Time management is essentially the understanding that time is limited and its use needs to be planned and prioritized in order to use it fully and optimally. Time is important to everyone, be it a manger of a multinational corporation, a college student or a homemaker with three school going children. And so everyone can benefit from time management.

Here is your guide to time management:

• Maintaining a time log for about 3-5 days with details such as time, scheduled activities and interruptions will give you a realistic estimate of the time available to you and the manner in which you are spending.

• The time log is also useful in providing you a valuable lesson in how much you can do in a certain period of time. There are two crucial mistakes that people make when they think they are trying to organize their time well. The first is when you try and fit in too many things to do into a time slot. Prioritize the things that need to be done as ‘crucial’, ‘important’, ‘essential’ and ‘can be done later’. Now work your way from the top of the list.

• The second mistake is when you try to do more than one thing at a time. It has been proven that flitting from one task to another without completing them reduces performance and also increases stress and frustration. Do one thing at a time, and when the task is complete, move on.

• Create a schedule for yourself and make it flexible to a certain extent.

• Involve other people, working at time management as a team is a good way to create a support group to help you when lapses occur. And when they happen, don’t waste time procrastinating.

Whenever you feel that your time management is becoming less than efficient write a time log for a few days, analyse it and learn from it.