Control your time and be productive
Time management activities can quickly and effectively boost your
time management skills , reduce inner and outer stress and increase your productivity by amazing amounts. The main cause of stress for many is feeling that there are not enough hours in the day.
Managing your time can help you create highly productive spurts that come closer and closer together, until your day goes by like an action packed adventure and you can really relax and kick back later, feeling that you have got all your bases covered.
If you are pulled in different directions all day with competing priorities, and it seems like no matter what you do at the end of they day there are still tasks left undone, don’t be embarrassed. We live in an age of severe over-achievement and multitasking has become the catchall phrase. You aren’t alone in your frustration!
According to life management specialist Stephen Covey, time management activities can put you on the track to a more successful, enjoyable daily life. Whether you are a professor, a student, a businessman, a manager or a housewife, you can benefit from learning how to properly manage your time.
First, lets look at how you can spend your time more effectively. Logging your activities for 3-7 days can help you collect data on what you do and when, and locate the times of day when you are most productive. Many people get 80% of their work done during just 20% of their day. Isolating and identifying that 20% can help you dramatically improve your work to time ratio.
Next, start being proactive. Instead of waiting for an email asking about a project or a phone call to remind you of a deadline to kick start you into high gear, get a jump start on the future workload by working on stuff that’s due next week – just for half an hour a day. When next week comes, imagine how amazing it will be to be 2 ½ hours ahead!
Reduce stress . What hangs over your shoulder and distracts you from getting stuff done? Write your worry down on a piece of paper and read it back. Ask yourself if you can do anything about it RIGHT NOW. If not, put the piece of paper in a drawer and imagine the actual problem being locked in the drawer too. Take the piece of paper out only when your important stuff is done, and then start thinking about how to resolve it.
Make time for priorities. Not work priorities – YOU priorities! Family time, ‘you’ time, down time. If you burn the candle at both ends too long, all you have is a stub left with non flame or passion. You have to recharge your batteries on a regular basis and shutting off the ‘multitasking option’ is the best way to do that.
Once you’ve learned to put the zip back in your day, you can extend your newfound energy and extra time to getting more stuff done – and maybe take that vacation you always wanted to. Time management activities like these can take you to a high level of productivity that will amaze everyone around you!