As it appears to be, managing ones time is not in any way easy and we all know time waits for no one. Tick, tick says the clock, what you have to do, do it quick, quite important!
In every blessed/bad day, there is always 24 hrs to work with and as Theodore Roosevelt said “do what you can with what you have, right where you are. Every 10 minutes spent in planning saves 100-120 minutes in execution. Brian Tracy (2007).
Planning ones time therefore requires certain items and materials which include a pen and a note pad required to draft a good to-do list for the day. It is always advisable to do it a night before.
Organizing materials or data’s on your notepad requires great sagacity. It is advisable to organize it in order of priority in the format A, B, C. A being the highest, C being the least. This implies that you would spend a lot more time on the key task of the day to save you of confusion and frustration filled day. This cannot be done unless you have,
- Decided exactly what you want in each area of your life
- Written it down, clearly and in detail
- Set a specific deadline for its achievement
- Made a list of everything you want to achieve
- Organized the time in your list in proper sequence
- Taken action immediately.
A mismanaged time could be deadly because there is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important task just as Parkinson’s Law sates “work expands to fill the time allotted for it. If you have 2 hrs of work to do and an entire day in which to do it, the work will tend to expand gradually and will take all day long to complete the 2 hours of work.
For a well managed time in a day to be accomplished, it is ideal to check out ones time robbers which includes phone calls, drop-in-visitors, self-imposed interruptions. Keep a log of interruptions’ from to-do lists, analyze your key problems and find solutions. This will definitely encourage a well manage time.
It is meticulous of anybody to maintain flexibility in planning his/her time as the day demands. As series of schedule arise than you have planned, find a way to include them into your planned schedules.
Effective time management skill encourages a well managed life and as Brian Tracy stated “four D’s are required in time management
D-desire- you must be willing to make necessary efforts to develop your time management habit until they become a part of your personality
D-Decision: you must not be on the fence, be clear
D-discipline-develop it for good personal achievement
D-determination- your determination is the, measure of your believe in yourself