Some short and useful tips on time management

How do you manage your time?  Do you go through life without considering how you can make the most of your time?  These 10 tips on time management can help you create great outcomes and give you back more quality time.

1. Life is short

What do you want to be written in your obituary? Life is short, figure out what you want to be remembered for.

2. Use your waking time wisely

How much time do you have anyway? We sleep 1/3, spend 1/3 on non-work activities – that leaves only 1/3 to achieve what we want to while at work. Use it wisely.

3. Name your time wasters

What are the “non-productive” activities in your life? Which ones are time wasters and which ones use time chargers? Name them and eliminate them.

4. Pay attention

Nuclear reactor: the famous Three Mile Island Nuclear Reactor disaster in the US occurred because someone did not have time to read the warning reports. Is there a Three Mile Island under your nose? Take your time to pay attention to the detail.

5. Convert red time to green time

Classify your present use of time—take a typical day: Green time: effective use; Red time: ineffective use. How can you convert red time to green time?

6. Use Pareto’s Law

Pareto’s Law: 80% of sales from 20% customers;  Then consider, 80% sick leave from 20% employees; Perhaps, 80% of your files are not productive, most use from 20%; 80% of the important things you need to do is in 20% of the items on your to-do list. Stick to 20%.

7. Challenge your habit

Have you noticed whether or not you tend to do what you like doing rather than what is needed? If so, can you challenge your habit and do what you must do.

8. Use your most productive time of the day

Primetime versus Ordinary time: we have biorhythms. We are in fact more effective at certain times of the day than at others. What is your prime time, when you are most productive? How much do you use this knowledge to focus important work into this time? Find your prime and protect it from interruptions and time bandits!

9. Know your strengths and weaknesses

What are the greatest time thieves that prevent you from using your time effectively? Describe your strong and weak points in time management? Do you know the difference between efficiency and effectiveness?

10. Set objectives

Manage time on a day-to-day basis – Set objectives. Decide whether a Time or a Goal-based diary suits your needs better.

What about you?  Do you have any tips on time management?

This post was updated in March 2019