from taking kids to school, going for a manicure, grocery shopping, picking up dry cleaning, going back to school to pick up the kids, getting home to make dinner, doing homework, cleaning the house (because that didn't get done that morning with the busy schedule) and then baths, and going to bed, ONLY to start tomorrow the same way....you need to be organized or things will get skipped and my friend, you will BURN OUT! Without a plan, imagine how business would be run? deadlines would not be met, board meeting would be missed, etc. There are many ways we can manage our time. I have listed some strategies you can use to manage your time in a better and more efficient manner. They are noted below.

1. Always define your goals as clearly as possible.

Do you find you are not doing what you want to do just because your goals have not been set properly yet?

One of the factors which make successful and happy people stand out is their ability to work out what they want to achieve and have written goals which they can review them constantly. Your long term goals should impact on your daily activities and be included on your "to do" list. Without a goal or objective people tend to just drift off personally and professionally. Don't be one of those people! Make it matter!

2. Analyze your use of time.

Are you spending enough time on the projects which although may not be urgent now but are things that you need to do to develop yourself or your career? If you are constantly asking yourself “What can I do to make things easier for me right now?" it will help you to focus on 'important tasks' and stop reacting to tasks which seem urgent (or pleasant to do) but carry no importance towards your goals.Try getting and using a personal calendar, setting reminders on your computer, cell phone or personal organizer. This works...but, some people just don't take the time to do this. If you are one of these people, try it. It may not seem to be working right away but after a few weeks or even a month, your life and your time will seem a lot less hectic!

3. Have a plan.

How can you achieve your goals without a plan? I don’t even think that is possible. Most people know what they want but have no plan to achieve it except by sheer hard work. What’s the point in doing hard work when you don’t know how to apply it? Your yearly plan should be reviewed daily and reset as your achievements are met. Successful people make lists constantly. It enables them to stay on top of priorities and enable them to remain flexible to changing priorities. This should be done for both personal and business goals. I never realized how important this was to plan ahead until I started my own businesses and after a few years sought out assistance in growing them and taking them to a new level. Now I have a road map that shows me how things "should" go if I follow my plan.

4. Action plan analysis.

Problems will always happen when you set a plan. Such is life...so ALWAYS have a back up plan! The value of a good plan is to identify them early and seek out solutions immediately. Good time management enables you to measure the progress towards your goals because "What you can measure, you can control". Always try to be proactive in the achievement of successfully managing your time. Time management is not a hard subject to understand, but unless you are committed to building better time management techniques into your daily routine you'll only achieve partial (or no) results and end up right back where you started. You have to commit to managing your time better and remember to include time for yourself. The lesson that you need to learn is that the more time we spend planning our time and activities the more time we will have for those activities. By setting goals, eliminating time wasters and doing this everyday, you may find you will have extra time in the week to spend on those people and activities most important to you. We can't stop time as hard as we try...so make every minute count!

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