Developing Time Management Skills

When life gets busy, things tend to pile up especially fast.

Time management is not about having all of those things done; it’s about having enough time for what matters most to you. Time man-agement is really “personal management” and it is a skill necessary for achieving better quality of life. By managing your time in a more efficient way, not only you will get the right things done, but you’ll also have enough time to relax, de-stress and breathe more freely.

• Know your personal style and Achilles’ heels. Identify those areas that are pain points for you. Are you a procrastinator? Are you scattered in your approach? Do you write things down but then forget where you put the list? Know where you need to focus your attention and what you need to change in your approach. “Know thyself” is an important first step to making effective change happen.
• Make a to-do list and prioritize. Identify your values. What’s most important to you? Then look at what needs to be done and create a priority item list, putting things in order of their importance.
• Focus each day on your top three first. Take time at the end of each day for the next day, or before you start a new day to identify your top three items. Move the top three priorities to the top of the list and keep only those in front of you. Keep bringing yourself back to the top three throughout your day as your attention gets pulled in other directions. focus first on those three most important things – the rest will hopefully fall into place.
• Break the to-do list down into smaller steps. Once you know your Top 3 priorities, create a more detailed list of what you need to do. Most people’s to-do lists have BIG to-do’s that need to be broken in-to smaller pieces in order to be doable. It’s easier to make – and see – progress with many small things rather than one large overwhelming one.
• Have a place for everything and everything in its place. Vow to stop being scattered. Create your own system and put things where you know you can find them. Disorganized space often leads to a dis-organized mind, and both will hinder your progress toward the most important matters and goals in your life.
• Be mindful of your time. Sure, Facebook and Instagram are great fun, but watch your time care-fully. The more time you spend online, the more difficult it will become to get back to your typically not-so-fun daily priorities.
• Effective time management can not only help you find more hours in a day and get an adequate night’s rest by reducing your stress and anxiety levels, it