Time management is a way of self-improvement. To me it is building one’s own self, raising your standards and turning your interest into desire. This can be done by having a clear vision for your life, then implementing your vision into reality. In addition, time management is the proper use of your time. A time not well managed can never be recovered, but a time well managed results to productivity. Like the saying goes “time is money”. Even with the money if you don’t have time to spend it, the money becomes useless. Time is inevitable to man.
It’s never an easy job when it comes to time management. Many of us fall into the trap of procrastination; ‘‘I will do it later in the day, oh I will do it tomorrow or oh there’s still time I will do it.’’ I call procrastination, Killers of Progress. The more time you delay, the more the work load and the more effort you put in to get it done. Managing your time to be more productive can be done through the following steps I do follow:
PLANNING AND SETTING GOALS FOR THE DAY
To manage your time and have a productive day, you need to plan your day. The biggest time waste is not having to plan your day or week. A day without a plan makes you find yourself attached to anything that comes your way either productive or not. For instance, we wake up to football news from last night champion’s league match or the weekend matches and then we get into discussions with other people arguing about footballers or matches that does not affect us directly in any way. We waste our time analysing footballers, coaches, football matches, channelling our energy into the wrong thing.
If you stopped and asked yourself why you got involved into such discussions, you would probably discover there is no reason at all. It is just a waste of time. Because the people you are talking about don’t even know you exist and they are making their money.
Why don’t you channel such energy for discussions like that into what will make you productive and become a star people will talk about.
Setting goals for both your private and work life, knowing what you want, should be done constantly and taking proper note of them will help you become productive.
TIME YOURSELF
Timing yourself on each activity you take like exercise, watching television, social media activities on your phone, will help you manage your time better.
SET MEANINGFUL OBJECTIVES
Writing down a list of tasks, categorising them into stages of how important and urgent they are, helps you manage your time and safe you from unnecessary stress. This makes you feel more balanced because you are attending to your objectives based on how urgent and meaningful they are.
TIME YOURSELF CAREFULLY AND KEEP TO YOUR OBJECTIVES
Spend time on things that matter most. Keep your objectives in mind and ask if what you are doing at any moment is bringing you closer to your goals. Make a plan, but it is important to be flexible. Do you do your best work in the early morning or later in the evening? Create a schedule that fits your needs.
In conclusion, it is easy to procrastinate and find ways to distract yourself but always put it in mind that you have a goal for yourself. If you do not feel like doing your scheduled workout, just start by at least committing some minutes. You may find comfort, progress and satisfaction by simply starting a task, you will feel better about the progress you are making. So if you are thinking about putting off a task, just don't. Change your behaviour first, by starting, and then the feeling of accomplishing what you started will be in you.
