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1. Ten ways to take back your time!
I've divided my tips into two sections - 5 ways to
manage your time and 5 ways to take back your
time. Both offer daily or regular practices to try
out in your life right now.
The first section focuses more on easing the time
pressures in your life, to deal with all of the
things you've gotten yourself into ;)
The second section focuses on making overall
changes to your life. When you take back your
time you also take back your CHOICE. When we're
feeling time pressured and stressed out it's easy
to forget that we have any say in the matter.
And we do!
5 WAYS TO MANAGE YOUR TIME
1. Choose specific times to look at email
during the day - seeing emails as they come
in can really distract you from what you're
trying to accomplish and you'll end up losing
time as you go back and forth between activities.
2. The 15-minute strategy. This not only
helps motivate you by breaking down large jobs
into smaller pieces, it also makes good use
of your time. The strategy is to spend 15-minutes
on a task and then move on the next. You can
come back to the first one as many times as
you need to until it's done.
3. Find a system that works for you for
making and meeting deadlines and appointments
- a calendar or day-timer. I use a Palm Pilot
and have been really happy with it.
4. Plan and cook meals ahead of time. A
huge time-saver and also makes it much easier
to eat healthier. It could be as simple as cooking
an extra portion of dinner and having it for
lunch the next day, or you could plan out seven
days at a time (which is what I do).
5. Keep up with things - whether it's tidying
up your papers, doing the dishes or working
on a report, doing things a bit at a time (see
tip #2) instead of letting them pile up to the
point of taking you all day, is much more manageable.
5 WAYS TO TAKE BACK YOUR TIME
1. Set and keep your boundaries - if you
work for someone else, be clear about over-time
and taking work home with you. If you work for
yourself, establish the times of day that are
no-work zones; good places to start are breaks
for meals and deciding when you will start and
stop work for the day.
2. Make one day a week "timeless"
- rise and shine when you feel like it, eat
when you're hungry and let your inner child
(or your actual child!) plan your day's activities.
Warning: This may conflict with the tip below
;)
3. Cut your t.v. time - try limiting it
to one hour per day. Or try cutting it out completely
for one week.
4. Buddy up and find someone to take back
time with. Whether it's your spouse, best friend,
family member or work colleague, if you're both
committed you won't let each other bow out.
5. Take your holidays! Whether you're self-employed
or work for someone else it's important to take
time off to rejuvenate. You will be more productive
for it in the long run.
Where do you need to take back time in your life?
Where do you need to manage your time better?
2. Setting up your schedule for success
Would you describe yourself as extremely busy? Do
you often feel tired and stressed out? Sometimes
our ambition is our worst enemy. Many of us with
big goals try to do way too much. We spread
ourselves a mile wide and an inch deep. We are
involved in many different things, but aren't
excelling at any one thing. Beware of mediocrity.
Most of us want greatness. If that describes you,
then you must prioritize your endeavors and adjust
your schedule accordingly. Assess your current
schedule. Make a list of everything in your life
that takes time. This includes school, work,
extracurricular activities, sleeping, eating,
studying, exercising, talking on the phone,
hanging out with friends, chores, bathing, etc.
List EVERYTHING. Then note how many hours per week
you need for each item to do it well. Add up the
hours. While there are only 168 hours in a week,
many of us need two or three times that to
accommodate our schedule. This is where stress and
mediocrity come from. Make your list again, but
this time, find a way to limit yourself to 168
hours. There are only two ways to do this: reduce
the number of weekly hours per item, or reduce the
number of items. I recommend the latter. Cutting
activities you enjoy out of your life can be
painful, but it's necessary.
Then, to work more efficiently, try some of the
following tips:
1. Make a daily to-do list. This will help
you organize your day and prevent you from forgetting
important tasks.
2. Prioritize your to-do items. Some tasks
are not as critical as others. Assign each task
an A, B or C rating. A items are important tasks
that must get done right away. B items are important,
but not as important as A items. C items are
things that need to get done at some point,
but there's no rush. Once you've assigned a
rating to each task, re-write your to-do list
with all the A items on top (in order of importance),
then the B and C items. Complete the A items
first. This may seem obvious, but think about
how many times you've put off an important (sometimes
unpleasant) task so you could call a friend,
clean your room or do something else that really
didn't need to happen at that time. Stick to
what's important.
3. Group similar activities together. Make
all your phone calls at once. Run all your errands
at once. Transitioning from one type of activity
to another takes time, so group like to-do items
together and complete them at the same time.
4. Overlap. Sometimes you can do two things
at once. For example, you can read while you
do the laundry. You can write a letter while
you're on the bus. Be careful about doing multiple
tasks if one of them requires your focus.
5. Identify and avoid time wasters. We all
have them. I like to check my email. Some people
like to take unnecessary naps. Some people look
for things to clean and organize as an excuse
not to work. See what you do that wastes your
time and stop doing it.
6. Identify and avoid distractions. My cat
likes to jump onto my lap when I work. Some
people work with music on, but then start singing.
Maybe your phone rings a lot and you always
answer. Eliminate these distractions when you
need to get stuff done.
7. Find a good place to work. See where
you're most productive and focused.
8. Organize your workspace.
9. Keep flat surfaces clean.
10.Use an effective filing system. Make
sure you know where everything is.
11.Take pit stops. Sometimes taking a 5
minute snack break or a 60-second breathing
break can re-energize you and improve your efficiency.
12.Do more during your most productive hours.
Some of us are morning people while others are
night owls. Work during your best time. Many
people think they must work harder to be successful.
In most cases, they just need to work smarter.
Take time to manage time. Otherwise, it will
manage you.
3. Balance work and family
20 years ago the average family had 2 children,
one parent who was the main income earner, and one
home maker. Generally speaking, the father went to
work and provided the income, and the mother
stayed home to perform the unpaid work of raising
the kids, doing the washing and making sure dinner
was on the table and ready to eat by 6.00pm sharp.
There was a definite equilibrium of balance.
Times sure have changed! Now days, it's almost a
unheard of that one parent works while the other
looks after the family. The average person working
9 to 5 seems like something from the Stone Age.
Employers demand more, and employees happily
oblige by increasing work loads and hours.
Typically main income earner will leave before the
kids wake up, and get home just in time to tuck
the kids into bed. The secondary money earner has
to fit managing the household and working
part-time. Quite a challenge that most families
face.
So how do you balance between Work Life and Family
Life? There are two key factors that will help you
create the balance that's right for your family.
1. Set Goals
If you don't have any goals, how will you know
where you are going? Like a sail boat on the ocean
you have to have a direct and a port to sail to.
What are you aspiring to achieve? More than your
career goals and aspirations, what about your
personal life? Time with family, travel, vacations
or maybe starting you own business. Write them
down and then answer some simple questions.
a) What are your goals in relation to your career
and family?
b) How would you ideally like to live your day,
week, month, year?
2. Set a Timetable
Time Management is vital to succeeding in
balancing your life. Once you have written down
your goals, create a 24 hour timetable broken down
into half hourly increments. Map out your day the
way it is now. For example, 6.30 wake, shower and
change; 7.00 breakfast; 7.30 out the door.
Once you've accomplish this task try and identify
pockets of time that can be used in areas that
have been defined in your goal setting - like
helping with your children's homework, spending
time with your spouse, time out by yourself etc.
This may seem tedious, but you would be surprised
at how much time you will find to work on your
goals, and start creating and living the balanced
life you desire.
There is more to life than just working, and
paying the bills. Know how you spend your time and
you will gain the benefit of improved
relationships with your loved ones and yourself.
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