Managing Your Time

Managing Your Time Effectively to Improve Your Business Performance

People often relate to time management as the ability to manage time. This is true to a certain extent; however, there is a much deeper meaning in “time management” itself. Time management is the act or process of exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially in increasing efficiency or productivity. Hence, being able to master time management will have a dramatic impact on our standard of living. So, how can we master time management? Here are the basic rules on how an individual can obtain mastery of their time management skill.

For this you will need the four D’s of self-management. These are:

• Do it – Get it done, the sooner the better.
• Delegate it – This task doesn’t suit you; get someone else to do it.
• Dump it – Not important. Forget about it.
• Defer it – Something for the ‘to do’ pile. Come back to it later.

These are some time wasters to watch out for:

• Lack of or poor planning – File things properly,
  write down appointments, that kind of thing. Basically, you need to be organized to use your time effectively.
• Procrastination – Many people keep deferring things when they are best done immediately. Don’t fall into this trap.
• Not delegating – You can’t do it all yourself. Do the things that you are good at and enjoy. Someone else can do the rest.
• Interruptions – Set up your workspace so that there are no distractions that will disrupt your workflow.

These and other time wasters are probably eating into your time, so try to identify them and get rid of them. Hopefully, this will help you get started in managing your time more effectively. Breaking old habits isn’t easy so take the changes you need to make one step at a time. As you continue on the journey to effective time management you will find yourself more fulfilled and with more time on your hands for the things that matter to you. Remember, when there is a will there is always a way.