“I have no time!” This is a constant complaint from almost everyone these days. Where does the time go? There is so much demand on our time that feeling overwhelmed is almost a constant state. What can we do about it? Time management is the art of managing your life within the time available. Benjamin Franklin said, “Do you love life? Then don’t waste time because that’s what life is made of.” (Poor Richard’s Almanac, June 1746) While life has speeded up and become more complicated than in Ben Franklin’s time, the advice remains. Most people waste their time without being aware of it. Routines and habits acquired early in life create time-consuming inefficiencies. Here are 9 tips for better time clothing and time awareness so you can get more done in less time and enjoy your life:
- Note how long it takes each time: The mind deceives us all. Einstein said that an hour in the game will feel like a minute, while a minute in a block of ice will feel like an hour. Unless we consciously make the effort to do so, we really don’t know how long our tasks will take. When you realize that you are spending much more time on your tasks than you really need, you will take the necessary measures to control the phenomenon. Awareness is the first step to control.
- Track where your time goes: Similarly, many people unintentionally spend time on trivial tasks. By keeping track of where you spend your time, not necessarily by writing down each task, but rather by classifying tasks and tracking the categories in which you spend your time, you can identify productive areas and focus on them. As in the Pareto principle, 20% of your time produces 80% of your results. If you can remove 80% of the fluff that only gives 20% productivity, you’re way ahead of the game. What can you do with 80% more time? Prioritize your tasks not only by importance but also by what it gives you.
- assign your day: After studying where your time has gone and determining the 20% of tasks that give you 80% productivity, allocate your time ahead of time not necessarily by task but by category. Stick to this assignment as much as possible. This means that you should not lose direction and get sidetracked by time wasters.
- pay yourself first: Financial advisors will tell you to pay yourself first, set aside for your retirement or your children’s education before spending even on the essentials. Likewise, allocate some time for yourself first, whether it’s exercising, meditating, or spending quality time with your family. You won’t get such opportunities unless you create them.
- Limit the time for each task: Tasks spiral out of control when you don’t put a time limit on them. Time limits help close tasks. In fact, for many people, the work doesn’t get done until the last minute. Estimate a reasonable time for each task and stay within that limit.
- Make a realistic to-do list: I’ve seen people put everything and the kitchen sink on their to-do lists. Naturally, only a small fraction of these would be done, and people would complain that time management doesn’t work for them. When you have unrealistic expectations, you can’t expect it to work! The best process is to make a realistic to-do list. Determine how much time you have available, the time limit on the tasks you have on your plate, and only put on your list what you can accomplish in the time you have.
- Prepare for every task: Lack of preparation is the biggest waste of time. If you have all your ducks lined up, you can take them down one by one. Remember the three ‘P’s: parts, people and places. Make sure you have the right things and the right people in the right place before you start each task. Otherwise, you may have to fight to get them and you may lose some in your haste. The time to hurry is before you start.
- Think before acting: Yogi Berra had said: “Think! How can you think and strike at the same time?” It is true: thought comes in the form of action, and action comes in the form of thought. If you try to think and act at the same time, you will trip over both. Think about what you need to do, how you will do it, and then do it.
- Estimates are not set in stone: How long you think the task will take is just a guess. It may be an educated guess, an assumption based on past performance or other experience, but it is an assumption nonetheless. Don’t behave as if it was given to you from heaven. Believe you can beat him and take every opportunity to prove the estimate wrong, but in your favor! When you complete tasks in less time than expected, the time you save is yours. Savor it and use it to your full satisfaction.