If you always find yourself late for work, school, or an appointment - or you often fail to complete your tasks - then you need to learn to improve your time management skills.
This is not so difficult, although it may seem so at first. Breaking habits can be difficult; But if you stick to your diet for at least 21 days, you have a good chance of developing a new habit: one that ensures that you are always on time.
Learn how to manage your time better by using these simple tips below. Follow these tips and you will be able to make procrastination a thing of the past:
1. Schedule your day. If you want to learn to improve your time management skills, you need to set a solid time for the day. Do not get out of bed thinking that you will just wing it, as it often wastes a lot of time. It would be best to schedule and plan your tasks at night, as your subconscious mind will help process their fulfillment at bedtime.
2. Make a check list. If you are running out of deadlines, you need to make a list organized by priority. It helps keep you on track and even encourages you to do more and more quickly. There is nothing like a list to motivate you to do your work and keep you under pressure.
3. Make everything faster. I know this sounds like something your irrational boss would say, but doing things fast is a fairly valid way to manage your time effectively. Cooking breakfast, for example, can be done much faster if you have prepared a meal the night before. If the fuel in your tank stops refueling on the way to work from your home, working can become even faster.
4. Stop wasting time. Even spending time for just five minutes is pointless. Not taking shortcuts is also a waste of time. If you want to learn to improve your time management skills, you need to cut back on activities that are not work related. It is okay to chat with your colleagues; But perhaps you need to cut down on that too, especially if you have a deadline to meet.
5. Learn Multi-Task. Multi-tasking is not always appropriate, especially if the tasks you are doing require your full concentration. In small tasks, though, I'm sure you can do more than one thing at a time. Want some examples? What about reading a book waiting for the food you are cooking to boil? Cleaning your room while talking to your parents is another way you can multi-task. And perhaps one of the best multi-tasking activities you can do is to listen to motivational CDs while driving your car.
6. Evaluate where you are. List the ways that you spend your time. Being conscious of what you do rather than what you do can make it easier to keep yourself on the right track and stop yourself if you start wandering. • Some common ways to turn things off can be television, surfing the web, email, shopping outings with no real purpose, and more. After knowing your habits, you will have the ability to put them at ease.
7. Make goals for managing your time. The purpose of learning to manage your time is to actually change your habits and create new, better habits. A good way to start is to eliminate your personal time-disasters. Therefore, see the list of personal time-disasters that you have compiled and set yourself some goals. For example, you can say that for a week you will not take a personal phone call while working.
8. Priority. Start each day by prioritizing your tasks for that day. Evaluate each task and decide for each of them whether you really need to complete them.
9. Just start. You may also find it difficult to start a big task. If so, just start and do something to start the work. Once you get going you can establish some speed after which it usually gets better. It seems more logical to get work right now. It will be less painful over time and you will not worry about how to complete tasks for days and days.
Try to set an agenda in which you make 10% every day or treat yourself when you meet a specific amount. Again and again you will find that once you have started, it becomes less challenging than you expected. The initial phase always seems to be the most difficult.
10. Improve your mindset. Instead of thinking that you don't want to do the task, try to think how good you will feel when the task is done.
• Try to add a great positive feeling to the idea of the task being completed. This will inspire you to finish it.
• Likewise an attempt to relate discomfort to the idea of finishing at the last moment or late. If you are late feel it. What are the effects?
11. Set time limits for tasks. Some tasks can take up most of your day if you allow them. For example, reading and answering emails so instead set a limit for this task and for each of your daily tasks and stick to your deadline.
12. Chart your progress. Look back every day to see how well you are progressing to help you see what you did and what you have accomplished.
13. Learn to say no. If you don't want to say no, you will never learn to manage work time. Only you really know what time you have, so if you need to decline a request to pay attention to more important tasks, don't hesitate to do so. And if you take on a project that clearly isn't going anywhere, don't be afraid to let it go.
Instead of performing too many tasks that give little or no value, completing fewer tasks that produce more value. Remember the 80/20 rule - 80% of your output comes from 20% of your input. Concentrate your efforts accordingly. If you can't say no, delegate it. While delegate learning can be a difficult skill, it can work wonders for your personal time management. You have put together a talented team, so schedule tasks that you can pass.
14. Use an online calendar. The calendar has long been a fundamental tool for time management. However, online calendars have taken it to the next level. This is because you can access it from multiple devices, easily schedule meetings and appointments, set reminders, create time blocks, and schedule recurring events. Personally, I use Google Calendar. I think this is the best but Outlook and Apple Calendar also work well.
15. Do Less. Doing less does not mean "less is more." It means "less is better." It is achieved by slowing down, being aware of what needs to be done and focusing only on those things. Once you do, count every action. As a result you will be creating more value rather than just fodder.
The conclusion
Keeping things close does not need to be a constant habit for you. Pay attention to how good you feel when the task is done. These above tips above make the perfect point to better manage your time. If you are able to prevent stress-induced, motivated you to do something based on adrenaline, then you will start giving up a greater control over your time and experience more fulfillment in your life, so what are you waiting for? Have been getting started straight away!