All of us are given the same 24 hour block of time each day to work with, yet some people accomplish way more during those hours than others. Why is that?
Well the simple answer is that some people have learned the art of time management while others haven’t. Though the phrase “time management” is somewhat misleading, because we don’t actually have the ability to “manage” time do we? However, we do have the ability to manage how we use the time we’re given.
Oh and believe me, I completely understand that it is sometimes easier said than done! I am notorious for wasting time on unimportant things and then running out of time for the important ones.
So here are a few time management tips that I have come across to help you (and me!) stop throwing away the precious time that we have.
- Value your time Due to the fact that time is so precious and that once it’s gone we can’t get it back, you should highly value the time you have. A good way to do this is to put a price tag on it.
For example, if you were to make $20 and hour on your job then each hour that you work is therefore worth $20. Then simply apply that same dollar amount to the rest of the hours in your day. So if you waste 4 hours watching mind-numbing television you have just thrown away $80!
- Block out chunks of time for each task One of the best practices that I have learned to incorporate into my own life is to set aside certain blocks of time for specific activities. That could mean that from 8-9am you get your exercise done, or from 9-12pm you work on your business. Whatever you set out to accomplish during these blocks, you have to focus completely on the task at hand. No exceptions!
-Prioritize your tasks It is so easy to get caught up in the little things like checking your email, or organizing your desk. So to get the most out of the time you have to work with, decide which tasks are the most important. Then you want to do those tasks first.
Brian Tracy has a great book called “Eat That Frog” that talks about how important it is to do the hardest and most important tasks first in order to get them out of the way. The title of the book speaks to the fact that eating a frog is not something you would want to do, which is why if you had to do it, you should get it over with quickly! So always remember to eat your frog before you move on to something less important.
- Write it down I’m sure that you have heard it said over and over again how you should write out a to do list each day. Well, I’m going to tell you again because it definitely helps me. I find that putting things on paper makes me much more accountable then just thinking about it in my head. There’s also something really fulfilling about being able to cross things off of your list.
Also, as a quick tip to writing your to do list, always keep your list to a maximum of about 6 things. Anymore than this and you may become overwhelmed and end up doing nothing at all.
P.S. If you have anymore great tips you’d like to share, feel free to leave them in the comment section. Oh and don’t forget to LIKE and RT this post! Thanks 
There are some days in our lives where everything seems to be stacked against us. The bills are piling up as if they’re trying to make friends with the ceiling, the car is making a noise you can only assume is a precursor to a fiery explosion, and your business seems to have screeched to a halt.
It has come to my attention that I’m a really horrible blogger! Why you say? Well, as I’m sure you can tell, I’m often way behind in posting new content, and I’ve only been averaging about two posts per month. In my opinion, that is pretty pathetic to say the least. It’s not that I don’t have topics to write about or even that I don’t have enough time, it’s simply that I’m a procrastinator. Big Time!
Embrace being different, even when it’s hard is the simple message of a young man’s poem. It’s followed by an upbeat song about how breaking up isn’t always as hard as it seems, and then continues on with an unusual mix of masculinity and flag twirling. A few more acts perform and the night is rounded off by a little improv that includes a skit on “What would Chuck Norris do?”
Have you ever sat down and really envisioned what your life might be like in the future if you took one path over another? I don’t mean what it would be like if you won the lottery, but rather if you started your own business, or finished getting a degree, or maybe moved to a new city. So something concrete that you have complete control over.
