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Time Management Activities: Find Forgotten Time
There are many great time management activities that you can do and apply in your life in order to get a better
handle on the time that seems to slip through your fingers each day. We live in a world that moves at the speed of
light. With drive thru banking, dining, and dry cleaning it is a true mystery that we still find the time to always
seem to lack the time. This is where many of the time management activities come in handy. They help you identify
the time vacuums in your life.
In case you are wondering, we all have time vacuums; some of us are simply better at ignoring them than others. My
time vacuum is my wonderful little mind. I am so terribly easy to distract. For this reason the most effective time
management activities for me are those that keep me on task and on target. While I am at it, I also must keep
instant messengers turned off, the phone ringer turned off, and distractions to a minimum. About the only things I
can manage to successfully tune out is the sound of cartoons in the background. Otherwise no music or movies for me
while I'm working or I will get swept up and carried away.
Other time management activities that seem to work wonders for me are those that hold me accountable for completing
the tasks I have at hand. While a paycheck is often a good motivation on the other end of things, checking that
task of my list is a personal and immediate moment of gratification that keeps me in check. For this reason, I
always have a list of things that need to be done on my desk. As I finish one project and move on to the next I get
to mark that spot of my list. There is not only a feeling of accomplishment in this process but also a sense of
moving on to the next project or taking a giant step forward. While my time management activities may not work for
everyone, they have certainly worked will with me whenever I implement them.
When used correctly, time management activities will help you not only manage your time more effectively but also
to identify some problem areas you may not have realized existed. Many people find that email becomes a distracting
nuisance for wasting time throughout the day. One way to avoid this is to eliminate notification programs and check
your email at certain times only. The best time to check email would be immediately before and after breaks and or
lunch in addition to first thing in the morning and the last thing you do in the afternoon. This prevents you from
interrupting your flow of work in order to answer a trivial email and it helps prevent you from experiencing that
slow down in your day (that interruptions bring) when you simply aren't as productive anymore.
When seeking the perfect time management activity for your needs it helps if you know where your primary weaknesses
are when it comes to effectively managing your time. Are you disorganized, easily distracted, bored, or
preoccupied? These things can all add up to time management disasters if you allow them to do so. The good news is
that there are appropriate time management activities for each of these problems if you are willing to do the work
involved. The right time management activities can save countless hours in your work week, numerous days in a
month, and countless weeks over the course of your lifetime that are much better when enjoyed rather than simply
lost along the way.
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