Time management | Healthy UNH

Tips for better time management

Time management is about using your time as efficiently as possible and working smarter, not harder. The ability to manage your time effectively is important. Good time management skills can lead to improved productivity and efficiency, less stress, and longer lives success. While these skills are rewarding, they require a great deal of patience, discipline, and careful planning. Knowing where to start developing good time management can be difficult. If you’re motivated but don’t know where to start, don’t worry! Here are several ways to get your time management skills off the ground:

set goals

Setting goals for the future motivates and inspires us to have something to work towards. When creating a time management plan, it is important to set yourself some clear goals and also a timeline of how you plan to achieve those goals. Setting a schedule gives you an idea of ​​how long it will take you to achieve it, and setting goals allows you to focus your energies on the things you want to achieve. A timeline can look like a series of smaller goals or victories that feed into the bigger goals you have in mind. These smaller goals can easily motivate you to keep working hard on your big achievements. To start with, come up with a list of things you want to achieve. These can be goals for the day, week, or even year!

Create a routine / schedule

Just like with exercising, the more you stick to a routine, the easier it gets. Create a daily flow that works best for you and stick to it! If you find it easier to keep track of daily tasks on an agenda or calendar, make a habit of writing things down. With an agenda, you can easily keep track of what tasks need to be done that day and what the rest of the week will be like. Schedule your tasks so you know they are most productive and make a habit of writing your plan down at the beginning of each week. When you wake up every morning you can just open your agenda and know exactly what to do that day!

Avoid distractions

This is probably by far the most difficult because our everyday lives are full of distractions. Text messages, social media, your favorite show on TV, all of these things make it a lot harder to focus on your work. The best way to combat distractions is to prepare. It is important that you get used to the fact that the allotted time is entirely dedicated to work. This means turning off your phone and putting it away, out of sight. It can also help to close any extraneous browser tabs on your computer that could be distracting. If it helps, turn on some music to get you into the groove of consistent work. If not, find a quiet, reserved place to focus your attention on the task at hand.

Prioritize

With so many things on your plate, it can be difficult knowing where to start and what task to tackle first. Prioritizing tasks is one of the best ways to stay focused and achieve your goals. Learning to prioritize work affects the time you spend on each task and your overall success in terms of your goals. This is where the schedule you created would come in handy. Start with a to-do list or schedule of things to do. Think about which tasks need to be done the same day and which tasks can wait until tomorrow or next week or so. Sometimes it’s easier to tackle the toughest task first just to get it out of the way. Which priority you choose is entirely up to you, but do so in a way that you know you will be most successful.

Good time management enables a person to achieve more in less time, reduce stress, and lead to overall career success. Good time management leads to more opportunities and less wasted time. This is an important life capability which can be used in any position and at any time. So keep these tips in mind when working on your time management!