Twenty Steps to Successful Time Management

It has been a very eye opening past couple weeks honing my skills in managing time. I have had the most profound improvements through following this exact quote for quote list which I found at my University's library. Given the busy schedule of every life, time management is so very important. Staying on task, focusing on what is next, and ensuring that one remains organized to complete daily tasks. There will certainly be times when one’s day does not run according to plan. But it is imperative to try to get back to efficient time management of one’s day. This will allow an individual to still have time to relax, reflect on the day, and dream of tomorrow’s promises.

1. Clarify your objectives. Put them in writing. Then set your priorities. Make sure you’re getting what you really want out of life.

2. Focus on objectives, not activities. Your most important activities are those that help you accomplish your objectives.

3. Set at least one major objective each day and achieve it.

4. Record a time log periodically to analyze how you use your time, and keep bad time habits out of your life.

5. Analyze everything you do in terms of your objectives. Find out what you do, when you do it, why you do it. Ask yourself what would happen if you didn’t do it. If the answer is nothing, stop doing it.

6. Eliminate at least one time waster from your life each week.

7. Plan your time. Write out a plan for each week. Ask yourself what you hope to accomplish by the end of the week and what you will need to do to achieve those results.

8. Make a to-do list every day. Be sure it includes your daily objectives, priorities, and time estimates, not just random activities.

9. Schedule your time every day to make sure you accomplish the most important things first. Be sure to leave room for the unexpected and for interruptions. But remember that things that are scheduled have a better chance of working out than things that are unscheduled.

10. Make sure that the first hour of your workday is productive.

11. Set time limits for every task you undertake.

12. Take the time to do it right the first time. You won’t have to waste time doing it over.

13. Eliminate recurring crises from your life. Find out why things keep going wrong. Learn to pro-act instead of react.

14. Institute a quiet hour in your day — a block of uninterrupted time for your most important tasks.

15. Develop the habit of finishing what you start. Don’t jump from one thing to another, leaving a string of unfinished tasks behind you.

16. Conquer procrastination. Learn to do it now.

Being a procrastinator can be detrimental to your quality of work and is something that needs to be overcome if you are trying to be a pro at time management. (Pitrola, 2017) Waiting until the last minute to start a project, or task is the wrong mentality to hold when it comes to managing your time more wisely. Learn to start tasks well in advance. When a task is given you should start working on it immediately instead of putting it off and planning to do it later when there might not be enough time to accomplish it.

17. Make better time management a daily habit. Set your objectives, clarify your priorities, and plan and schedule your time. Do first things first. Resist your impulses to do unscheduled tasks. Review your activities.

18. Never spend time on less important things when you could be spending it on more important things.

19. Take time for yourself — time to dream, time to relax, time to live.

20. Develop a personal philosophy of time — what time means to you and how time relates to your life. (Douglass, 1986, pg. 271)

Douglass, M. E. (n.d.). Manage your time, manage your work, manage yourself. New york: AMACOM.

The Exploration of Time Management — Medium. (n.d.). Retrieved October 01, 2017, from https://medium.com/the-exploration-of-time-managment