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Five Essential Tools That Make Time Management Easy
Many people find themselves feeling frustrated with their day. Successful people will tell you that part of their
success is due to great time management skills. The more a person can get done in a day, the more successful they
will be. The key to this fact is that you must get more done, without actually feeling the repercussions of doing
more. By using time management skills, you will be doing more, but you won't feel stressed, out of balance,
overwhelmed, unsatisfied, or unprepared. Use these five essential tools that make time management easy to get your
life back on track for good.
Get Organized
Getting organized is the first step in the time management process. It is the lengthiest step for many, so be sure
to get it out of the way first. Getting organized might mean different things to different people. If you often
find yourself sitting at a desk swamped with papers that fly around the room every time you begin searching for
something, then you need to start with your workspace. Cleaning and organizing your workspace is very important for
time management. Develop your own system of storing and filing that works best for you. If it makes sense to you,
then you will be more likely to stick with it. Clear everything off of your workspace except for things you use
daily. Keep everything else in drawers or bins under your desk. Once you are clear of the clutter, you will be able
to move on to other time management skills.
Prioritize
A time management expert would tell you that when prioritizing your day, you should keep in mind that a good part
of your day should involve important matters, but not urgent matters. By using the other time management skills,
there will be very few urgent matters in your daily schedule to worry about, so this should be no problem. To
figure out what is important for the day, take fifteen minutes at the start of each day, or at the end of the day
before, and make lists of tasks that need to be worked on that day. You can either number them by importance or
group them by what must be finished that day and what should be started that day, but can be finished another day.
Carry this list with you at all times. You may be able to make a few phone calls while in the car pool line at your
child's school.
Tools of the Trade
Having proper time management tools is essential for great time management. Use what you feel most comfortable
with. If you love your calendar, then do not feel pressured to switch to a new computerized handheld device. If you
are thrilled with your Palm Pilot, use it like it is oxygen. Whether you carry a calendar or a hand held device, be
sure to keep them in a medium sized planner you can always carry with you. Keep paper, a pen, and business cards in
the planner as well.
Working Ahead
Allow time in your schedule for working ahead on upcoming projects. This may be difficult to do, but you may find
yourself less stressed if you attempt to work ahead instead of sitting down for four hours of television watching a
night. Although you don't have to try this every single day, you may want to try it at least three nights a week,
or on a weekend night. It may be difficult at first because you may be trying to catch up with your new schedule,
but once everything get rolling, it will be easy for you to work ahead.
Schedule Wisely
When you are scheduling errands or appointments, do so in a logical manner. If you need to be on one side of your
city, try to do all weekly errands that are located on that side of the city all in one day. This will keep you
from wasting travel time. If you group your projects by location, you will save a bundle of time. You may need to
figure this into your prioritizing, so make sure location weighs in on your lists as well. Try different approaches
until you find the best one.
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