Thursday 10 May 2012

Effective Time Management Ideas


If you really want to reach your goals and become a high achiever in your chosen endeavour, you need effective time management skills. Whether it be in sport or business this skill is essential, so I have devised up a list of proven tactics that you utilise in order to get the most out of your work day.
The first is to have a daily plan of action. This is basically a simple list of tasks that you need to carry out to reach a certain objective. For example, at night I will write up a list of 5 tasks that I want to achieve the next day. Now naturally there is a certain amount of discipline involved. Just having a list doesn't mean you will automatically do everything that needs to be done, but statistics show you're more likely to have a productive day if you plan it out in advance.
Procrastination is another massive time waster, and the problem is that almost everyone does it to some degree. Procrastination is basically when you put off things that you really should be focusing on right now, usually in favour of doing something that is more enjoyable or that you're more comfortable doing.
One of the best ways to overcome this is to get someone to check up on your progress. Yep, Peer pressure works! It has proven to be a highly effective tactic with professional self-help groups all around the world.
Other strategies would be to break up your project into smaller more manageable tasks. Start with smaller tasks first and when you feel your achieving something, move onto a more important task. This will stop you getting overwhelmed, which will in return avoid procrastination.
Another effective way to manage your time is to create an Activity log. Activity logs are to help you to analyse how you actually spend your time. If you go to mindtools.com you can download an Activity log template. Basically every time you change activities, whether it be checking emails, going to lunch or just gossiping with work colleagues, you would log it down. You would be surprised at the end of the day, how much time you have wasted. The goal is to learn from it, use it as a wake up call and slowly try to change your habits.
Well thats a few time management tips in a nut shell. As much as you may not want too, if you put some of these methods in practice you will see some respectable results.



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