One of the aspects that makes our life harder and more agitated, regardless of occupation, race, sex or religion, is undoubtedly time management, the way we manage the hours, minutes and seconds, to fulfill our responsibilities, with our family, friends and with ourselves.
Despite our perceptions and common phrases such as “time does not pay,” “I need a 25 hour day” and ” the hours flew by,” time is the same for everyone. The tic tock always has the same rhythm and it is up to us to give it an optimal handling to enjoy our life more.
That is why we are going to show you some alternatives that will help you manage time assertively, so that you can perform your tasks with greater willingness:
Anticipate and identify
Do not expect the day to “bring your eagerness” and take you by surprise. Rather the day before (or previous days, as necessary), list the activities you have to do, whether important, routine, urgent, daily, work, study or fun, so you will have them present and you will assign a moment to perform them.
Prioritize
As each task or activity demands a different level of concentration and haste, analyze which ones are the most important (which can have transcendental consequences for your life) and urgent ones (those that you must perform in a very close period of time).
We show you an approximation to the Eisenhower matrix, where there are 4 quadrants in which you can locate each task to facilitate your decision making:
Plan
Planning is vital for time management. Once your priorities are clear, set an estimated time for each one (both at the time of the day or week in which you will do it, as well as how long it may take), look for the most practical way to carry it out, provide some alternatives in case of contingencies, even if you need to seek help to complete it.
Focus
With this we refer to your capacity for concentration and delivery to the development of each activity. While each will require different levels of intensity of your skills and knowledge, the idea at this point is to avoid any distractors or “time thieves” (of various kinds) that divert your attention and prevent you from successfully and effectively completing each task.
The factors of distraction that go against the handling of time may vary, but among the most popular are television, the telephone (and its various applications if we talk about a smartphone), video games, music, Internet access and obviously social networks.
Sometimes when we are in the middle of an activity, we remember another we hadn’t completed and that is when we suspend what we originally did to start what we remember. So, what is usually achieved are unfinished things, increased stress and complying with the saying “Jack of all trades, master of none.”
So that this does not happen to you, analyze if it is a good idea to suspend what you were doing. Keep in mind the urgency and importance of the new activity and if it can wait, simply write it down or assign it a space to do it.
Review and evaluate
Once you finish an activity, make a sweep to the final result and note that you have not overlooked any detail. In this way you will have an improvement of processes, which will allow you to achieve the proposed objective and feel greater security and satisfaction. In case the activity requires a follow-up, this indicates the moment in which it should be carried out so as not to forget it.
In general, remember to put good energy into each of the activities that you do, even if they do not demand or like you the most. With positivism, you will have a greater disposition to do them and you will finish faster.
We hope that these “tips” will be useful. Make them a good habit for time management. Also, if you think there are other aspects that we have not contemplated, do not hesitate to leave us your comments because they will always be welcome.