How to Manage Your Time Effectively

Time Management: The process of organizing and planning of dividing the time in different activities so as to get the best results. But, it is so that at all time we do the best planning and get results. Many times, we for one or other reasons fail to plan the time and when we look back, we observe that much time has gone wasted with zero result. Few tips to have an effective Time management: 

1. Know your goals: Make sure you’re engaging in activities that support your goals, both short-term and long-term. Everything else is a mere time-waster. Your daily work  plan should revolve around working on tasks and activities that directly relate to generating income and growing your business, working towards your goal(s).

2. Prioritize wisely: Looking at what goes into making up your day, where do your activities fit into these categories?

#  Important and urgent — Tasks that must be done. Do them right away without any delay.

# Important but not urgent — Tasks that appear important, but  are not when seen in detail. Then decide when to do them.

# Urgent but not important — Delegate these tasks as these are ones which have very little or no value but such tasks make the most noise but when done, have little or no lasting value. Ask your staff to do it.

# Not urgent and not important — Low-priority stuff that offer the illusion of “being busy.” Do them later.

Write down your three or four “important and urgent” tasks that must be addressed today. As you complete each one, check it off your list. This will provide you with a sense of accomplishment and can motivate you to tackle other less important matter.

3. Just say no : You’re the boss or head of the show. But it is not necessary that you have to say Yes to every matter that comes up. See the importance and then decide. Be ready to say NO if you are not convinced. Try to see what is productive for your work and what not. Do not waste time.

4. Plan ahead : One of the worst things people do is jump into the workday with no clear idea about what needs to get done. The time you spend thinking ahead and planning your activities is trivial compared with the time you’ll lose jumping from one thing to the next and not completing anything.

5. Review: At the end of every day, sit calmly and review the things you have done the whole day. It will take hardly half an hour to review and decide what to do the next day. Sitting before a clear table every morning is a soothing experience and also a de-stressing activity.

6. Eliminate distractions: Start paying attention to the number of times someone interrupts you when you’re in the midst of an important task. Distractions increase the time consumed for the work.  Track self-induced interruptions, too, particularly those of the social media variety.

7. Delegate more often:  If you have hired dedicated employees, there’s always more work they you can give them to accomplish. Look for opportunities to pass responsibility for specific tasks to others in your team.

8. Watch what you spend : It can be time, money, opportunity, but keep an eye on it. Do not do spending blindly. Today’s care will make you richer later.

9. Take care of yourself: Be sure to get plenty of sleep and exercise and a balanced diet. An alert mind is a high-functioning mind and one that’s less tolerant of time-wasting activities.

10. Limit multi-tasking: There is not much benefit in doing multi-tasking. Although, an entrepreneur may have to do this since s/he has to look after all the departments in initial stage. But one can plan the whole day in small slots allocating the task to each slot and in this way  the things can be managed properly and efficiently.

Remember, at the end of the day, you must feel that yes, the day has been fruitful and you enjoyed the work. And , if it happens, you will feel relaxed and ready to embrace the next day with more energy.

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