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Use Your Time Effectively and Accomplish More!

Guest post by: Dave Ferguson

Article Overview: We are all one big habit. From the time we get up in the morning to the way we treat people. Each of us has the choice to be one big bad habit or one big effective and thriving habit. If you chose the latter having Time Management skills are a must. Unfortunately Time Management is a skill many of us seem to learn and use only through necessity. When we use Time Management from a reactive standpoint, usually bad habits creep in and we end up not using the skill to its full potential.

Use Your Time Effectively and Accomplish More!

We are all one big habit. From the time we get up in the morning to the way we treat people. Each of us has the choice to be one big bad habit or one big effective and thriving habit. If you chose the latter having Time Management skills are a must. Unfortunately Time Management is a skill many of us seem to learn and use only through necessity.

When we use Time Management from a reactive standpoint, usually bad habits creep in and we end up not using the skill to its full potential. Help is here! If you adopt the proactive habits I’m giving you today, you should be able to accomplish the following:

· Elimination of Procrastination

· Quicker evaluation of your work

· Being more productive

Increasing your free time (remember what that was?)

There have been many books written on this subject, but I have found it healthy to use the one’s I share with you today:

1. Make “to-do” lists and complete the tasks on the list, by priority. Rate each item on the list by giving it a priority number. If you mix business and personal items, code them and prioritize them separately. If you’re doing the right things you’re being more effective.

2. Make “not to-do” lists and don’t ever do anything on this list. I call these things clutter. It’s all the stuff that we have the habit of doing that does absolutely nothing for anyone. Watching TV is one of my favorite “not to-do’s” that I like to pick on. I mean, does it really matter who is the next American Idol or who wins Dancing with the Stars? Is that person going to help you with your business or personal life? I seriously doubt it.

3. Use downtime for minor planning and you can save you time in the long run. Some people say always be selling, I say always be planning. Work on your game plan whenever you have downtime.

4. Reward yourself when you really deserve it. Not just because you worked a long day. If you’ve set goals that stretch you and you’ve accomplished one, that would be the time to reward yourself. Personally, I like mint chocolate chip ice cream when I accomplish a goal.

5. Concentrate on one task at a time and chances are you’ll complete more of your tasks. Today, we brag about multi-tasking like it’s really effective. Most times is usually efficient and not effective. Do the right things, don’t do stuff right! Get really good at one thing before you pile on something else.

6. Avoid procrastination at all costs. This is a tough one, I know. Someone wise once told me, don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today. If it’s something you don’t enjoy doing, rather than putting it off, get it out of the way first so you can enjoy the other tasks.

7. Set personal deadlines that hold you accountable. If necessary have an accountability buddy, or hire a coach, this is what we are best at.

8. Delegate, delegate, delegate if you can. If you can’t, git r dun!

9. Use a “time-blocking” system and your life will be much easier and effective. Block out time in your schedule for specific tasks and don’t let anything get in the way during those times.

10. Be a team player and win! At work get others involved with this process and time manage as a team. At home, get your family involved. It’s a “win, win” for everyone.

11. Use long term planning for long-term success. “If you’re failing to plan, you’re planning to fail.”

12. Don’t burn out. Get the proper sleep, eat right, exercise, take vacations or long weekends, volunteer somewhere, etc. Having balance in your life is critical. If you don’t have it sooner or later you’ll be in critical (burn out) condition.

If you can become skilled in Time Management and Planning you stand to gain more from everyday life. Now who doesn’t want that?

Have a great week.

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Article Tags: bad habits, business, having time, organization, planning, success, team player, time management skills



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Books that should be written - [quote:1m0dcpd7]"The Idiots Guide To Sticking With One Thing At A Time and Not Doing Something New All The Time" [/quote:1m0dcpd7] I myself am a 'constructive' procrastinator... I don't know if I'm alone in this. I have about six or seven projects I'm working on at any given time. I get one project almost done... then my interest is piqued by another project and I work on that... I get burnt out and move to another...I know I do this so I have it arranged such that once I get bored or burnt out with one project, I can step right back into project 1 - or 2 or 3, and get that a little bit more done before moving on to something else. As long as you're organized and know where all your reference material/idea sheets are when you're ready to get back to work on each project, it should be fine. I also find that by stepping away from a project - I still work on it in the recesses of my mind so that when I go back to it - it's with some good ideas that I wouldn't have had if I'd continued on with it originally. Maybe I should write a book on how to Procrastinate Constructively... I've actually thought about doing that...because most people procrastinate, don't they...and very few are ever able to stop.


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