Ever since I was a kid, I always cared about my time and how I managed it. From a young age, my grandfather (Dean Hadfield) would buy me a watch for every single holiday possible. My birthday, I got a watch. Christmas, I got a watch. Flag Day, I got a watch. No joke. He found it necessary to get me a new watch anytime possible. Although I always loved getting new watches, I thought it was a little redundant…until I got older.
He taught me so much about the value of time and why it is so important. Marcus Aurelius once said “Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away.” What a powerful quote. I have seen too many people’s dreams dashed, tasks uncompleted, health depleted, and others upset because of their lack of time management.
In this post I am going to cover some of the best practices I have used throughout the years, which is a culmination of lessons from my grandfather, trial and error and by reading a multitude of books. I hope these will come in handy in your life also.
- Care About Your Time: My number one tip is that you have to actually care about time. If you don’t care about time and how you are using it, nothing else will help you. If you are constantly giving excuses about why you are late, you will tend to believe your excuses are good and it becomes the “dog ate my homework” scenario. We all have the same exact 24 hours in each day and some excel well beyond others because they take full responsibility for each action and they care about getting things done in a timely manner.
- Create a Plan: We have all heard the saying “Plan your work, and work your plan”. In order to manage your time properly you have to have a plan. I am not just talking about your plans for the weekend, I am talking about planning each and every day so you can create something meaningful. If you aren’t paying attention to your time each day, it will quickly get away from you and ultimately make it impossible for you to achieve your larger goals.
- Don’t Be Afraid to Say “No”. Some people like the attention they get from being able to do, or be apart of, everything and they feel that constantly saying yes will garner that attention. The problem is, it does. People that always say yes will always be the person that everyone goes to with a new project, position or some other task. Sure, it is nice to be able to help out and to take a position in doing new things, but if you constantly say yes to everything, you will inevitably spread yourself too thin. Instead of finishing a few things perfectly, you end up with several projects that are completed poorly or not at all. Manage your time better by saying yes only to things you believe you can give your all to without neglecting everything else on your goal/task list.
- Make it a Priority to be Early. I have it ingrained in myself that if I am not 10-15 minutes early, then I am late. Here is my take on being early: let’s say your work starts at 8 and you get there right at 8, most people would feel like they are right on time. The problem with that is 9 times out of 10, that person still needs to turn on a computer, get a drink, put their coat away, etc. So in actuality, that person is starting work around 8:15 or possibly even later. That is a phenomenal amount of work time lost and a huge cost to businesses all around the world. If work starts at 8, that means be there and actually working at 8, so get to work around 7:45 to be prepared.
- Dedicate a Certain Amount of Time to Each Task. I know I am probably a bit more crazy than most about time management, but one thing I like to do is time myself on everything I do so I have a concise idea of how much time it will take in the future. This practice gives me more leverage to plan tasks in the future and helps me get a lot more done in a shorter period of time.
- Move Fast. One of my favorite quotes from Mark Zuckerberg is “Move fast and break things.” Some would argue that living that way is not sustainable, but I would somewhat disagree. Moving fast helps you get things done quicker as well as forces your own hand to make decisions faster as well. Indecisiveness can be dangerous as well as perpetuate a ton of missed opportunity. “Breaking things”, means that you are stretching your way of thinking by making mistakes, which can be a good thing. Thinking too long about something will stifle your creative ability, reduce confidence and ultimately waste your, and others’, time. Step on the gas!
- Focus. Focus on the task at hand. Don’t waste your time “multi-tasking.” That is a false hope anyway. Nobody can effectively get more than one thing done at the same time. If you want to get multiple things done in a half assed fashion then continue to multi-task. You would be much better off putting a heavy focus on just a few things each day, and getting them done, rather than trying to stretch yourself too thin by attempting 8 things and getting nothing done. Sharp focus is what separates the super achievers.
- Reduce Distractions. We are obviously in a very connected world, which for the most part is a great thing! The problem is that we have all become addicted to our notifications. Facebook, Twitter, text, email, and on and on. While you are in your focus mode, be sure to turn off all distractions so you aren’t bleeding your time. Block out a certain amount of time per day where all distractions are abolished and maximize that time to completing your task or goal.
- Use a Planner/Calendar. These got really popular with the Franklin Covey planners a while back. Now we have tons of free apps on our phones that can do the same things. Some people still like to use a physical planner and that can be a great resource because it is constantly in front of them. I like to have something physical besides my phone, because as stated above, it is easy to get distracted by everything else on your phone.
- Buy a Watch. My grandfather once told me that if he was interviewing someone for a job and they weren’t wearing a watch, the conversation was over. He figured if they didn’t wear a watch, that they didn’t care about time. Although that is not the case across the board, that is how he saw it. It can be argued that we all have watches on our phones, but often our phones are in our pockets, or purses, and not very accessible especially when driving (or at least shouldn’t be). If you have a watch on your wrist, you always have quick, easy access to the time and with all the great options on smart watches and so many other wonderful watch makers out there, there is no excuse not to.
It is time now. Time to take back your life, time to reach your goals, time to quit procrastinating, time to step up to the plate and take control of your life. – Jason Woodland
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