Time Management For Success

We’ve all heard the lament, “I don’t have enough time!” We all get the same amount of hours in any day we live. It’s the time management that we discipline ourselves to live by that determines our level of success in business and life. Some time management strategies work well for your friends but may not be right for you. The key is to find a sytem that will work for you and make your life life more efficient and fulfillment.There are countless time management books and courses but most of us read them and then continue to live shotgun style. We make a mental list at the start of our day and then wonder why half of it is still undone at the end of the day. If we fail to plan, we plan to fail. It isn’t necessary to have a complex time management system. It can be as simple as a journal notebook that we record all the various goals and tasks that we crowd our brain with. Carrying all this around in our brains can make us feel tired and stressed.

Successful people always write their visions, goals and timelines. They have an accurate history recorded that shows them if they are hitting the mark that they aspire to.  Even lists that have chores crossed off can be a guiding time management tool. We can feel like we aren’t getting anywhere and yet we’re working all the time. We can check with our journal and see what we’re doing with our time. Maybe we need to find a way to delegate the trivial tasks so we can tackle the things we are best at that must be done.

What is true time management? There are some things that just aren’t worth our time. So when we make our list we should include everything that is urgent and mundane. If work requires more of our energy right now then it might be a good idea to hire someone to do our gardening or housework. The key time management strategy is to discern what is worthy of our time. Maybe everything on the list won’t get done today. The things that don’t get done can be moved to tomorrow’s list.

Maybe we’ll see from reviewing our journal at the end of the week that we spent valuable time watching television instead of taking care of important things that need to be done by us. It may seem like stress relief to sit and veg out but in reality we are adding to our stress level because thos urgent things left undone are rattling around in our head while we are trying to distract ourselves. The best stress buster is knowing that we are taking care of ourselves and our responsibilities.

Can we really do more in less time? Richard Koch, in his book, “The 80/20 Principle” says it is possible by finding the 20% of your time when you get 80% of the necessary tasks done. He approaches the time management challenge by going to the heart of the matter. He compares quality time with quantity time. By living a life that is filled what we really enjoy doing we feel more satisfied and productive.

Maybe it’s very important to you to pick up the kids from school and spend some time with them. This is an example of something that might not be productive at work but it is something that will make your heart glad, you will feel happy and then you will be able to get all the rest of the “must do’s” done feeling like you are truly living not just doing.

The stress and ineffectiveness we often feel in our day/week is because so much of what we do isn’t pointing in the direction of what we want to accomplish. This is why a journal is vital to help us navigate our lives. From time to time we all need to sit down with ourselves and evaluate what is working and what isn’t. If we’re crabby with our children or mate because we distracted with undone tasks it is defeating the purpose of what we say we want. Most of us are working to give ourselves and our families the kind of lifestyle that is comfortable and secure.

Time management tips include:
**Knowing why we’re doing something because this will help us to keep a healthy perspective on our activities.
**Plan to succeed and keep a roadmap of how you want to get “there” and the course you’ve taken so far.
**Make time a family event. Helping our children to be disciplined in how they use their time can be one of the      greatest  tools we give them.
**Don’t be afraid to delegate activities that drain you of valuable mental and physical energy.
**Get real with yourself; what is really important to you?

One smart businessman I know sat his family down one weekend and told them why he had impatient with them. He let them help him re-plan his day so he could have more time to spend quality time with them. The children all agreed to be ready for breakfast at a certain time so they could start their day off together. They also agreed to get most of their homework done before he got home from work so they could go do something fun, if only to take a walk together. The family sat down and made a chore schedule and made plans for a special event together each month. By doing this the whole family felt more connected and like they had some common goals  they could work on as a team.

We have one chance to do this life. If we are doing something we enjoy and we do it well it is going to make a difference in our mental happiness and quality of life. Knowing why we’re doing something gives us the feeling of purpose. When we are living according to our life purpose we feel gratified and energetic. Time management strategies simply empower us to run a steady course to accomplish what’s already in our hearts.