Time Management Ideas You Can Use From Now

BECAUSE WE ALL HAVE 24 HOURS A DAY, only the way we use them and how we manage our time makes the difference between productive people and those whose 24 hours are not enough.

How do we make those 24 hours enough to move us toward our goals? How do we manage our time efficiently?

Here are some time management tips that have been helpful to me and that I have gathered below.

Working style

No matter how productive you are, you will not achieve everything you set out to do. And that's OK.
Don't manage time, manage actions. Focus on managing what you have to do and how to do it more efficiently. Not on scheduling working time.
Before you get organized, simplify and eliminate. Organizing techniques can help tremendously, but they will always be limited by the bad habits you maintain. First see what you have to eliminate, what you can simplify in terms of how you use your time. Apply the notions of minimalism to the way you organize yourself.
“NO”: The word in only two letters that will save your day. Learn to say no. Stop saying yes to every request you receive.
Order on the desk inspires order and clarity in the mind.
You can focus on what you have done so far or how much you still have to the ideal you want. The first will fill you with energy and satisfaction, the second will make you think about how far you are and how much work you have left. What do you choose?

Multi tasking means long-term inefficiency. Avoid it or eliminate it completely.
Work in time sequences dedicated to focused work and then followed by periods of relaxation. You can use Francesco Cirillo's Pomodoro technique, or Peter Drucker's 60-60-30 system.
If an associate or partner talks too much, shake their hand, thank them for coming, and tell them to keep in touch. To make sure he leaves, you lead him to the door. Kind and assertive.
The brain is not meant for memorization, but for solving problems and creativity. Write everything on paper, don't remember data. Except for the wife's birthday (if you're a man).
Set long-term goals and short-term tasks. Put an annual plan on paper and divide it into monthly and weekly plans. It is important that the annual plan is based on what is important to you, on your values. Then you take it all down to daily tasks that implement the annual plan step by step. Look at a higher level, then put the magnifying glass at a lower level. And you alternate between them. I detailed the system in the book.
Delegate tasks you are not good at. Fiverr can be an extremely useful tool and at more than reasonable prices. You will find people there who will make a logo for you, will fix your problems on the site, will do your research for the report, etc.
Work on your personal energy level, at least as much as you work on time management. The better your energy level, the more productive you become. I recommend the book "Be in shape" by Tony Schwartz.
Only one person can be responsible for a task. When there are several people in charge, usually no one is.
When you slow down, you move faster. Although it doesn't seem like it, if everything goes crazy, the best thing to do is slow down.
Let each day have a purpose: set a goal for the day.
In order to achieve your goals, you must first know where you are now. In other words, it's useless to have a map (the annual plan) and a road (those daily tasks we talked about above), if you don't know what your current situation is. That's why it's good to do a monthly review of the evolution of your goals.
Start the day by writing a to-do list. Or writing the tasks of the day in your diary. I prefer task lists, but both are good. The idea is that the first thing you do in the morning (or the night before) is to define the tasks of the day. Based on the weekly and monthly plan. Which must come automatically from the annual plan.
Set ambitious and realistic goals. Don't just choose "something" that is easy to do. Dream, dare to do more! But make sure they are tangible at the same time.

Behavioral Customs

Don't wait for the special conditions to start. Make a plan, let it go and improve the project on the fly.
And stay focused on the first step. It starts with the first stage, then the second and so on. Don't always think about how much more you have to do until the end goal. Do you remember the alternation between a bigger and a smaller magnifier, which we talked about above? Now you stay at the level of detail of the first step. Small steps lead to big results.
Failures lead to the greatest successes. If you learn from them and don't repeat them, obviously.
The more you know exactly what you want, the more likely you are to succeed.
Only one thing can have your maximum concentration at a time. When you have something important to do, just focus on that.
Worries lead to wasted energy.
Travel times can be your best friend. Use the moments when you move efficiently. For example, I listen to audio books while driving.
Movement impels movement. In other words, when you are already on the move, you move more easily. Do not waste momentum once gained.
Some people pick you up. Others pull you down. Choose the first ones. Give up the second ones.
Work daily - even if only a little - on big goals. Better to work a few minutes every day than a few hours sometimes.
Develop effective personal routines. Observe others how to do something effectively and use the same procedure. 12. Model their behavior and make it part of you.
Include 20-30 minutes of sleep at noon to be full of energy in the second half of the day. If it is possible. I had a period of almost two years when I did this every day. It was the most productive time of my life.
Write a list of things not to do. For example, "when I log on to Facebook, I don't play any more games!" or "when Ioana / Carmen calls me again, etc. I tell her that I am busy, otherwise I will listen again in the next hour as she has always been unjustified".
Start with the most difficult tasks. In the first part of the day, when you have the highest level of energy.
When you are waiting for the phone to connect, turn on the phone speaker or use a bluetooth. And until you get the connection, you can do something else.
Back up all your files to external media. You'll be happy later if the laptop breaks down. I confirm from my own experience.
Keep a journal of your accomplishments. It can be in the form of a simple diary or a success diary.
You are not your results. Positive or negative, you are not your results. Nor your goals. They are a part of you. Just the part. Whether you are on the wave or under the wave, keep in mind that you are much more than that.
Defines a maximum limit for the duration of meetings. By the way, I recommend you to avoid meetings. If you can remove them and replace them with other ways of communication: email or files used together online. You can use platforms like JottaCloud or Dropbox for free - to access them you open an account, then confirm in the email received from them by clicking on the link in that email, install their application and you can use them. Or online collaboration tools such as Basecamp or Google Groups.
When you know your personal commitments you are more likely to accept only good ones. To do this, periodically review your personal commitments.
Closing open commitments will bring you extra energy and time. By removing some from your list of commitments, you will gain extra energy and time for better time management.
The two-minute technique: if a task occurs that you can solve in less than two minutes, do it on the spot. Unless it would seriously affect something else you were already doing.
Wake up early in the morning.

Health

Pay close attention to breakfast. What you eat in the morning defines the energy level of the first part of the day. Which is also the most productive part of the day.
Do a little exercise in the morning, even if it's just a few stretching exercises. To get your body moving, to wake up.
Get enough sleep. Even if it seems that you will gain time by sleeping less, in reality it is the other way around. You sleep less, you get more tired. You have more time available but you are less productive.
Health is a duty to ourselves and not a luxury.

Reading

If you are interested in managing your time, before buying a book read its reviews and see if it is what you want. There is no point in buying books just to fill the house with them, without ever reading them. Nor do you read books you don't need.
Before reading a book, read its contents. If a description of it is available on the internet, go through it quickly to get an idea of how the book is structured.
Read only what interests you. A book on financial education can have the first two chapters on the history of entrepreneurship, starting with the Roman Empire. Maybe you're not interested in that. Skip the two chapters and go directly to the part that interests you.
Before you start the book, determine what you want to learn from it. And it mostly follows that information (not applicable to fiction).
When you start a chapter, do a scan of it: browse it, see what subtitles exist, what images, what information is highlighted. Thus, when you start reading, you will already have in mind a structure of information that you are going to go through. When you move on to the next chapter, repeat the procedure.
If it belongs to you, write it on the book. Emphasize important ideas, make notes on the edges, turn the book into a "living" document that transforms with you. To those who took the book "The Art of Personal Development", I ask them to write it, to scribble it, to make it more and more dirty.
Learn to read more effectively. Read and remember what is useful to you.

Time management online and on Social Media

Avoid starting your day by replying to emails or messages from Hive. You will be caught in the trap of replies and you will spend the first hours of the day like this.
Stop subscribing to newsletters that you will not read. One of my emails is full of newsletters. Any newsletter is optional. And by the way, even on my site (if you are one of my subscribers there and you are also present in Hive): when your light box is displayed on the site, you don't have to insert your email address there. You can cancel. Subscribe only if you read the articles.
Email is for communication and important information. Unsubscribe from all the email sites you already subscribe to (except the ones that are essential) and use Feedly to subscribe to their feed. Use email only for communication and keep your inbox clean (see below).
Inbox Zero: Practice the clean Inbox technique. That is, DO NOT have hundreds of unread messages for years. Process each message: you read it and decide what and if you have something to do. You can do the same in Hive and on centralized media networks.
Memorize some interesting articles that you just discovered, but can't read right now. Use Pocket (formerly Read It Later) to store interesting articles that you want to read later.
Social Media is becoming the biggest consumer of time online. Usually inefficient. If you are serious about time management, set your Social Media access limits.
Check your email once a day. Or in two days. Valid if you do not have tasks that require a response within 24 hours. I have to check my 3 emails to check the messages of my clients and students.

May you find good usage of these tips as you apply them in your personal and professional life!

@regenerette

Time Management Ideas You Can Use From Now | Ecency