Aug 28, 2008
Print this post
Why Time Management Is Important -STRESS!!!!
Do you know that your stress levels are greatly affected by how you manage your time? The way you manage your time can influence the type of day that you will have.
Poor Time Management = Stress
It is estimated that most people waste at least 2 hours a day. Now that doesn’t sound like a lot when you’re considering a 24 hour time frame but you can get a lot accomplished within 2 hours. Some signs of poor time management skills are:
- Messy office. This can include a cluttered desk. You know …files everywhere!
- You can’t seem to find anything. You know it’s in there somewhere but the question is…where?
- You miss appointments. This is embarrassing enough but then you have to turn around and reschedule them.
- You are late for meetings or you arrive unprepared.
- You can’t seem to focus or concentrate on what needs to be done.
Some people have stated that being successful makes you manage your time better but the opposite is actually true….great time management skills will make you successful in your endeavors.
When using time management to plan your day, ask yourself a few key questions:
- What is the goal I’m trying to accomplish?
- What is the deadline for that goal?
- What are the outcomes of not achieving this deadline?
You want to know why it is your doing something. Knowing the reasons for the work is important. Then target your deadline. Knowing when you have to complete something and reminding yourself of this will keep you focused. Remind yourself what the consequences are of not completing the task on time.
Start working on your list by doing the following:
- Break your list down into “baby steps”. By completing your tasks in small sections, you’re able to see yourself moving to completing the bigger picture.
- Do the dreaded thing first. Often we put off the things we really don’t want to do. We think if we push them off long enough they’ll magically disappear. Wrong! Go ahead and get the dreaded deeds out of the way. Then you will have smooth sailing from there.
- Focus on one task at a time. If you overload your plate by trying to do ten things at once you are likely to miss something. Keep your focus on one thing at a time. See it through to completion before moving on to the next task.
Everyone can acheive good time management skills. Think of it as a ladder to success. With each step you take, you’re one step closer to the top.
You make some very good points! While you’ve said to think of it as a “ladder” to success, we’ve called it “climbing the stairway to success”. It’s the same idea. You aren’t going to leap from one flight of stairs to the next. You take it one step at a time.
Excellent article. I totally agree with doing one thing at a time. I see so many people today who try to “multi-task” and end up wasting lots of time. A great question to ask yourself is “What is the best use of my time right now’. I also like to encourage people to plan a week at a time rather than just one day, using a weekly form.
[...] Why Time Management Is Important -STRESS!!!! By Time Management Help Some people have stated that being successful makes you manage your time better but the opposite is actually true….great time management skills will make you successful in your endeavors. When using time management to plan your day, … [...]
Great article. I see so many people trying to “multi-task” and not doing any of the tasks very well. I say “Hurray for mono-tasking!” One thing at a time. I like the idea of looking at the upcoming week, rather than taking a myopic look at just today.