Business-Personal-Coaching.com

The Inspiring Catalyst ~ Be The Best You Can Be!

Good Time Management Skills

If you struggle to find time for all the things you want to do then you need to develop good time management skills? Do you wish you could spend less time working and more time with your family? Do you find that you don't have time for the things that matter to you?

If you do it is okay as most of us feel like this on a regular basis. There is a big chance that your work is consuming much more of your time than you want it to. Or you feel that you just do not have the time to achieve your goals in life.

Do not fret, your worries could soon be over. There is a solution to your problems. It only takes a few small adjustments in the way you use your time to change your life forever. Not only will this help you manage your time more effectively, it can help you to achieve the things you really want to in life.

Good time management skills mean learning to manage yourself

Each day has only 24 hours. This is something that you have to accept because it will not change. Time can not be changed, but the way you approach it can. Once you realize this you have taken the first step towards effective time management. You have to identify the things in life that truly matter to you - this is where you should spend your time. Forget about everything else.

It is important to point out at this stage that making the changes necessary to manage your time effectively can mean making some fundamental changes in your lifestyle. However, there is no need to rush, you can make the necessary changes at your own pace. Trying to make big changes at the beginning might be too much for you, so start with small steps.

Good time management skills require you to understand yourself well.

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 difficult to identify where and when this happens, but it inevitably does.

So before you can really begin to look at your time management you need to figure out what you want out of life. When you discover this you have discovered your vision. Remember a time earlier in your life when you felt anything was possible. How did your dream life look then, what did you really want in your heart? Your dreams and goals at this time may help you get in touch with your vision. Your vision now may not exactly match what you wanted then, but it will probably be close.

You should also think about how you would like your life to be both in terms of your professional life and your personal life. Also consider your potential and what you think you can really achieve in life. We will call this your vision.

Planning your day.

So have a think about your goals and as an experiment pick two that you want to achieve, one small and one big. Now you need to think of one thing you can do towards achieving these goals that you can fit into tomorrow's schedule. If you can do this, and complete those steps then you are on the way.

In truth, there is much more to it than this but this will show you that it is far from impossible and can be very rewarding. Now you need to make sure that everything you do each day is taking you towards your goals, and that you plan in such a way that you complete all of the tasks you need to do each day.

This is why you need a clear time plan for every day. 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. To help you in this it is useful to keep a time log for a week or two before beginning to plan your time in detail. A time log is a detailed record of how you spend your time each day. 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. Then you can really plan your days accurately.

Time wasters

And let's not forget time wasters. These are basically the things that eat into your time unnecessarily and are arguably the single greatest barrier to effective time management. 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 - If you keep putting things off you will miss all the best opportunities in life.

* 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 workflow.

Try to identify the time wasters that are holding you back and eliminate them from your life.

The 4 Ds of time management

To truly manage your time effectively you have to look at the tasks that need doing and decide how to handle them. So let me introduce you to the four Ds of self-management. Which are:

* Do it - This can not wait and needs to be taken care of now. * Delegate it - Not the best use of your time. Pass it on to someone else. * Dump it - Not important. Forget about it. * Defer it - Something for the 'to do' pile. Come back to it later.

When you plan your day, and even during the day, you should be able to file all the things that need doing under one of the four Ds.

These are just some of the basics of effective time management. 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.

Copyright © 2000-2008 Wendy Hearn
Midsummer Court, 314 Midsummer Boulevard, Central Milton Keynes, MK9 2UB United Kingdom Phone UK 0845 299 0690 Fax 01908 357898