time management techniques : Time Management Tips

Posts Tagged ‘time management techniques’

Doing things right then and there

Jun.3,2010

Have you ever experienced those times wherein you’re too tired to do anything at all? Do you let the lazy bug get the best of you? Do you find yourself postponing things instead of doing them right away? Do you have the habit of telling yourself “I’ll do that tomorrow”? If you have, then welcome to the procrastinator’s club. President: Me.

I’ve always had trouble achieving work life balance. To me, it was impossible. You had to give up something to attain achievement on the other but little did I know that I was doing something very wrong. I was delaying my tasks both personally and professionally. I was slowly building my own nightmare. By delaying tasks, I was creating an enormous pile of things to do – all of which have tight deadlines.

If there’s one time management skill I needed, it was the ability to end procrastination. I needed to stop doing things the next day when I can work on it right here, right now. I needed to have a new perspective and a new approach to my tasks. I needed discipline and a great reminder of what I should do to improve productivity.

Doing things right away entails a great deal of discipline especially when laziness lurks in every corner. You need to be focused on what you want to happen so you can do things that will actually help you attain those. Doing things right away also helps you with time management. If you’re able to end your tasks way before the deadline, you have ample time for other things. Getting things done right then and there is one of the best time management techniques out there. It definitely saves you time.

Tags : achieving work life balance, improve productivity, time management, time management skill, time management techniques

A short story on Time Management

Filed Under : improve productivity, personal time management, time management, time management skills, time management techniques by admin

May.5,2010

I’ve worked on writing about time management and personal time management for so long; it seems I’m running out of ways on how to stress the important of time management skills in our lives. As I went on my ongoing research about time management, I was struck by a story I read.

A professor came to his class with a jar, some big rocks, pebbles and sand. He stood before the class and began teaching.

He took out the jar and filled it with big rocks. He asked the class if the jar was full and the class nodded in agreement but at the same time they were confused.

He then took out some pebbles and dropped them in the same jar. He shook the jar and the pebbles rolled to the open areas between the big rocks. He asked the class if it was full and the class nodded in agreement yet again.

He then took out the sand and dropped it in the jar with the pebbles and rock. The sand covered everything else – every space left between the rocks and pebbles. He asked the class if it was full and they nodded in agreement. The class was beginning to wonder what the point of the whole experiment was to which the professor calmly explained: “This jar is your life. The big rocks are the important things in your life such as family, children, partner, health and everything else that’s important to you, the pebbles represent the things that matter on a smaller scale such as your job, car, house, etc. and the sand is everything else. If you placed the sand or pebbles first, there wouldn’t be any more room for the big rocks. In your life, if you spend too much time doing things on the small stuff, you will never have time to do the things that truly matter.”

It led me to thinking that while we strive hard to find the best time management techniques just so we can improve productivity in our lives, we forget the simplest rule there is. We need to determine which things are important for us and set our priorities. We need to work on the big rocks in our lives. We can work on the pebbles and sand afterwards.

Tags : improve productivity, personal time management, time management, time management skills, time management techniques

Sharpening your decision making skills

Filed Under : Time Management Program, time management techniques by admin

Apr.28,2010

One component of time management programs is one’s ability to make a decision. Decision making can be hard because it leads to a series of consequences and after-effects. It can either lead to the good of all or can cause dissatisfaction. However, decision making is an important part of time management skills and we need to work on it if we want to take control of our time and our life.

• In decision making, you need to identify the purpose of your decision. You need to know what problem needs to be solved and why it should be solved.
• You need to gather information and facts regarding the matter at hand. You need to know the factors that are involved in the problem.
• Before giving out any solution, you need to know the standards and criteria that the solution should meet. There may be limitations and rules to be considered before coming up with the solution.
• You can’t come up with just one solution but instead, you need to come up with a list of ideas or possible solutions.
• Weigh each solution to determine its advantages and disadvantages. Once you have carefully gone through the pros and cons of each, determine which solution is best.
• Put your chosen solution in action and execute your plan.
• Evaluate the outcome of the solution and see if it has helped improve productivity and the company in general. You also need to take notes of the things that can be improved or avoided for future reference.

We can’t have all day to make decisions because that’s a complete set back on time management. However, we also can’t risk making the wrong one. The best time management techniques suggest that in decision making, you need to keep your eye on the goal and sometimes, you need to heed your intuition without disregarding the facts.

Tags : improve productivity, time management, time management programs, time management skills, time management techniques

Write It Down Now!

Filed Under : Time Management Program, Time Management Seminars, Time Management Training, time management, time management skills, time management techniques, work life balance by admin

Apr.14,2010

People have been in a never ending battle of perfecting the right time management skills to achieve more in life. Various tips, tricks and methods have been introduced to society in hopes of being able to master time management. People have been attending time management seminars over and over just to be able to manage their time. But isn’t it funny how doing the simplest things can accomplish something great?

When it comes to time management techniques, one principle that works wonders is writing down important things in your head. You don’t have to remember everything but you should always write them down instead.

Notes always come in handy especially in a fast paced world like the one we are living in nowadays. When you’re in a meeting or are in a conversation with your bosses, do not try to remember everything they have just said all in your head. It’s definitely not helping solve your time management issues. Write them down instead. This way, when you get back to your desk, you won’t forget anything – not even one detail. If you wait until after you have talked, tendency is you forget some things in between. And you never know that that something may just be the most important thing.

When you’re in bed and suddenly thought of a great idea that can help improve your work, write it down. When you do this, you are freeing your mind from thinking about it all the more thus giving you more time to rest.

Writing down things help improve productivity because you won’t have to spend too much time remembering what you were asked to do or forgetting brilliant ideas.

Tags : improve productivity, personal time management, Time Management Seminars, time management skills, time management techniques

Are emails getting in the way of effective time management?

Filed Under : Time Management Program, Time Management Seminars, Time Management Training, time management skills, work life balance by admin

Apr.12,2010

Time management is essential when you want to achieve work life balance. It helps make you effective and get things done in lesser time thus giving you more time for other personal matters. But is it true that emails may be getting in the way of effective time management?

Emails are an essential part of a company’s operations. It’s one of the communication channel used to delegate, inform or simply convey important things across several people in the office or across the world. It’s an effective way of communication but it can also takes up a lot of time if not done the right way. Spending too much time in writing or reading emails is not part of time management skills that lets you get things done in lesser time.

Here are some time management techniques in dealing with emails:

Keep your emails brief and write to the point.

Check your emails 3 to 4 times a day to avoid distractions.

Do not show email notifications in a pop up. This will distract you from the current task you’re working on and does not help improve productivity.

Work on each email the moment you first read them. Identify if they should be included in your to-do list, needs a reply, should be delegated or deleted. If they need to be replied to or delegated, do it right away.

Write emails that do not require complicated issues. A phone call or meeting is more appropriate for things that need to be discussed thoroughly.

Emails are great and they are of big importance too but make sure that they don’t distract you in any way or be the reason why you can’t get things done.

Tags : achieving work life balance, improve productivity, personal time management, time management skills, time management techniques

Yes, balancing work and family works, it did for me.

Filed Under : Time Management Program, Time Management Seminars, family work life balance, improve productivity, work life balance by admin

Mar.17,2010

I’ve been in the freelance business for quite some time now and I love it. I love the freedom, the flexibility and the chance to be in control. I can also maintain a family work life balance in doing so.

In the years that I’ve worked as a freelance artist, I’ve learned a couple of things that help me get through. These time management tips may be helpful to all you freelancers out there. It helped me improve productivity and made it easier in achieving work life balance.

I don’t normally work more than 80 hours a week. I only do extra work if there’s a critical problem. Other than that, I always keep 80 hours or even less than that. Besides, if you strain yourself too much and force your brain to think, you’ll still end up with sloppy ideas due to stress. So might as well call it a day and start fresh tomorrow.

I have kids and I love playing with them. However, we put them to bed early because they need all the sleep they can get. So how can you spend more time with them even if you’ve got unfinished work to do? One of my time management techniques is simple. I stop working at 5 in the afternoon and spend the remaining hours playing with them till its bedtime. When they’re in bed, I go back to working and finish whatever needs to be finished. It works, I tell you.

Do not miss dinner. Always eat dinner with your family. Bond with your kids, talk to your wife and enjoy the food.

Once in a while, I always leave the house to free my mind. It’s always nice to smell a little bit of fresh air and take in the beautiful sights around me.

There are pressures – they are inevitable. But it’s all about how you handle your time and tasks that make you different from all the rest. Yes, time management is the key.

Tags : family work life balance, improve productivity, personal time management, time management techniques, time management tips

Work life Balance Hindrances

Filed Under : Better Use of Time, achieving work life balance, family work life balance, improve productivity, personal time management by admin

Mar.9,2010

In our efforts to attain work life balance, there are a couple of setbacks that will hold us down. Despite the advices that are strewn all over the net, there are still some things that are hard to overcome.

• Client Attitudes are Unpredictable

Even if you’ve mastered time management techniques that let you finish tasks faster, you can’t just drop your clients right away. There are clients who are feisty and easily ticked off if you aren’t available when they need you. When this happens, you end up losing your clients. People who highly depend on this for a living can’t afford that because they need to provide for their families. You don’t have to sacrifice your family time just to be available to your clients but you can come up with creative ways on how you can juggle the two.

• Trial and Error

The world of business is like a science project. You have to study and test things out. Otherwise, you won’t really have an idea if it’ll work or not. This is essential especially if you’re only starting out. Money doesn’t come in just like that; you have to look for strategies to improve productivity.

• Freelance Jobs don’t wait for you or anybody else

In the highly competitive world of technology, freelance jobs come and go as fast as you change clothes. It doesn’t wait for anyone. If there’s a job that you’re eyeing on, you better dive at the opportunity rather than wait. It doesn’t matter if you’ve got things going on at the moment, let out your time management skills and you’re good to go. It’s not advisable to have two jobs at one time but if you really need it and if you can do it, then why not?

There are a lot of things to consider in achieving work life balance but as long as you stick to the goal which is to always put your family first, you won’t have any problems.

Tags : improve productivity, time management skills, time management techniques, work life balance

Posts Tagged ‘time management techniques’

Doing things right then and there

A short story on Time Management

Sharpening your decision making skills

Write It Down Now!

Are emails getting in the way of effective time management?

Yes, balancing work and family works, it did for me.

Work life Balance Hindrances

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