3 Practical Ways to Solve Time Management Problems

2019-01-17

It’s no secret: We make time for the things that are important to us. However, more often than not, life pressures influence our daily routine. With a world filled with endless distractions you’ve got to make a deliberate decision to manage your time—and efficiently too. As a result how you manage your time is ultimately a matter of discipline and commitment.

 

Today we’ll discuss a few ways that’ll help you utilize all your time productively. It’s easier than you think.

 

Identify Distractions

We all have the same number of hours in a day—though some people utilize them more effectively than others. But what exactly stops you from being more productive in those hours? Answering this question is the first step to identifying the disruptions which prevent you from reaching your targets. These may include:

• Noisy environments
• Phone calls
• Message notifications
• Email alerts

 

To achieve a certain goal you need 100% concentration on that particular matter or event. The above are a only a few examples of interruptions that may stop you from engaging fully with what you set out to do.

 

To ensure you give your task undivided attention you can try eliminating these disruptions by doing the following:

• Quiet place: Look for a noise free environment where you can be more productive with the least amount of disturbances. You can consider picking a quiet place or office free of noise from a television or radio. If you’re a parent and would really want to get some work done, distancing yourself from your kids for a few hours will also help.
• Mute notifications: Thankfully our phones have the sound off option. You can consider putting your phone on silent temporarily just to eliminate the phone call and notifications sounds. Switching your phone off entirely, though effective, is a bit drastic and you never know when there may be an emergency.

 

Set Clear Goals

There’s a common old adage: If you don’t plan, you’re planning to fail. Simply put: Set clear goals and priorities for the day. Fumbling around with menial tasks just to seem busy as the day goes by will result in you just wasting time.

 

By setting clear goals, your mind is subconsciously prepped towards completing a particular task. This can be done by:

• Writing out a clear to do list with active steps
• Setting reminders on your phone

 

Get Organized

Now that you have identified the interruptions and set out your priorities, the next step is to organize yourself. This means organizing your data in a logical system.

 

There’s nothing worse than having documents all over the place. Make sure you know where everything is when needed. Apps such as Serfy can help you with templates to keep your information stored in a digital format and in a systematic manner. You can also employ these techniques:

• Use your calendar or diary for appointments
• Implement systems and processes
• Organize your workspace

 

Apart from getting your office space organized there are a couple of habits you can implement to better manage your time. These include:

• Don’t snooze the alarm: Believe it or not, your tone of the day is set from the moment you wake up. Snoozing the alarm, though appealing, can throw your whole schedule into chaos. Being late or missing appointments are just some examples.
• Avoid multi tasking: Try focusing on one particular task at a time for maximum concentration.
• Create schedules: Try to schedule a specific time to engage on social media platforms—and stick to it. Also you can consider checking your emails at specific time frames. Random checking wastes time.
• Automation: Programming your social postings automatically will go a long way in saving you time.
• Develop a routine: Try to develop a daily routine and stick to it. Going about things haphazardly isn’t productive.

 

Remember: It takes seven days to form a habit. Before you know it you’ll be utilizing your day in a consistent and productive manner.

 

Training Your Mind

When we talk about getting organized this not only refers to your physical space but mental as well. As mentioned earlier it takes a deliberate and conscious decision if you expect to utilize your time productively. You can try implementing the following:

• Avoid procrastination: As they say, procrastination is the thief of time. And rightfully so. Train your mind to stop you from leaving things until the last minute. Work on your tasks as soon as possible. There’s no need to wait for deadlines as this just puts you under extreme and unnecessary pressure. End result—inefficiency or substandard work. After all, why leave for tomorrow what you can do today right?
• Delegate: Let’s face it, sometimes there’s just too much work and you can’t handle it all on your own. The smart way would be to delegate. Not only will this minimize your workload but also you won’t have to compromise on the quality of work produced.
• Say no: Yes, sometimes you just have to learn to say no and that’s okay. There’s absolutely no reason to continuously take on more work than you can handle. Chances are you won’t complete it in time anyway.
• Sleep: Never underestimate the power of sleep—or rather a well rested mind. Give your mind time to recuperate and rejuvenate to effectively tackle your tasks for the day.
• Productive time fame: Did you know, different people function at their best at different times. Some people are fully engaged in the wee hours of the morning while others are more productive at night. Study yourself and pick a time that best suits you to work effectively.

 

When these become habits you’ll have more mind power to apply to your tasks.

 

Conclusion

Time isn’t elusive as many people would like to believe. Everyone both successful and unsuccessful have the same hours allocated in a day. The only difference is how you decide to utilize that time. With that said, are you ready to take that first step in effectively managing your time? After all, you snooze—you lose.