Have you heard someone say that time is an illusion? Yet, time seems like an entity constantly slipping through our fingers. The question is, why do we waste so much of our precious time?
Most of us are constantly left in a loop of guilt over the time we spend on Netflix and social media and continuously refreshing Instagram. Nonetheless, there are other things that we tend to waste our time on; despite that, these things don’t seem to produce as much guilt and rather seem justified, such as saying yes to too many commitments.
So, let us have a broader look at time management and go through effective tips that can help you manage your time more efficiently.
Use a Time Tracking Tool
The first thing you can do is to use a time tracking tool to track your time and record where you spend it. You might want to use a manual time tracker, which requires you to manually record the time that you spend on each task during your day.
As you will be manually tracking your time, it will make you think and realize more accurately how you spend your time on a daily basis, which prompts you to make changes as you go forward. You can find apps where you can automatically time the work as you do it.
This aspect might be more efficient for you as you will be tracking time in real-time, which means that you will go back after the task and remember how many hours you put into each task. More importantly, you will be less likely to waste time or switch tasks because, subconsciously, you will want your time log to accurately reflect what you actually did.
You might want to use a time tracker for one week or two as a way to get a more accurate picture of how you use your time now and how you can use it in the future to make the most of your time.
Set Your Priorities
The second tip is to get crystal clear on your priorities. You might want to sit down and work on this step very deliberately. Use a piece of paper or write it in your journal because here is the thing: when you aren’t clear on your priorities and what your tasks represent on your schedule; else, it can become easy for you to drown in responsibilities and become an overly busy person.
When it comes to nailing down what your priorities are and whether or not you can take new commitments on board. You will want to ask yourself very detailed questions, such as the following;
What will my schedule look like without this particular commitment or task?
To answer this question, you will want to carefully analyze your current schedule and assess how much free time you have. While you are at it, you will also want to assess whether you can give something up to take on a new commitment.
Also, you have the option of “buying” time. Yes, we know—we all have heard it before—that we live in a world where we cannot buy time for ourselves—but here is the thing: You can invest your money to hire someone to do things for you while leveraging your freed-up time to do the things that matter more to you.
For instance, you are working on a book, and you have just completed your first draft. Now, you might want to hire one of the best freelance editors as a way to free up your time and work on the book title instead. The professional expert will use their skills in editing the manuscript before you send it on to the proofreader so that you can get it published.
So, you get the point – while prioritizing your tasks, you will also want to prioritize your time and find opportunities to buy time by swapping money with a skill.
Another thing that you can do to prioritize your tasks is to think about the time when you will be on your deathbed and you will be thinking back on life. Which decisions will you regret making, and which ones you won’t? This aspect might equally help you with deciding what you really want to do in life and what sort of life you would want to live so that you have zero regrets when you are near dying.
Make Batches
When it comes to effective time management, you will want to batch your tasks effectively. In case you don’t know what batching is about, it is about taking a bunch of your tasks, building them together, and knocking them all out in a single session.
When you make batches, the one thing that you do is you can make more time to ensure that you complete more intense projects later on. You can also batch up several chores at home and save loads of time, such as cleaning things up, organizing your closet, doing the laundry, and getting the trash out.
Small tasks linked to your main work can also be batched to make the workflow easier on you. Of course, the primary goal is to stop wasting time and do more of the things that really matter.
Understand the Art of Saying No
You will want to understand the art of saying “no.” Believe us when we tell you that saying no is an integral skill, especially if you are overly busy. So, if you are continuously overcommitted, there is a great chance that you might struggle with saying no to new opportunities.
So, if you want to really learn how to prioritize important things and give those things the due time they deserve, then you will want to learn the skill of saying no. There are definite tactics that can teach you about how to let people down and push off things gracefully – and it all starts with a mindset shift and being mentally okay with saying no.
