Lately it seems that I have completely gone off the rails with regard to time management. I find myself taking on more and more responsibilities, yet the last that I checked there were still only 24 hours in a day. So I find myself at a crossroads, either I find ways to better manage my time or I run away from home. I was just kidding about that last bit.
I’ve been reading a lot about time management and have come up with a list of 5 ways to better manage my time.
1. Create a daily schedule. Although I have the luxury of working my own hours from home, some structure is definitely needed. I am creating a daily schedule that will accommodate both my professional and personal needs. Rather than haphazardly tackling tasks and getting oh so easily sidetracked, following a schedule should help me to get a lot more accomplished throughout the day.
2. Avoid Social Media. You’re probably thinking I’m crazy about now. Shouldn’t a blogger be using social media? Absolutely, but the point is to use it wisely and not get distracted by it. I would probably be pretty embarrassed if I were to add up the total time casually spent in one month on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and Reddit.
Time is what we want most, but what we use worst. ~ William Penn
3. Deal with email promptly. If I have not answered your email, I sincerely apologize. I’ve gotten into the bad habit of reading all of my email at once, with the intent of going back later to take action on them. I don’t know why I think I have to open every email in my inbox as quickly as possible. The problem with this method is that quite often I get distracted and never go back to reply. Next thing you know, there are 100 shiny new emails sitting in my inbox. So the point here is to answer or taking required action on each email, before opening the next one. Just curious, does anyone else have this problem?
4. Delegate. Maybe this should be delegate and trust. This has been extremely difficult for me to learn. It’s so much easier to do something myself, because I know it will be done correctly (ie. My Way). Trusting someone else to take care of things just doesn’t come naturally for me. So trust and delegate it is!
Ordinary people think merely of spending time. Great people think of using it. ~ Author Unknown
5. Take regular breaks and more me time. This is really hard for us moms. But the reality is that if we don’t take care of ourselves, we cannot properly take care of someone else. I have a tendency to approach work and life as a runner would a marathon. I work and work and work until I have a complete mental and physical meltdown. Now if only I would take a few minutes for myself here and there to meditate or listen to some music, perhaps that exhaustion could be avoided. I think writing some down time into the daily schedule is a good idea.
What strategies do you use to better manage your time?