Can’t meet deadlines? Feel like there are so many things to do and so little time? Feeling stressed out and feel that you have not done much after a whole day’s work? You just might be suffering from lack of time management. Time management is a skill that can be learned through time and constant practice… as long as you are determined to acquire it. I assure you, if you accept this fact and take this advice seriously, you will like the result and will never look back. In fact, it might even be the key to your professional and personal success! How do you go about it?
(1) Know your priorities. Make a list of your life’s priorities from the most important to the least important – both in the professional and personal facets of your life. This will include all six areas of life. (1) Career & Financial. (2) Family & Home. (3) Physical & Health. (4) Mental & Education. (5) Spiritual & Ethics. (6) Social & Cultural.
(2) Make list of your Goals & Priorities.Make a long term plan and a list of goals for what you want to achieve in life. This could be five years, ten years or life long goals.
(3) Make a Short Term plan. Make three to six months or a year plan – based on your long-term plan.
(4) Make daily planner. Make a daily plan or daily activity list commitment towards the achievement of your short, medium and long-term goals.
(5) Never lose sight of your goals or your long-term plans. If possible, have a visual aid of those plans pinned on your board or pasted on your desk.
(6) Focus on your efforts to realize your plans. Overcome procrastination. Follow through on your plans regardless of obstacles, criticism, circumstances or what other people say.
(7) Evaluate / Assess after every short-term plan and see where you have gone so far. And make another short-term plan for the next short-term goal.
(8) Be flexible yet firm in setting and working out your plans. For sure, there are people and circumstances that will force you to make adjustments on your list of priorities for the month or for the day. If somebody makes a request which you think you cannot accommodate and which is not that important anyway then learn to say ‘no’, and stand by your decision.
(9) Reward yourself for every success that you’ve done in the process of implementing your plans. Visit to a good restaurant or an ice cream place. Visit to a theme park, visit to a spa for relaxation if you think you have done something in the pursuit of your plans and you deserve a little ‘pat in the back’. If you think well, plan well, work well and manage your time well then you will have a stress-free & happy life.
Vj Shah