The Clock would always be Ticking!
Today I’ll be talking you through 4 time management techniques you can use to make the most of your day. We all have the same 24 hours, whether we like to accept it or not. It’s normal to have other commitments and responsibilities (and we need to sleep at some point!), so we must use our free time as best as we can to make considerable progress towards our goals.
Planning For Tomorrow
Creating a list of tasks the night before will allow you to prepare mentally for the coming day. This will prevent procrastination and optimise how you use your time, provided you have the discipline to approach these tasks head-on. A daily planner or whiteboard will help – use this as a reference point to measure your progress and refocus through
Do a ‘Time Audit’
This technique is designed to keep you on your toes throughout the day. It involves setting a timer for every 30-60 minutes. Each time your alarm goes off, write down what you were doing at that exact moment.
This will give you incite into your daily productivity and set you on the right track when you’ve become distracted.
Respect Your Time
Avoid distraction at all costs. Each minute you spend having a ‘quick chat’ or a scroll through social media is a minute you’ve taken away from reaching your goals.
Respect yourself enough to block out distractions and use your time accordingly. Of course, you should take a break when needed, but never at the expense of your goals.
Use the Eisenhower Matrix
You will divide your tasks into four groups for this technique – sorted by important vs unimportant and urgent vs not urgent.
According to the Eisenhower Matrix, tasks should be completed in the following order:
- Important/Urgent tasks – DO
2. Important/Not Urgent – DECIDE (when)
3. Urgent/Not Important tasks – DELEGATE
4. Not Important/Not Urgent task – DELETE
What do I mean by delegating?
If you are in the position to do so then you could outsource the tasks required to other people by using Fiver or hiring someone to do the task for you. If you are not in a position to do so then it should not be your priority and you should complete the Important tasks before the rest.
To use this technique efficiently, you must be able to identify which tasks are most important. This may require you to revisit mid/long-term goals and decide which tasks will aid you most in accomplishing them.
Thank you for reading, I’ll see you back here again tomorrow with another gem!
