Time management is a subject on which there are great many books ad infinitum. Yet, many people struggle to keep time and maintain balance within their personal, business and social needs and responsibilities. This invariably leads to stress, fatigue and anxiety in a great many people, apart from resulting in failure to achieve their goals or objectives.

For effective time management the need is to focus on those core areas for achieving the desired results. As a rule, we exhaust a great deal of our time on miscellaneous issues spending 80% of our time for gaining 20% results, and assigning just 20% of our time for completing the remaining 80% of the work. This undoubtedly brings in its wake all the stress syndromes.

The first step for improving efficiency is knowing the most important and the unimportant activities and devoting your time and attention accordingly. You can allow greater time on the vital issues and effectively delegate or outsource those of less importance or consequence. You can also have an activity logbook to keep time on the different activities of the day, including talking over the phone, watching TV, etc. A scrutiny of your log book at the end of the day will reveal where you are spending time unrelated to its value and those areas where you need more time for achieving your main goals.

Indeed we have the inevitable ‘Action Plan’ and ‘To Do List’ that are enduring methods of time management. Action Plan focuses only on those primary steps needed for reaching your immediate goals by breaking them into simple tasks. ‘To Do List’ is a great resource for keeping note of the sundry tasks required every day or week

Apart from these familiar methods, you can use Mindmapping as a tool for managing time effortlessly. Be it Action Plan, or To Do List, or Activity Log book or even Goal setting, Mind Maps are ideal for managing your time and hastening the process to achieve your larger goals.

By giving a wide picture of your goals and tasks, Mind Maps keeps you motivated and stays you on course. Other time management methods serve more for scheduling time, but Mind Maps help you to go beyond the mundane and the immediate, as the larger goal remains in your perspective, urging you to plan and act. It motivates you toward greater application and action. Therein lies its efficacy and viability.

By bringing all your short, medium and long-term goals into a single Mind Map, you gain a comprehensive picture and are aware of the different streams of your activities. It lends meaning to your activities by highlighting the links between your different tasks and provides impetus to attain your goal and objectives. Mindmapping thus becomes a meaningful exercise that lends depth and action. It is an ideal tool for increasing your efficiency and offers flexibility on the choice of your action. It is indeed a simple and effective device for achieving your ambitions.