Time Management Is Really Life Management

Time is one of life’s most valuable possessions, as it is
something you can never get back. Subsequently, one of
the most essential life skills to master is time
management. After all, time management is really life
management. Learning how to make every day count for
something is the objective. But it takes ridding your life
of procrastination and a great deal of self-discipline.
Mastering time management does more than just
increase productivity. It can yield important health
benefits as well. When time is managed wisely, it
minimizes stress and improves the overall quality of
your life.
If you often find yourself run down by your daily
workload or overwhelmed by the complexity of projects
and tasks in your life, it is likely because you have not
fully mastered effective time management. As the day
flies by, you realize you’re behind, or you are on
schedule only because you haven’t put forth your best
effort in hopes of completion.
Related: Busy Is the Enemy of Productive. Which Are
You?
Nothing great ever transcends from haste. Cutting
corners will eventually catch up to you, and as with
anything, quality always beats quantity.
Lay the foundation for effectively managing
your time.
Delegating the appropriate amount of time to get
adequate sleep, maintain a healthy diet and exercising
regularly are all essential elements to improve both
focus and concentration. Making the time to create a
healthy lifestyle will help improve your efficiency
throughout the day, allowing for more time to complete
other tasks.
Identify and evaluate how you are currently
spending your time.
If you drive to work, how do you pass the time during
your commute? If you take a bus or train, how do you
spend all those hours a week? How many audiobooks or
language tapes could you have completed while in traffic
last month? How many books could you read on the
train while getting to and from work the next few weeks?
These are the best times throughout your day to
incorporate all those little things that you “wished” you
had time for. Over time, these habits become a lifestyle,
and you will find yourself well ahead of the pack.
Say no to nonessential tasks and prioritize
the ones of extreme value.
Consider your goals and look at your schedule before
agreeing to take on more work. If a task is time
consuming but not necessarily important to the main
goal, pass it off or add it to the bottom of the list.
Related: Don't Squash Your Big Goals for the Year by
Squandering Time
Dedicate time blocks and limit distractions.
Everyone has a place where they work the most
effectively. Some people love to have music in their
earbuds, while others need complete silence. Some
people can work just as efficiently from their dining table
as they can in a library cubicle. Wherever that place is,
utilize it. Turn the television off, silence the cell phone,
put away the tablet and dedicate complete focus to the
task at hand. No responding to texts, no browsing the
web.
When you operate your life in a healthy, organized
fashion, and are able to execute daily tasks efficiently,
stress is reduced, productivity increases and overall
satisfaction manifests.
Never hesitate to take a break if needed.
Everyone gets worn out from time to time and piling on
more and more tasks leads to stress that will simply
derail you from the mission at hand. Take a walk, go to
the gym, get some fresh air or take that sick day you’ve
been holding out on. Sometimes all we need is a
moment of clarity and solitude to clear our overworked
minds and recharge our bodies to give us that next big
push.