We all individuals have a huge difference in name, fame, wealth, standard of living, etc. But what is the only common thing about life??? The simple answer is time since we all have only 24 hours in a day. The key ingredient for a successful life is effective time management. All the successful people on the earth have achieved so much because they have precisely used their time. The key difference that separates successful from unsuccessful is how they manage their time and utilize it very precisely. What matters the most is how we utilize the 24 hours that we all get in a day. Successful person spends his time on growth and development and flourishes themselves to become better whereas the unsuccessful waste their time on unwanted and unnecessary stuff. So, we have brought 10 significant ways to manage your time effectively…
Find out where you spend your entire time-
First and foremost thing is that we must figure out where we spend all our time throughout the day. To figure out your complete spending of time, you just note down whatever the things you do throughout the day whether it might be eating food, watching TV, using mobile phone, doing work, lazing around or anything it might be. Noting down will give you an idea of your current routine. This thing is really important because through this you can know where you’re wasting time and where you’re utilizing it.
Categorization of the work-
We all perform various activities throughout the day. You must categorize all these activities into 4 different parts according to its importance and urgency as show below
| Particulars | Important | Not important |
| Urgent | It can includes Submitting assignments with deadlines, completing projects, preparing for exams when tomorrow is exam, etc. | It can include any interruptions, phone calls, SMS, etc |
| Not urgent | It can include learning a new skill, self development, exercise, meditation, etc | It can include partying, trip, social media, gossips, T.V., gaming, etc. |
So divide your tasks into such category according to its importance and urgency and give priority for task to be done-
a. Task which has to done now-
The tasks which are important and urgent are to be done now. These kind of tasks are the one you must do it now itself. It can be doing projects which have deadlines, preparing for tomorrow’s exam, etc.
b. Task which needs planning-
The tasks which are really important from life’s point of view but there is no urgency are needed to be planned to do later when you are free.
c. Task which can be delegated or decided-
The tasks which are really urgent but not that important can be delegated to someone else or decision can be made to do it or not. These kinds of tasks are not productive but time consuming. So you must decide whether you should do it or skip it. Also if possible Delegate these tasks to other.
d. Task which has to be reduced-
The tasks which have least importance and urgency are to be totally reduced. These kind of tasks can waste your huge time and it has to eliminated mostly. It includes tasks like playing games, social media, gossiping, etc.
In this way, you must categorize and and find out the what is to be done with any task.
Make a proper schedule-
Scheduling is a key to control our actions and only give time to important work. Planning in advance your routine is really beneficial because you know that you have to perform all these tasks throughout the day. So, you will only have to follow the routine and you will get better at managing time. If you make your routine organized you will really get best results. Your routine must include a proper arrangement of your work throughout the day. Set your timing for tasks like work time eating, sleeping, reading books, refreshment time, etc.
If you are struggling with your routine, check out- how to reschedule your routine
Cut down all the distraction-
We live in an era with too many distractions around us. It might be social media, gaming, partying, and the list is big. Distractions are the biggest time wasters in everyone’s life. It reduces your productivity level. Find out all the triggers of your distraction and try to eliminate them one by one. If you want more tips to eliminate distractions, here are tips to overcome distractions.
Cutting down all your distractions will save hell a lot of time which can be used for being more productive.
Stop being a procrastinator-
Procrastination is the biggest enemy of time management. Many of us suffer from this problem. We keep on procrastinating things and we think we can do it later. It wastes our huge amount of time. Being a procrastinator is a huge problem. You have to stop the habit of procrastinating. Here are 11 ways to beat procrastination. You can easily tackle the problem of procrastination with these tips.
Work on Increasing your productivity-
Productivity is the key to time management. If you are a productive person, you will be able to manage time very effectively. So, try increasing your productivity. To increase your productivity check – 6 practical ways to increase your productivity.
Personally, I use the Pomodoro technique to increase my productivity. It is a really effective technique in which you have to work for 25 minutes and then take a break of 5 minutes. Repeat this for 4 sets and then take 25-30 minutes break and then repeat the same. To know more in depth, check- Pomodoro technique.
Accept the fact that no one is perfect-
Perfectionism is really a big problem. If you always try to be perfect then it is really a big issue. We all know very well that nothing can be perfect. If you will try to do things perfectly, you will find mistakes one by one and you will spend more time on it. Hence, being perfect means you have to give it a lot of time. Whatever you do there will be mistakes. So, it is okay to be imperfect and accept it. Don’t try to make it more and more perfect, it will only result in more time.
Reward yourself for accomplishment-
To maintain the Motivation for time management in the long term is really difficult. In the long run it is very difficult to follow or switch to any routine. We may feel bored after some time. So to motivate you from time to time, we must benefit yourself with rewards. Like you must reward yourself with chocolate for accomplishing the project. The reward system helps to build self discipline. Fix a reward for your targets if you fulfill within the time. Reward motivates us to do things quickly and be more manageable with time.
Practice the 80-20 rule-
80-20 Principe which is commonly known as Pareto principle states that your 80% of output is a result of your 20% of input. Many of us will find them busy throughout the day and they say that they don’t have much time. But there results seems to be little less. Why their result is so less? It is because they pretend that they are busy and doing the work that don’t give 80% of results but more efforts are put by them. So better find out the most important work to be done that will give you much results instead of focusing on work that don’t give much output. Just focus on that 20% important work and you will get 80% of the result. It is like Eat the biggest Frogg first i.e. do the most important task. This rule will really help in time management.
Taking breaks is okay-
It is not that you can work non-stop like hell. We are humans and we all go through tiredness, fatigue, burn out, headache, and many other issues. But what’s crucial is that we must take a break. Break helps us to feel good. You can do meditation, stretching out, exercise, go for a walk or a small nap as well. Many people feel like we should not take breaks but we are not machines. So be okay with taking breaks. Taking a break makes you feel better and fresh which will indeed increase your productivity.
Remember, reading this is useless if you don’t apply it practically. So, if you want to manage your time more effectively, start using these tips. If you have any query, comment below and let us know. We will surely reply you with a solution.