Do you race against the clock? Miss deadlines? Show up late for meetings? Work nights and weekends because you simply can’t get it all done on time?
If you run a business or work independently got a lot to do. Your time is precious. And although you “should” be very time efficient, many business owners, executives and self-employed professionals struggle with time management. It’s hard to do everything that needs to be done and get it done on time.
If your time management could use some improving, here are 14 simple steps that can help:
1. MAKE A COMMITMENT Getting your time under control requires letting go of old habits and patterns that don't work for you and incorporating new ones that do. But, change usually doesn't happen overnight. So if you're serious about managing your time, you'll need to understand that time management is a process and make a commitment to it.
2. CHANGE THE PARADIGM In order to master time management you'll have to start thinking differently about time and how you relate to it. If you think about time as something you can't control instead start thinking about it as a tool that can help you.
3. IDENTIFY TIME WASTERS Most people who struggle with time management tend to get caught up in activities that waste time. If this sounds familiar, make a list of the things you do that are time wasters. Then post your list prominently near your desk, and honor your time by not wasting it.
4. SET GOALS & PRIORITIES:
In order to manage our time, we need to assess what we really want to do with it. Think big picture: What are you trying to achieve? What are your goals? What are the most important things you have to accomplish? What is the best use of your time? Write them down in order of priority.
5. UNDERSTAND YOUR STRENGTHS Before you can get your time under control, you'll need to understand your strengths and clarify what you're really good at. It's usually easier and faster to do things we're good at so we'll need less time to accomplish more.
It also helps to recognize the things that don't come easily for you and what you don't like doing. It's harder and more time consuming to do these things, so you may want to allow more time to accomplish them or have others do them for you (see step #9).
6. DETERMINE WHAT YOUR TIME IS WORTH Many business people, especially entrepreneurs tend to think that they can do everything themselves. I'll admit there are times that this line of thinking is useful, but most often it gets you into real trouble. If you want to improve time management, figure out what your time is really worth, and make sure that you're only spending your time doing things that need to be done by YOU.
7. INVENTORY WHAT'S AVAILABLE Before you can manage your time you have to recognize what time is really available. The perception many people have is that they have "all the time in the world". This simply isn’t so. One thing that helps is to set regular business hours. This allows you to see how many hours you actually have available and helps you to set some healthy boundaries between work and personal time.
8. PINPOINT WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE AND BY WHEN You can’t manage your time until you know exactly what needs to be done and by when. Now, many of us have to-do lists; but often these lists are full of things that really don’t help us reach our goals or aren’t priorities. They just clutter up our to-do lists and our minds. Get really clear on what needs to be done, by when, and you’ll know exactly what you’ll have to spend your time on.
9. DELEGATE AND OUTSOURCE Many business owners, executives and professionals feel that in order to get it done right they have to do it all themselves. This isn't really practical, and often makes it almost impossible to manage time successfully. It also makes it harder to make money. Look at your list of things that need to be done from the above step. Establish a selection criteria by considering experience, position, expertise, rate of pay and personal likes and dislikes so you can decide what you'll do and what you'll delegate or outsource.
10. GET REAL OK, you’ve come this far - don’t trip yourself up now! Probably the biggest time management trap is underestimating how much time things really take. So I’m going to ask you to start thinking and acting differently here. Be painfully honest. To do this, you may have to double or triple the amount of time you think things will take. You may also have to keep track of how much time you’re actually spending on a given task.
It may take some practice before you really get a handle on this one, but once you do you’ll see that time becomes a lot more manageable.
11. DEVISE A STRATEGY TO GET THINGS DONE Unfortunately, even if you follow all 9 steps above, you won’t be completely in charge of your time unless you develop and implement a strategy to get things done. One strategy that has worked well for many of my clients is to schedule "focused work periods" which are really appointments (with yourself) to get specific things accomplished.
Of course, in order for this to work you must keep these appointments and eliminate distractions so that you can focus and use your time efficiently. For most of us, that means letting voice mail pick up the phone, turning off the internet and email, and letting others know you won’t be available during that time.
12. WORK BACKWARDS FROM A DEADLINE Another way to help manage time is to work backwards from a deadline and make sure that you've taken into consideration all of the steps necessary to accomplish it. Then, allow yourself an ample cushion in case anything takes longer than expected.
13. JUST DO IT!
Undergoing any type of change is hard and trying to manage your time is no different. At some point, you just have to let yourself do it. Start doing things now and stop procrastinating! It really does get easier each time you do.
14. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT Once you've put these steps into place, don't stop there! Like most things in life, time management is a work in process. So it makes sense that the last step to keep doing it. Refine it. Check in with yourself and see what's working and what's not. Make changes as necessary until it start to come naturally for you. When it does, you will truly reap the rewards
To learn more about this author, visit Susan Martin's Website.
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