What should I do first?
How do you decide what is a priority?
These questions are essential to managing time and being effective on projects. Its important to learn how to separate to-do’s and define what are priority tasks.
There are two methods that are worth looking at when trying to answer those questions:
P.O.S.E.C. Method
The POSEC method is an acronym that stands for Prioritize by Organizing, Streamlining, Economizing and Contributing. This method states that if you pay attention to your everyday, personal responsibilities first, then you are in a better position to handle other things that may come your way.
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Have you ever wondered where your time goes each day? Why is it that you never seem to have enough time to do the things you want to do? Where is your time going? Are you wasting it or using it wisely?
These are questions that you should ask yourself if you want to manage your time more effectively. We have all said to ourselves “if I just had another hour, I could get so much accomplished”. The fact is, there are 24 hours in a day. How you use them is up to you.
Activity logs are an effective tool for time management and can help you make the most of each day. An activity log is place where you record what you did during the day, when you did it and for how long. Activity logs can take on numerous forms: paper notebooks, electronic organizers, software on your computer, the internet or on your phone. No matter which tool you choose, the idea is to track every event so you can see the larger picture of where your time is going.
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Procrastination: the American Heritage Dictionary defines procrastination as “to put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness; to postpone or delay needlessly”.
We all have a tendency to procrastinate. It’s seems to be a part of human nature. We tend to think we have plenty of time to get everything done or we think we can do it later. And when the time comes, we just can’t seem to do it. The sad fact is, the more you put something off the harder it is to get it done.
So why do people procrastinate? Well, for several reasons:
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Part of good time management is setting goals for yourself. But your goals need to be S.M.A.R.T. What does that mean? Well, let’s look a little closer. S.M.A.R.T stands for:
Specific: Detail “exactly” what you want to achieve. You have to be specific when setting your goals. The clearer you are the better direction you will have in how to get there.
When you say “I want to raise money for diabetes” is that specific? Some would say yes but the answer is no. Yes, you want to raise money for diabetes but is that it? Again, the answer is no. Clarify, be specific! Being specific would be: “I want to raise $5000 dollars to support diabetes research by December 31st”. Can you see the difference? The first goal was not clear about exactly what you wanted to do whereas the second example specifically lists what you want to do. It becomes a goal you can actually work towards with clearly defined steps.
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“I’ll do it later.”
“It’s not due until tomorrow.”
“It would have been done on time but other things came up.”
“I can’t find anything.”
If you have ever said any of those things or even something similar, then you could benefit from better time management. Learning to use your time wisely will go a long way. You can have more time for work, for family and for yourself -if you plan it. Planning is essential to time management. Plan your day, your week; even your month or year.
Here are some easy steps you can take to start planning your time.
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