When we live in a world where efficiency, competency and productivity are common jargons that needs to be met and quantified, we often wish we can squeeze more to dos in our 24 hour daily time ratio.
Time management seems to be an issue in almost everyone’s
lives whether we are a full time mom, a work from home parent, or we work
outside the house or a full time student.
It seems that we do not have enough hours in a day to get it all
done. So we want to make sure we manage
our time wisely.
The succeeding article is taken from one of my favorite
journals the “Awake!” magazine April 2010 issue. I find the suggestions very practical.
I wanted to pinpoint steps that I think are more valuable
as compared to the rest, but after having reviewed it, I could not decide which
is weightier. Though I already subscribe
to points 1 and 4, and with the little one around, both the hubby and I are
becoming advocates of point number 2, I still have to adopt more of the
pointers here as they are very useful and practical for me.
Do read on and I hope you will find
it useful too.
“Go on walking in wisdom . . . ,
buying out the opportune time for yourselves.”—Colossians 4:5.
HAVING identified the activities with which you want to
fill your days and hours, the challenge is to move from optimistic theory to
actual practice. The following suggestions may help you to do that.
1 KEEP A DAILY
TO-DO LIST. Number items according to the order in which you will handle
them. Indicate items that are worth spending more time on. Check off each item
when it is completed. Carry over unfinished tasks to tomorrow’s list.
2 SYNCHRONIZE
YOUR CALENDARS. Don’t risk missing an appointment because it is only in
your other calendar. If you have a calendar in your computer and another in a
handheld device, see if you can synchronize the two.
3 WRITE AN
“ACTION PLAN” consisting of all the steps involved in a project, and put
these in their proper sequence.
4 GENERALLY,
SCHEDULE YOUR MOST IMPORTANT TASKS FIRST. It will be easier to find time
for the less important ones.
5 SET GOALS OVER
WHICH YOU HAVE A LARGE DEGREE OF CONTROL. You have more control over
increasing your skill at a certain job than over becoming president of your
company.
6 ACKNOWLEDGE
THAT YOU WILL NOT HAVE TIME FOR EVERYTHING. Favor activities that yield the
most important results. What about other tasks that are urgent or that simply
have to be done? If you cannot eliminate or delegate them, see if you can spend
less time on them. Some unimportant tasks can wait for months if necessary, or
they may not need to be done at all. Allocate as much time as possible to those
activities that are related to what you feel is truly worthwhile in light of
your goals.
7 KEEP A TIME
LOG. To find out where your time is going, keep a time log for one or two
weeks. Is much time lost on unimportant activities? Do most of your
interruptions come from the same one or two individuals? Are you most likely to
be interrupted during a certain part of the day or week? Eliminate time-wasting
activities that have crept in.
8 SCHEDULE LESS.
If you plan to shop for food, fix the car, entertain friends, see a movie, and
catch up on reading—all in one day—you will feel rushed and will likely enjoy
nothing.
9 MINIMIZE
INTERRUPTIONS. Block off a portion of time each day during which you are
not to be interrupted unless it is absolutely necessary. If possible, turn off
your phone during this time. Also, turn off electronic pop-up alerts if they
tend to interrupt your work.
10 SCHEDULE THE
MOST CHALLENGING WORK FOR THE TIME OF DAY WHEN YOU ARE MOST ENERGETIC AND
ALERT.
11 DO THE MOST
UNPLEASANT TASK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Once it is out of the way, you will
feel more energized to work through the less-challenging activities.
12 ALLOW TIME
FOR THE UNEXPECTED. If you feel that you can arrive at a place within about
15 minutes, promise to be there within 25. If you believe an appointment will
take an hour, allow an hour and 20 minutes. Leave a portion of your day
unscheduled.
13 USE
TRANSITION TIME. Listen to the news or a recording while you shave. Read
while waiting for a train or riding on it. Of course, you can use that time to
relax. But don’t waste it and then later fret over lost time.
14 APPLY THE
80/20 RULE OF THUMB.* Are approximately 2 out of 10 items on your to-do
list the most important? Might a certain job be as good as finished after you
give attention to just the most important aspects of it?
15 WHEN YOU FEEL
OVERWHELMED WITH WORK, write each task on an index card. Then divide the
cards into two groups: “Action Today” and “Action Tomorrow.” When tomorrow
comes, do the same.
16 PERIODICALLY,
TAKE TIME OFF TO ‘RECHARGE YOUR BATTERIES.’ Returning to work with a
refreshed mind and body might prove more productive than hours of overtime.
17 THINK ON
PAPER. Write down a problem, describe why it is disturbing you, and list as
many solutions as you can think of.
18 DON’T BE A
PERFECTIONIST. Know when it is time to stop and move on to the next
important activity.
19 WORK LIKE A
PROFESSIONAL. Don’t wait for the right mood. Just start working.
20 BE FLEXIBLE.
These are suggestions, not hard-and-fast rules. Experiment, find out what
works, and customize ideas to your circumstances and needs.
[Footnote]
This idea is roughly based on the work of the
19th-century Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto and is also known as the Pareto
principle. It involves the observation that often 80 percent of the results
come from about 20 percent of the effort. It has been applied to many things,
but here is a simple example: When a carpet is vacuumed, about 80 percent of
the dirt picked up is likely from 20 percent of the carpet, namely, the
high-traffic areas.
How about you, how do you manage to
squeeze more to dos in your day?
If you want to read more articles that shows you how to
cope with today’s problems and builds confidence in the Creator’s promise of a
peaceful and secure new world, you can access from this link.
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