Get More Done With These Time Management Tactics

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

By Stanley Djagbo

We all have those days we’d like to have more hours in the day. Sometimes we feel as if we are running around chasing our tails getting nothing done. Your time management is usually the culprit here. This however does not have to happen often though. Anybody can develop better time management skills and habits. You only need a willing attitude to work hard to fix this behavior. Different time management methods do exist. It is important that you not give up if the first method you try doesn’t work for you,it will take trial and error to find the right one. Here are some hints to get you started.

Trying to be perfect can actually make you less productive. Getting better at time management doesn’t mean you will never make a mistake. When you are obsessed with perfection, you end up making more mistakes than you otherwise would. This is simply how it is. If you are going to effectively manage your time and methodically complete your tasks, you can’t be concerned with perfection. No schedule can be perfectly maintained. Unexpected things happen. All you can do is give it your best effort. One of the best ways to manage time more effectively is to be able to step back and look at the big picture.

Schedule out your time for each day, week and month. Take time out of your day for scheduled breaks, returning emails and weekly conference calls. The more structure you have to your day the better able you will be to get into good habits. With a structured schedule you can train yourself to be quite productive during certain times of the day. It will take some committment to time management. In only a few short weeks you may find that you have your schedule so down pat that it seems like second nature almost.

Naturally, you want to do as many things as you can, but you also want to make sure they are getting done the right way. As much as you may want to finish a task, never let this take priority over quality.

While schedules and deadlines can be relevant, it’s even more important that your work turns out right. Very often, people don’t finish assignments on time because they were unrealistic about how long it would take when they scheduled it. When possible, allow yourself more time than you think you’ll need for each activity. It is better to not need the time you’ve plotted out than to need more time than you’ve plotted out (which will simply make you stressed and unhappy). Time management skills can be acquired by anyone. It’s not something you can accomplish all at once, though. Developing new habits can be difficult, especially if the habits already in place are bad. You have to keep practicing your new skills until they become natural to you. If you do slip up sometimes, just be aware of it and maintain your progress. At some point, you will realize that you truly understand time management and you won’t even have to think about it.