I'm always out of time. That seems to have become a constant for the last year.
I decided to do something about it since this is Make Something Happen Monday.
9 WAYS TO MASTER YOUR TIME
1. Needed: paper and pen. The first thing you must do is figure out where your time goes. To do that, for a few days to a week, timestamp everything you do.Write it all down from when you get out of bed in the morning. How long to get dressed, hair done, makeup, cook breakfast, eat breakfast, clean up the kitchen, work out, yak on the phone, do social media, etc. Every action should be timestamped.
2. Once you have your data, analyze it. You'll probably see immediately what's taking way too much time.
3. Set up an actual schedule—a kind of time budget with blocks of time devoted to what must be done. Plan it, print it, and try it for a couple of days. Make notes if you find cleaning the kitchen takes more time than you thought and working out takes less time.
4. On your time budget, be sure and make the biggest blocks of time for the most important projects. Prioritize so you devote more time to important tasks and less to things that really aren't that important at all.
5. Start your schedule the first thing in the morning by doing the most difficult task. It's like Brian Tracy says in Eat That Frog. Eat the biggest, ugliest frog first. That's the task you know needs to be done, but you procrastinate on it every single day.
By the way, I highly recommend Eat That Frog. I bought the audio book several years ago. I downloaded it onto my phone so I could listen to it again as a refresher.
6. Learn to recognize trivial tasks. A trivial task done exceptionally well will never give you the results of completling a priority task.
7. Stop multi-tasking. In case you haven't heard, studies have shown multi-tasking doesn't work. Focus on what's important.
8. Keep your workspace organized so you don't waste time trying to find your notes or items needed to work and/or complete a project.
9. Always analyze your time budget to make sure it's working for you. If it needs adjusting, do that going forward.
TAKEAWAY TRUTH
Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day, but not everyone uses that allotment effectively. Become a finisher by mastering your time.
Joan participates in Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, affiliate advertising program designed to provide a way for websites to earn advertising fees by linking to products on Amazon.
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