Manage Time Effectively: How to get more out of 24 hours? This is the most pressing question for all of us. We all are struggling for time. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. But very few are lucky enough that they spend more of their time on things that they enjoy doing.
Some people are in a phase of life where they have less responsibility. So it in turn allows them to spend more of their time on things they enjoy doing the most. These are mostly the young people who are yet to be married to take on responsibilities. Some people have reached the phase where they don’t like to do more or can not do more work. But they have to face the most difficult question i.e. ‘How can we spend our time?’ (Elderly people). People between these 2 generations are stuck in a pile of responsibilities. Such people can’t spare enough time or no time at all on the things they like doing the most.
This post is going to be helpful to those who are already occupied with so many responsibilities and can’t get enough time for themselves. By writing this post, my whole motto is to help people in managing their time better and more effective way. So that they can spare some time for doing things they like. I know, one size does not fit all. So the points that I am going to mention in this post, may not be useful to you as much as I think. But if at least a single point can strike a chord with you and really become helpful for you to manage your time-effective way, then I will be glad, and I writing this post become successful in achieving my motto.
If you start fighting for your time, then your time will start fighting for you.
– Poonam Bhatt
Without further delay, let’s get started on Manage Time Effectively: How to get more out of 24 hours?
Understand: where do you spend your time?
In order to manage your time better way, you first need to understand ‘where is your time being spent the whole day?’. This may sound silly and you might tell me that ‘Are you saying that, I don’t know What I am doing the whole day?’ But don’t think that way, and be with me on this. After doing this exercise that I am going to tell you in the next paragraph, you will really say, ‘I didn’t know I was spending my day this way.’
Now on, from the morning try to observe where you spend your time, and be aware of your time spending habits. Try observing your day as a third person and observe where you are spending your time. When you start your day observe how much time you spent getting ready, how much time you spent cooking, and how much time you spend on kids’ studies. If you are on a phone call then after the phone call, check how much time you spent on it. Once you get little time in between, observe how you spent it. How much time do you spend on social media, and how many times do you reach out to get your phone for that.
Our target is to understand how our day is passing. If you do this exercise for the next 3 to 7 days, you will have amazing discoveries on how much time is spent on doing unnecessary things and how much time is spent on doing unavoidable things, and this will really help you manage your time, effective way.
Plan your day to manage your time effectively
If you don’t plan your day, you will not realise what are your real priorities in a day. You will keep on saying YES to unnecessary requests that you must have said NO or at least could have rescheduled for next or another day. Plan in moring for major activities to be included in your day. This way you will be aware of your priorities task that has to be completed in your day. Those priority tasks list must include the things you love to do.
In order to plan your day, write down what are necessary tasks in your day and have a rough idea of at what time you are planning to attempt them in a day. So now when any new request comes (other than routine work, or scheduled task) you are able to identify it, and you try to figure out that “is it really possible to include it in your day today?” If not then you can reschedule it. Without any plan, you would do things as they come to you and you will have no idea where is your time being spent.
Don’t be a perfectionist, instead be a task achiever.
It takes a lot of time and energy in perfecting any task. And truth to me is, that not all tasks need that much perfection. So identify those task that is fine to go with 70% to 80% of perfection and proceed with that much perfection only for those task. If you start giving 100% perfection to all the tasks you do in a day and make things 100% perfect, then you will end up wasting your precious time and energy on those. And by the time you start doing an important task your energy is already drained and so much time is wasted.
Use your time pockets well, to manage your time effectively
Time pockets are a small-time duration that you get in a day in between your routine work. Once you start observing your day (as I have mentioned in the first point), you will start noticing so many time pockets that you get in a day. If you plan your day well, you will be able to utilize your time pockets well. If you start to plan your day and list down the important things to be completed then, you will be able to match the available time pocket duration with the task that is on your list and be able to pick a correct task and get it done in that time pocket.
Learn to say No; Or Redirect, Reschedule Task
If I am sounding rude to you that I am telling you to say NO to others, then please understand that sometimes it becomes really necessary to say NO also. If you keep on saying YES to each and every task (other than your routine and priority task) that come to you in a day, then your day will end up completing those request only.
It is not that you have to become rude to the person who is asking you to do that task, just tell the person truth that you are occupied with something so will not be able to do it. Our next option is, you can REDIRECT the requests to the other person that is best to do that task. The third option is, that you can RESCHEDULE that task to the next day. This way by rescheduling you can include the task in the next day’s plan.
Note: You will only be able to figure out such a task (that you have to say NO or REDIRECT or RESCHEDULE) if you have not planned your day and written down important tasks to be done on that day.
STOP wasting your time in order to manage your time effectively
Once you start observing your time, you will realize that some portion of your daily time might be going to watching TV, checking social media, or on (unnecessary) phone calls. If you combine them, then you will realize that you are getting a good amount of time. If you chose to utilize them then you can spare a good amount of time for yourself.
It is not that you don’t have to watch a TV, but instead have a TV break, and have a track of your time (only watch for 30 mins) when you start watching it.
To manage your time effectively, don’t randomly reach out to check social media, have special breaks for that in a day, say for a specific time in a day you will check all your social media account. Not other than that time.
Once start talking on the phone with someone have track of time so that you don’t go on and on that phone. You can also schedule some important calls(of your parents, friends and relatives) every week on fix day and time.
Want to know How can you reduce your phone usage? Then click the link
Make your family members independent for small tasks
I agree that this point might not resonate with all, but bear with me on this and read on. If you observe your time spent in a day, you will realize that some amount of time goes into helping family members (mostly kids). Parents might find that they have to help their children in doing many things. I agree that you can’t stop helping your child in their study, but you can train them to arrange their books properly, train them to takeout their study-related stuff and put it back once done, train them to put plates back in the kitchen platform after eating, train them to clean the mess of toys after playing, and many more things. This way kids will start becoming independent and you will get a bit more time for yourself. (This point applies to an adult family member as well, who is still a kid by his/her habits. Haha)
I am an avid reader, blogger, and author of the book GOAL TO SUCCESS.
These were some of the strategies that have helped me manage my time well, hope they become helpful to you as well. If you like this post then you can subscribe to this blog to get more such useful posts straight into your inbox. I love to hear your thought on this post. Do give your comments in the comment section. If you find this post useful then share it with your friends and family.
