Time Management Tips That Work

24 hours in a day just isn’t enough. Not for sleep, eating, exercise, work, school, taking care of children and everything in between. By the time your head hits the pillow it seems like it’s only a few hours before you have to wake up and start all over again. How do we fit in a plethora of activities, errands and obligations when there is only so much time in a day? The following ideas will not only help you, but teach you a little bit about time management in such a dog eat dog world.

•  Make a list. This may seem like an obvious one but I don’t just mean a to-do list. Make a list for everything from grocery supplies, to homework assignments, to things that need to get done daily versus weekly and a list for short and long term goals. I write a new list daily to keep myself on track. I use notebooks, an iPod touch, a cell phone and my laptop for a means of organizing my work, social and academic life.
• You gotta get up early. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve told myself, I can stay up late to get that done. By the time ten o’clock rolls around all I can think about are my nice plush pillows caressing my head. It is so much easier to be productive in the morning because no matter how tired you are when you first open your eyes to when your feet hit the floor, it only gets better from there. At night your fatigue only increases so waking up early not only buys more time to complete tasks, but also allows for an earlier bedtime.
• Prepare ahead of time. This in particular saves me loads of time on a daily basis. Whatever you can prepare the day before to make the next that much easier, just do it. Pick out your outfit, make your lunch and make sure everything else you need to do is set out so that you don’t have to look for it all in the morning. Wasting time is counter productive.
• When it crosses your mind, get it done. In most cases when we remember that person we need to call, that gift we need to pick up or that the chicken needs to be thawed we are capable of doing it then and there. If not, the second that moment comes just get it done. Responsibilities, unfortunately, don’t take care of themselves and you’ll find you’ll stop forgetting and rushing to complete them when you go ahead and do them when they’re fresh in your mind. So pick up the phone, take a detour or pause the television the next time that thought runs through your mind.
• Be proactive! Last, but not least, having good time management has a lot to do with knowing how to cut back on activities that take more consumption than others. One way to do this is by doing things that don’t need to be done when there is time to do them. For instance, instead of spending an hour to clean my bathroom every week I spiff it up in different places every day. Instead of going grocery shopping three times a week I know ahead of time what I’m going to prepare so I only have to go once. When I know I have an insurmountable amount of homework I’ll do a little each day so I’m not cramming it all in the last minute.

While these suggestions may not buy back your life they will at least help to make things less stressful. Life is short. Follow these simple rules and find more time to enjoy your life.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

• Cheating Death: Five Modern-Day Miracles
• Mother Nature Shows Her Fury
• Facebook: More Than Just a Social Network
• U.S. Athletes Bring Home the Gold
• Meet the Pilots of the Blue Angels