Time Management- Are You Carrying The World On Your Shoulders?

Knowing how to manage you time is the key to your productivity and to attaining maximum success in your ventures. The thing you have to remember is that your time, like your life, is numbered or in other words, limited. Your day can only offer you twenty-four hours and sixty minutes for each hours. No matter how long the list of things you have to do, whether by choice or by chance, you can not add more time to the equation. Everyone, and no one is spared, is chained to the clock. Everyone has the same number of hours and yet there are some who have learned to effectively use their hours, their limited time. You probably have encountered such persons: persons who seem so busy doing something and end up doing nothing really worth that much effort or time. And then you probably have met a few of those who can afford to take breaks, indulge in certain luxuries and yet still get the job done. The difference between the two means a world apart of difference, both in execution of task and the outcome.

Time management means learning a balance between the things you have to do and want to do, and the time that is available to you. It allows you to accomplish tasks in the most effective and efficient way possible. You may be asking yourself why you should care about learning time management when so far, despite the constant ticking of the clock in your ears; you have managed to get the job done. The answer is simple. Have you ever struggled to keep yourself sane through the mountain of paperwork that you still need to go over in a night? Have you ever had so many things on your plate that when you finally find the courage to sit it down, you find yourself at a loss as to where and how to start? Have you ever handled a project so demanding of your attention that you unwillingly let some things slip with the hopes that when it is done you can finally take a breather? Are you a businessman who often finds himself mulling over some problem while contemplating on how to address a seemingly more pressing issue at hand? Often, in the course of a flood of tasks that never seem to end, we end up exhausting ourselves in our effort to finish it. Time management is the exact opposite. Being able to manage your time effectively is getting everything done without stressing yourself out. It means a continuous ability to deal with tons of stuff without ever pushing yourself to a burn-out.

So how does one begin to mange his time? How can you start? The first thing you have to do is the most basic and yet the most crucial one: prioritization of projects or tasks. The trick with being able to manage your time well is to being able to recognize the right thing to do at the most convenient time for you without jeopardizing the outcome. Make a schedule or plot a timeline in your mind. If you are the type to procrastinate, write it down and display it where you see it at your most vulnerable moments.

The nest thing you can do is to develop a sense of time. What I mean to say by this is being and remaining aware of how time is being used- is the amount of time you are committing to a certain task reasonable? Is it the most productive number of hours for this type of project? Many of us often find ourselves buried in paperwork thirty minutes past the set time for output. Identify the time wasters of your routine or method of execution.

Another thing you can do to help you with your time management is to keep a review sheet for all the tasks you accomplish and rate them. This will help you objectively see how you can do something better next time a similar task comes along. One last thing you can do is to commit yourself to be better, to manage your time better, and to learn to be able to think for the long term always. Thinking of short term goals only increases anxiety because it makes the list seem endless and pointless.

Time management means learning not to waste the time given you. It's no quick teach. It takes perseverance and the willingness to undergo a battle on a very personal level.