We all have the same 24 hours a day, 168 hours a week, 744 hours a month (31 day month), and 8760 hours a year. It’s what we do with that time that makes us successful at reaching our goals and dreams. Here are five tips to help you with time management so that you can be more successful each day.
1. Take 30 minutes each morning in a quiet place to plan out your day, week and month. Reflecting upon what needs to get done is important. Rushing off on your day without a plan will not benefit you or make you feel accomplished at the end of the day.
2. When planning your day write out all the things you need to do on one list. If it’s business or personal does not matter. Create a master list.
3. Take your list you have created and prioritize the list. For things that must get done today mark them with an (asterisk or star) *1, *2, *3 and so on. Things that need to get done but aren’t as urgent mark with A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2 and so on. Your focus needs to be the items with an * first then all the A’s, then B’s and so forth. Prioritizing your list in this manner assures that you will get the things that will move you forward with your goals done first and then the smaller items done as you have time.
4. Take a few moments to plan your week and month. It is best to take your list and put things down that you can actual get to in that day. Some days you may have more meetings and the time needed to accomplish tasks are limited so when looking at your week or month you can schedule these tasks around other major items going on in your life.
5. Personal priorities need to be scheduled also. If you want to lose weight then you need to put in your calendar time to go to the gym or take that walk. To be sure that your family is getting what they need from you schedule in date night or family night and learn to be present 100% while with those individuals. Don’t be on your phone checking emails or social media when you are spending time with others.
These tips appear simple but sticking to them on a regular basis is the real trick. Develop a habit of success by taking a few moments each day to give your schedule some real thought. Writing down what needs to be done has shown that you will accomplish more by knowing what you need to take care of each day or week. When you keep it in your head you will miss something of importance that you could of scheduled over several days, weeks or months and it becomes urgent because you didn’t allocate the proper time to that item and now you have only a few days to get it done.
Set yourself up for success by being respectful of your time and others. Those of you that use the dot-grid, bullet style journals can plan out your year at a glance, your month, your week and your day in your own creative way and in a manner that works best for you. See our products to view journal options for managing your time.
Blessings!