In our fast-paced, constantly changing world time has become more and more important as a
precious commodity. Though we all only have 24 hours in the day, how we use those 24 hours
can be the difference between taking massive leaps forward towards our personal and business
goals, or seeing another year pass with little to show for it.
Why wait until the end of the year to work on managing your time and your goals more
effectively? Today is always the best day to begin a new habit, or take a different look at your
mental strategies that can lead to improvements in your personal and professional life.
Let’s take a look at where you might be wasting your time:
- Responding to everything as it happens – think text messages, phone calls, emails, staff
requests, requests from friends or colleagues… the list goes on. There is no doubt that
there are many demands coming at you from a variety of sources. Setting clear
boundaries here is essential. Turn everything off for large periods of your day and only
respond when YOU are ready and in a block of time. - Workplace clutter – a messy desk is a messy mind. If you have filled up the space
around you with mess (important as each piece might seem) you will feel chaos within
and this will lead to you not being able to be productive with your time. Clear out your
office and set a regular schedule for cleaning. You’ll notice an immediate difference. - Unhealthy food choices and lack of exercise – this may seem counterproductive when
we are talking about time, but lack of exercise and poor nutrition will slow you down –
making your body slow and sluggish but also your mind. - Trying to do too much at once – multitasking is never an effective use of your time.
Instead make a list, lock in an allocated time-frame to achieve each task and block out
the distractions. - Excessive meetings or catch ups – ahhh the ultimate time-waster. Whenever anyone
tries to set a meeting with you, ask them if what they want to talk about can first be
communicated on an email. If you can resolve it there, then you know the meeting is not
required. Set limits to the meetings that are essential and have a clear agenda to work to.
Once you have recognized where you time might be disappearing to, it is important to map out
your ‘perfect day’. If you have no schedule, other people will dictate your schedule to you. Start
your day with your own plan and ensure that all the demands fit into it where you choose.
