Seven Time Management Skills You Must Have

To Live The Kind Of Life You Deserve!

Why You Need Time Management Skills

Photo: Gürkan Kurt

Wise men advise that to be truly alive, one must never forget death. The value of time is best understood by one who has wasted plenty of it.

The poorly managed time leaves in its trail - plenty of stress, anxiety, frustrations, confusion, and lowered self esteem.

But, surely, you don't want to be in such a position. Time management skills can be learnt by anyone.

Good time management will give you –

• Increased productivity,
• Greater control over situations,
• Ability to take proactive action,
• A balanced life,
• More leisure time in your hands to do the things you love, and eventually,
• Contentment and happiness.

Which are those time management skills which, when applied, enable you to accomplish more with the optimum investment of energy?

You cannot accomplish everything; there are always so many things to do that it is not possible to do everything. The aim is to manage time so that you are able to do really important tasks, and not waste time on unimportant fillers, and time suckers.

Following is a list of seven essential time management skills that you may want to cultivate to live a productive and enriched life.

Seven Time Management Skills

1. Set Clear Goals: Your goals should be clearly articulated, and must not consist of vague and wishful thinking. No less important is you should set realistic goals within your personal time frame. The goals should be clearly defined and should be achievable. Apart from this, you should be sufficiently excited about them so that you are motivated to take actions to reach the goals. It is better to keep a journal where you have clearly written your goals. On monthly basis, write down the progress made in each goal. Instead of monthly you can make it weekly if the time span is short.

2. Write A Plan: Planning is the life blood of successful execution. Planning involves having a written plan of actions to reach a specific goal. You may face some inner resistance to write a plan, as it seems to be an activity which is not giving any immediate results. But, remember that without a proper plan you are trying to navigate in the dark, as you don't know the steps that are involved in reaching a goal. While planning, think carefully about each step that needs to be taken to accomplish a task. It will give you a fair idea of the cost of resources, and the risks and obstacles you can expect along the way.

3. Prioritize Your To Do List: Writing a to do list is a time management skill that will keep you on track. A to do list should be waiting for you when you start your day. A to do list consists of specific tasks that need to be accomplished during the day. Each task should consist of one action. Large tasks should be broken down into small tasks. It is quite likely that you may not be able to complete all the tasks during the day. At the end of the day, you should not find that most important tasks are staring back at you from the list, as you wasted your precious hours on tasks that could have been avoided. To avoid this allot priority marks to each task. Refer to the list at least twice during the day.

4. Delegate and Grow: There comes a stage when you realize that you are wasting your time in unproductive, yet essential tasks connected with your work or business. This is the right time to delegate. However, you should give a deep and long thought as to which tasks are the ones you would like to delegate. The tasks could be those you don't like much doing yourself. You may not like to delegate the tasks that directly bring in the money. Another point to remember for successful delegation is that you should be clear about which specific tasks or actions are being delegated. You should give clear instructions to avoid future inconvenience and wasted time.

5. Schedule and Gain Time: An essential time management skill, scheduling, consists of time estimating your plan. When you have prepared a plan, how will you know that you are keeping on track? It is scheduling that will help you stay on course. Your schedule need not be a holy book that cannot be changed. Often you will be called upon to revise and rewrite the schedule. But, it will definitely help you save a lot of time. As they say, 'Work expands so as to fill the time allocated to it.' If you schedule six tasks during the week, it is possible that you may be able to do only four. But, if you plan only two, then it is certain that you will complete a maximum of two!

6. Cope With Stress: Many unexpected situations will interrupt your plans. Many unforeseen problems may pop up that will demand your immediate attention. Friends may drop in, clients will call a meeting, or some other emergency will present itself, and you may feel that your plan is going haywire. Stress is such a thing you cannot avoid: better be prepared for it. Though it seem contradictory that you need time management skills to reduce stress, and stress management skills to manage time, but this is not so. You must have a stress coping strategy else you will always be firefighting and trying to deal with the emergencies. The least disturbance will get you sidetracked from your plans.

7. Productivity Tools And Devices: There are time management devices and gadgets that are very helpful in managing your time. It is not possible to remember everything; and writing on paper might not be very efficient. Some devices, like PDA devices, can increase your productivity manifolds. Then, there are softwares that can help you manage your time and efforts. They can help you in setting up reminders, chalking out plans, keeping a track of projects, resource allocation, and they can help you prepare and manage your to do lists. One such software, effective and easy to use, can be found here.Knowing how to make use of these devices and softwares will help you manage your time more effectively.

These are the essential time management skills that will help you do more with less and be and able to lead a more contented, balance and fulfilled life.

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Further Reading

The Importance Of Time Management

The Real Benefits Of Time Management

The Secret To Writing A To Do List That Gets Things Done

Reduce Stress Levels With 10 Practical Time Saving Tips

How Procrastination And Stress Might Be Holding You Back

Know Yourself To Overcome Procrastination And Stress!

Poor Stress And Time Management Symptoms

Reduce Stress by Minimizing Distractions

The Five Causes Of Procrastination

Survive A Stressful Work Environment Without Losing Your Sleep

Managing Job Stress Caused By High Expectations

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