Time Management Contest – Answer 1 Question and Win 3 Sessions of Personal Coaching
Face it, life is hectic. With juggling a professional career, meetings, family obligations, appointments, your kids’ extra curricular activities, trying to live healthy, keeping up-to-date with current with current affairs, we hardly have time to sleep!For this month’s contest, we want to know your advice on how to effectively manage your time.
To enter, simply type you name, email and your answer to this question:
If you were coaching an individual on time management, in your opinion, what is the one concept that they should absolutely know?
Winners will be based on how concise their answer is, applicability and quality of advice.
Prizes:
Grand Prize – Three sessions of free, one-on-one, personal coaching on Time Management with me, Leah Simpson.
The winner and I will have a conversation about the specific topic and goal they would like to achieve during the coaching sessions. Topics to choose from include:
o How to add an additional 10 productive hours to your week – every week
o An easy way to identify your priorities, and make time for all of them
o 7-step formula for creating an effective schedule based on your priorities
o 10 tips to increase efficiency and power-up productivity
o The 2 most important time management questions you need to answer
o How to effectively deal with interruptions during the day
o How to schedule time for fun
o What your short and long term goals are and where to find time to accomplish them
Coaching sessions will be done over the phone. This prize is valued at $1,500.
Second Place – “Expect Success” Book
Third Place – Freedom Personal Development Water Bottle
All winners will also get a “Be Free” Sticker and a Personal Development Blue Light-up Pen!
Winners will be chosen by myself and members of the Freedom Personal Development team and will be emailed and announced on the blog August 3, 2009.
Deadline to enter is July 31, 2009.
Be Free!
Leah Simpson
Instructor and Coach
i believe you should begin with the persons goals for themselves with work and life. then develop time management surrounding those goals, please and thank you
Comment by ted balser — July 2, 2009 @ 6:17 am
There is enough time to reach your goals if you use it wisely.
Comment by Bruce Rockwell — July 2, 2009 @ 6:50 am
Keep one calendar that includes all activities, appointments, birthdays, etc. both
personal and business.
Comment by Lissa Mattson — July 2, 2009 @ 6:54 am
Plan your work and work your plan. Be in control of your schedule instead of having your schedule run you
Comment by Gayle Zientek — July 2, 2009 @ 7:01 am
Time is not a renewable resource. Unlike capital, people, and other business resources, you can’t “raise more time” or “hire more time”. The practice of good stewardship and use time productively is the key to a successful and fulfilling life.
Comment by Skip Torresson — July 2, 2009 @ 7:13 am
they should know that ther time is very valuable
Comment by Joanna Kilgannon — July 2, 2009 @ 7:15 am
you can’t really “manage” time but you can use it wisely and 2 + 1 = 10
Comment by Gary Castellano — July 2, 2009 @ 7:16 am
BE ORGANIZED!
Comment by Regina Stearns — July 2, 2009 @ 7:26 am
We cannot manage the clock; we can only manage our thoughts and actions.
For someone with no time management training, here is a good start. When is your next vacation? Chances are good that as the date for your departure nears, you will become more purposeful about your time. You will say no to things that you’d normally say yes to. You will become more efficient about getting things done because you know that if you don’t, your vacation won’t be relaxing. Time matters in moments like these because the return is immediate.
Treat everyday like you are leaving for vacation tomorrow.
Comment by Bob Sztapka — July 2, 2009 @ 7:27 am
Think ahead and plan.
Comment by Skye Pifer — July 2, 2009 @ 7:28 am
If I were coaching someone on time management, I would say that the one thing they should know is how to prioritize the things that need to be done.
As I’m creating my to-do list for the day I could literally add a hundred things that I’d “like” to get done but do not necessarily “need” to be done in order to move my projects/career to the next level. Knowing what your #1 priority is and how that compares to item number #6 can make all the difference in successfully managing your time wisely.
Comment by Kelli Murray — July 2, 2009 @ 7:29 am
By taking action you’re living, by procrastinating you’re spinning, as in spinning around in circles not getting anywhere.
Comment by David Rintz — July 2, 2009 @ 7:36 am
There is no time management-but there is “you” management.
Comment by Phil McDowell — July 2, 2009 @ 7:38 am
I would say – do things only once. If you open an email, answer it then; if you pick up a paper, handle it then. Most people handle things multiple times.
Comment by Linda Rash — July 2, 2009 @ 7:42 am
You can’t manage time, you can only spend or invest it. The most important thing you can ask them is, ” What are your priorities?”
You have to put your priorities into your schedule first, and those should be ” Family, Health, Personal….. ” and everything else is secondary
Comment by Jeff Kennedy — July 2, 2009 @ 7:43 am
Prioritizing is an important concept one should always learn.
Comment by Ava Overman — July 2, 2009 @ 7:45 am
The most important thing to know for time management is how to prioritize. Making a plan and/or a “to do” list is not
as effective if you have not learned how to prioritize your activities. Always put those you least want to do at the
top of the list to move them out of the way and then you can finish up the day with an activity you find more enjoyable.
Comment by Renee Harris — July 2, 2009 @ 7:46 am
Quit talking and start doing.
Most of my colleagues spend all their time talking to each other, or complaining about what is wrong with everything, and how it is so hard to make money. If they would just shut their doors, get to work, and stop pontificating, they would be so much more successful.
Comment by Susan Lightbody — July 2, 2009 @ 7:49 am
Keep your life organized.
Comment by Fannie Fleming — July 2, 2009 @ 7:52 am
I like to control everything, which oftentimes creates additional work for myself, and then I “don’t have enough time for everything” and I can get stressed. However, falling back into God’s arms and trusting that He’s going to take care of everything helps me better prioritize my life. I remember to make time for family, friends, and the things I love to do.
Comment by David — July 2, 2009 @ 7:53 am
Let technology tools (email, schedulers, blackberry, IM) help you become more productive in your day rather than allowing them to be a continuous distraction or to monopolize your time.
Comment by Nola Hall — July 2, 2009 @ 7:55 am
Urgent things are seldom important
And
Important things are seldom urgent.
Comment by Russ Barrus — July 2, 2009 @ 8:08 am
Prioritization and scheduling. When the list of “to dos” grows and people become overwhelmed, it is sometimes very alluring to start attacking the inconsequential items on the list, just for the feeling of immediate gratification. Also, just scheduling or block time w/o interruption to actually complete a task.
Not sure this is particularly unique or original (in fact, quite sure it is not), but believe this to be the biggests challenges in time management. At least for me.
Janice Anastasia
Comment by Janice Anastasia — July 2, 2009 @ 8:09 am
In time management, the first thing you need to know is how much is your time worth, secondly is learning to prioritize, and third is to take action based on those priorities set.
Comment by Tom Allum — July 2, 2009 @ 8:14 am
The only concept that should absolutely be known is that time should be treated as a precious commodity and you can’t replace time that has already been lost.
Comment by Michael McGavin — July 2, 2009 @ 8:14 am
Learn how to prioritize and how to focus on that list once made so that you don’t get distracted or procrastinate.
Comment by Julie Gershon — July 2, 2009 @ 8:20 am
You cannot manage time, you can manage activities
Comment by Brian Chiaramonte — July 2, 2009 @ 8:21 am
The one question would be “focus on what’s most important”
Comment by Carmen — July 2, 2009 @ 8:21 am
Don’t take life quite so seriously …that’s the one bit of advice I would offer to others, and remind myself of as well. Sure I have full time work, 4 children from preschool through college, parent participation school (what was I thinking??), swimming lessons, social engagements for eveyone, school for myself, and oh! -preparing dinner, washing clothes, cleaning house, and the myriad of emergencies, etc. But my trick is not to take any one thing too seriously because the point is to do these things to enjoy life rather than to allow them to get in the way and not enjoy life.
Now, to help me be more efficient, I use my smart phone to synch email and calendars so that I do not have to have dedicated sit-down time at home to schedule everything. My husband and I have two synched google calendars with all non-work appointments and together they become our family calendar. Our rule is “if it’s not on the calendar, it’s not priority”.
Comment by Maria — July 2, 2009 @ 8:26 am
Set a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly routine.
Comment by Greg Waddell — July 2, 2009 @ 8:28 am
I coach my mentees to timeblock what they know they will follow. Make your tasks interesting and meaningful for yourself.
1) Find the best time of the day for the various activities you plan and need to do. Are you best at taking appointments in the morning? Do you prefer cold-calling in the afternoon? Do you want to schedule a workout somewhere in there too? Find your schedule and make it work when you work best.
2) Schedule the unexpected. The biggest time-killers are unexpected problems. Build in a cushion to allow yourself to transition back into your scheduled tasks as rapidly as possible. Or even better, timeblock proactive problem solving! Allow the little things to be taken care of when you know you can dedicate time to fix them. Most little annoyances don’t become big problems immediately–we just don’t take the time to fix them until they’re big.
3) Make it fun! Having trouble getting excited about prospecting? Reframe your attitude and name it something fun. I call my prospecting time “Chasing Shiny Objects.” Problem solving time is when I play “Mr. Fixit.”
Remember, this is your schedule. Make it work for you.
Comment by Matthew Simmons — July 2, 2009 @ 8:34 am
The most important time managment concept that should be mastered is Steven Covey’s 4
time management quadrants. The most important part of this is making time for
“quadrant II” activities that are important but not urgent. Understand what
quadrant II activities are and schedule regular time blocks to review your processes,
plans, goals and spend time w/ family.
Comment by Mark Gibson — July 2, 2009 @ 8:44 am
For you to best manage your time most effectively you would want to figure out when are your most productive hours during your workday. Everyone has a different time within their workday they feel most productive and this really affects the quality and quantity of work you can produce in a day. I find it interesting when you ask people at how much it varies and also how quickly they can pinpoint this time frame when they are asked. Give your self a moment and I bet a smile will come to your face and a specific timeframe will come to mind. Some would say 10 am – 12 pm, before they eat lunch, which makes them feel sleepy and sluggish. While others say 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm after they have refueled (lunch) they get a second wind and are raring to go. I feel that since you are able to produce superhuman amounts of work during this time period when you work most efficently would the absolute first thing you need to know when you want to get a handle on managing your time.
Comment by Karla Callahan — July 2, 2009 @ 8:53 am
Learn to control your lists, not have your lists control you. Every day, if you are like most achievers, you make a list of things that MUST get done. Some of these items are urgent, some are important, and some just need to get done sometime. Go ahead and make this list, then create a short list of no more than 3 tasks that are absolutely important and do those, no matter what. Done in 1 hour? Great, 3 more please! As a clue, each of these important items should be aligned with your goals for the year and the long term vision for your life. There is a fine line, which is dictated by common sense, but most urgent things can wait. Do what is important, First!
Comment by Jeff McElroy — July 2, 2009 @ 8:54 am
They need to prioritize items, then: do, drop, or delegate.
Comment by Catherine Norton — July 2, 2009 @ 9:03 am
Handle each piece of mail or email only once. Do not set it aside for later.
Comment by Doug Beehler — July 2, 2009 @ 9:09 am
Get organized and plan your day in advance. Review your schedule and tasked that need to be done the day before.
Comment by Todd VanDomelen — July 2, 2009 @ 9:12 am
To manage time successsfully, you should know exactly what your job responsibilities are, and the best way to execute them.
Comment by Lou Carrillo — July 2, 2009 @ 9:18 am
ITEMIZE, PRIORITIZE, and ORGANIZE!
List what needs to be done.
Figure out what is most important.
Figure out how and when to get those accomplished.
Comment by Jared Pollard — July 2, 2009 @ 9:26 am
1)how to “keep the big thing, the big thing”….. become an expert as prioritizing so the focus remains in what matters most.
2) saying “no” without guilt
Comment by Susan Springsteen — July 2, 2009 @ 9:30 am
The key concept here is prioritization…what is the priority of things and how one allocates time today vs. what one should allocate to those things.
Comment by Iftikhar Ahmed — July 2, 2009 @ 9:33 am
I would want my client to know that he or she has the same amount of time as everyone else…..that time is the same for all clients; no one has more or less time available.
Comment by donald hall — July 2, 2009 @ 9:45 am
Learn to do the right thing, the right way at the right time!
Comment by Craig Lamberson — July 2, 2009 @ 9:50 am
Have a list of what “NOT” to do. That list should grown daily.
Comment by Emmanuel Fonte — July 2, 2009 @ 10:01 am
List tasks of importance from ranking from A, B, & C list (A being of highest importance) and the time line expected to complete each task
Comment by Toni Evans — July 2, 2009 @ 10:07 am
Time management is a myth. We can only manage ourselves and influence things that we have direct control over – become efficient at we do.
Comment by Neeraj — July 2, 2009 @ 10:09 am
Time is irreplaceable. The moment lost in idle chatter and daydreaming has it’s place, but not when you are under the gun to get a job done and over with. Cherish your family and their time as much, if not more than yours, and remember to strike a balance between work and family time.
Comment by Manuel Couto — July 2, 2009 @ 10:25 am
finish what you start before going to next
Comment by Mary Ruth Marks — July 2, 2009 @ 10:29 am
Start what’s important and finish it before going to the next.
Comment by Mary Ruth Marks — July 2, 2009 @ 10:32 am
I can’t remember anything so I keep a 3 ring note pad with me at all times so I can write anything I come across down in the right section.
It is broken out into 5 sections: Home (my wife is constantly adding to this one), Office, Computer, Calls and Misc.
Then, when I have time at Home, the Office or at the Computer, I will pull out my lists, prioritize and work on the appropriate items. Of course if it is a certain item on a specific day or time, I have my Daytimer and Blackberry.
This allows me to not have to remember anything!!! So I can actually work at my golf game when I am golfing and not have to continually worry about forgetting something.
Works great since I started it about 3 months ago.
Comment by Daid Duplessis — July 2, 2009 @ 10:33 am
Simply put, I would recommend learning to prioritize tasks and completing them in the order of their importance. Focus on the most important tasks and do away with time wasters.
Comment by Royal A. Wilkinson, II — July 2, 2009 @ 10:39 am
No matter what presses you, FAMILY comes first; then all else falls into place.
Comment by Irene Koontz — July 2, 2009 @ 10:50 am
Doing most important things first
Comment by Melissa Lemmon — July 2, 2009 @ 10:53 am
Write down your priorities. daily and weekly
Comment by John Talbot — July 2, 2009 @ 10:58 am
Create daily short-term goals aided by To-Do lists
Comment by Camilla Brizan — July 2, 2009 @ 11:12 am
Organize your leads
Comment by Larry Archuleta — July 2, 2009 @ 11:22 am
Prioritize — then stick with it.
Comment by Jim Bryant — July 2, 2009 @ 11:32 am
Each day, before the day begins, prioritize all the things on your list. Pick the top 5, then do them, fitting in between, only 2-4max)minute HIGH QUALITY interuptions, till the list is DONE!
Comment by Sandy Allen — July 2, 2009 @ 12:25 pm
Key time management concept:
Be aware of the importance of aligning activities with higher life purpose. That awareness provides value for the seemingly mundane and a framework for selecting activities that are truly important.
Comment by Julie Bernardin — July 2, 2009 @ 1:38 pm
If I were to offer coaching advise on time management, I would suggest making a list of things “To Do” every evening before retiring for the next days activities. The next day one may prioritize and scratch tasks off the list as they are completed.
Comment by Dee Stace — July 2, 2009 @ 1:44 pm
The number one concept would be:
To learn to prioritize *everything* in life – goals, activities, plans, chores, customers, budget and finances…all of it.
By prioritizing items in classes of A, B, C and D ( for an easy example of how to classify, try this: Absolutely must do, Best to get done next, Can be done after the others and Delegate or Delete)
After grouping your A’s B’s C’s and D’s, then re-prioritize the items within the groups (A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, C1, C2, C3 etc.)
For budgeting,
A’s would be mandatory expenses that are fixed (rent/mortgage, car payment, life/health insurance, professional licensure fees, long term/retirement savings, quarterly taxes for self employed etc),
B’s would be expenses that are required but something can be done about such as utilities, groceries, travel expenses etc
C’s would discretionary/wants – cable, golf, vacation costs, subscriptions, hobby costs
For customers,
A’s would be your very best customers that refer you business,
B’s would be your loyal customers who are just non-referring types,
C’s would be your prospects or newer customers who haven;t yet been classified as A’s B’s or D’s
D’s are those to be Deleted from your database.
For goals,
A’s would be your short term goals – within the next 30-90 days
B’s would be intermediate term goals – within the next 3-12 months
C’s would be long term goals, longer than 12 months
Comment by Eric Heinrich — July 2, 2009 @ 2:11 pm
set specific Goals and Prioritize ruthlessly
Comment by Fady — July 2, 2009 @ 2:48 pm
“Time is money!”
Comment by Patty Blakesley — July 2, 2009 @ 2:54 pm
The key to time management is to prioritize and re-prioritize. New action items, distractions, and challenges will come up. It is important to identify which tasks are most important to your daily goals.
Comment by tri phung — July 2, 2009 @ 5:27 pm
They absolutely need to know what their values are: values they move away from, and values they move toward. These two lists allow them to not only know what to spend their time on, but it empowers them to offer the ever-important answer of “no” to things that look attractive but do not fit into our life plan.
Comment by Frederic Gray — July 2, 2009 @ 7:27 pm
Learn to leverage your time by delegating or outsourcing. Each person has a specialized skill set. Focus on the jobs you enjoy, do well, or absolutely MUST do yourself and have others, those who specialize in those skills, deal with the rest.
Comment by Rebecca Laffar-Smith — July 2, 2009 @ 9:38 pm
When possible, do things right away. Don’t put it off because you will not get to it in time.
Comment by Ming Ng — July 2, 2009 @ 10:01 pm
When in a dilema ask yourself what it the most priority in place at the time? Prioritize! What is the most valued item situation? Go with that and continue to go with the next one at hand.
Comment by Jean M. Pudnak — July 2, 2009 @ 11:01 pm
Prioritize your tasks–must be able to discern the important ones from the not so important ones.
Comment by RoseAnne Homola — July 3, 2009 @ 1:32 am
Wake just 30 minutes earlier and use that new found time for yourself. i.e. exercise, meditate, or getting a jumpstart on your day.
Comment by Lauren Conner — July 3, 2009 @ 5:06 am
As Roger would say, be in the zone, don’t multitask, and have a set goal of what needs to be accomplished during that specific timeframe, and get it done!
Comment by Kim Schroeder — July 3, 2009 @ 5:19 am
everyone should know that they are in control of every second of every min of every hour of each day. and that they can chose or not to take responsibility of such timing in their lives!
Comment by Janet — July 3, 2009 @ 5:28 am
The one thing that every person should know in the area of time management is how to effectively create a model week. This includes knowing how long it takes to complete tasks, and make their personal life live in harmony with their work life.
Comment by Christine King — July 3, 2009 @ 7:35 am
get a watch
Comment by Bill Pilson — July 3, 2009 @ 7:38 am
Make time for yourself first.
Allow yourself to declutter your life and your mind. Be healthy and get in a positive frame of mind to start every day.
Comment by David Kern — July 3, 2009 @ 10:23 am
how to stop interuptions from employees and friends and the internet.
Comment by Marty Pavilonis — July 3, 2009 @ 11:15 am
The discipline to prioritize a person’s time. In regards to this, keep asking what’s the most important use of their time each and every day. It helps to plan each day in advance, and to realistically allow for interruptions. Coupled with realistic goals and even more manageable “to do” list helps. Reading articles, listening to audio, ask others who appear to manage their time well how they do it. A good e-book I read by Jim Meisenheimer, “75 Ways to get control of your time and life”, has many methods, one that comes to mind is breaking down each day into :15 minutes blocks. Become a student of time management, devote time to the continuous improvement of the use of your time. Scheduling time periods, much like a professional practice, helps too. Our time is just as important as theirs. Pad your time generously. The list goes on. Mike Brescia at “Think Right Now”.com, has great affirmations on cd and in print that for around twenty dollars.
Comment by Dave — July 3, 2009 @ 1:02 pm
Know thyself!
Comment by Dave — July 3, 2009 @ 1:08 pm
Keep your priorities straight. Regardless of how chaotic things become, dedicate yourself fully for 10 minutes to each member of your family every day. 10 minutes may seem like a lot sometimes, but it is actually not even 1% of your day.
Comment by Sherry Potempa — July 3, 2009 @ 2:02 pm
Prioritizing
Comment by Chris Trapeni — July 3, 2009 @ 6:15 pm
how to prioritize
Comment by Bill Williams — July 3, 2009 @ 8:17 pm
It seems that when I’ve taken the time to prioritize and make a list, I have been the most productive. The list helps to keep me focused on the task, and also I can see the longer term outcome. When I don’t use this technique, I tend to get easily sidetracked, and only accomplish a little of a few different things.
Comment by Julie — July 4, 2009 @ 7:05 am
Time management is a matter of good business planning and strategic planning. With proper planning and systems in place to help the plan work, even if one gets pulled from their daily schedule they know exactly where to pick up where they left off when they return to their schedule. Otherwise, when operating without a plan, they are reading a book without a bookmark, which means they have to start reading from the beginning of the book everytime their schedule is blown. With a good strategic plan and systems they just pick up where they left off. Time management then becomes predictable, measurable and the result is profitability.
Comment by Gail Hurst — July 4, 2009 @ 1:38 pm
Base today’s behavior not on how you are feeling today, but on how you want to feel tomorrow. This applies to everything you do, from making cold calls to cleaning off your desk. Always keep the end result in mind.
Comment by Flo Vachon — July 4, 2009 @ 7:30 pm
Setting your goal and knowing how to prioritize. By seeting your goal you must have a well laid that plan/schedules, to managemnt your tome properly you must have a scale of preference to determine your priority.
Comment by Emmanuel — July 6, 2009 @ 3:06 am
Establish your list of life priorities and make sure all the people affected by them understand clearly what they are.
Comment by Jeff Craft — July 6, 2009 @ 8:58 am
#1 Concept : PRIORITIZATION
Comment by ANNIE GUY — July 6, 2009 @ 9:16 am
slow down….i personally write my list b4 i go 2 bed…that way when i wake up i have a plan…..charing
Comment by CHARING BOSTIC — July 6, 2009 @ 11:27 am
My best advice is to remember not to forget your family. They need you too and can really interfere in your work if you don’t make time available for them by planning it out and writing it on the calendar as well.
Comment by Laura Rusiecki — July 6, 2009 @ 12:27 pm
Priorities: determine what activities matter most toward the goals you are trying to achieve, and schedule them for the time in your day when you have the most energy.
Comment by Carmen Croonquist — July 6, 2009 @ 12:50 pm
Preventive Maintenance, Know you weakness & prevent against it with your strengths!!
Comment by Drew — July 6, 2009 @ 1:27 pm
First define your top 5-10 core values. Then define what your life goals are..personal and professional. Then do the things that are in alignment with those values and goals.
Constantly ask yourself if what you are doing is taking you closer or further away from your values/goals. “Focus on the vital few, rather than the trivial many”. Delegate the rest.
Comment by Dr. Tami Hartman — July 6, 2009 @ 1:48 pm
After my yearly “half time” pause the answer to this question is what I’ve just recently told myself.
“Your time is yours and no one is going to make you or help you use it wisely to most effectively benefit your life. It is your responsibility and duty to yourself. Pick a book, a conference call, a book on CD, taken several classes – review your notes. You have the tools and they are useful only when you actually USE them. So get started…you are a champion already…once you start
Comment by Heather Haynes — July 6, 2009 @ 5:53 pm
Figure out how much time they were currently wasting.
Comment by Michael Lovelace — July 7, 2009 @ 7:30 pm
Be committed to the goals that you want to achieve within the given time framework.
Comment by Aparna — July 7, 2009 @ 10:16 pm
Start and finish what you want to put off the most – once complete you will be able to zoom through the rest.
Comment by Donna Healy — July 8, 2009 @ 9:26 am
Touch each piece of correspondence only once. Act on it immediately, dicard, or send to another person.
Comment by Kenneth Seitz — July 8, 2009 @ 12:50 pm
Prioritze your tasks:
A – Must do
B – Should do
C – Could do
Work on all the “A” tasks first, in order of their importance
Do not work on “B” tasks until all “A” tasks are completed
Do not work on “C” tasks until all “B” tasks are completed
Comment by Howard Tangler — July 8, 2009 @ 3:14 pm
One cannot manage time. One can only manage how they use their time
Comment by Bonnie Fountaine — July 8, 2009 @ 6:26 pm
Time itself cannot be managed. Time management is essentially management of ourselves.
Comment by Lonny Hogan — July 9, 2009 @ 7:42 am
Time is not flexible, you cannot make time but you can master it’s use. Therefore, you have to be creatively flexible to get the most out of it. Be organized and set up a reminder system that works for you. Todays market place has a lot of good options but it is best to choose one method and stick to it. For example use an electronic calendar with reminder pop-ups. When you block the time on your calendar for an appointment also remember to schedule preparation and travel time. Electronic task reminders work well also, the main thing is to take the time to train yourself to use them and keep everything organized. It will not do you any good to plan your time if you are not organized enough to find your meeting handouts; you will end up wasting time instead of mastering it.
Comment by Jacqueline Barrett — July 9, 2009 @ 8:42 am
You can’t ‘make’ time, we already have all the time there is, learn to use it wisely, prioritize, overdoing it only leads to more stress
Comment by Peter Zanias — July 9, 2009 @ 9:54 am
Time can never be recalled, therefore we should use it wisely.
Comment by Philip Brooks — July 9, 2009 @ 10:06 am
For every single second represents both past, present , and future ! Time is not an infinit commodity for when you die it ends ! Time is the most wasted of ALL resources !
Comment by Joe Hudak — July 9, 2009 @ 10:33 am
One of my things that I do is: Make the hard call first. After taking care of the most difficult task, the others seem like they fly off the list of things to do. It also takes the tension out of your day.
Comment by Helen Herbie Hartman — July 9, 2009 @ 11:00 am
You have much more time than you need to accomplish your goals.
Eliminate the wasted time and use it for other parts of your life.
Comment by Bruce Rockwell — July 9, 2009 @ 11:18 am
Collect information regarding calls to make in one folder. Pick up the folder and you can start to make calls and all the information wherever you are.
Comment by Andi — July 9, 2009 @ 12:17 pm
You can plan all day and not get anything accomplished. Set clear priorities, getting the MOST important or MAJOR tasks completed first (even if they are the hardest ones). Discipline yourself to begin immediately and keep working on it until it is completely done before you move forward to the next.
Comment by Felecia Burke — July 9, 2009 @ 12:41 pm
Hire competent staff & DELEGATE.
Comment by DIONNE BRAGGS — July 9, 2009 @ 3:14 pm
F O C U S…
Free yourself from distractions.
Open to creativity.
Call on resources.
Understand the objectives.
Stay on task.
Comment by Annette McAuliffe — July 9, 2009 @ 4:43 pm
The best way to accomplish time management is to learn the art of not procrastinating. Make a to do list every day and Choose the biggest, ugliest frog and eat it first thing in the morning.
Comment by Linda Harned — July 9, 2009 @ 6:19 pm
Be Still and Know that He is God! He is in control and not us. Therefore, let Him tell us which and what to do first.
Comment by Wen Lan — July 10, 2009 @ 9:59 am
Do your least favorite tasks at the beginning of the day. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER put off until tomorrow anything that needs to be done today. If you think you don’t have time to do it today you certainly won’t hve the time or the inclination to go back to it tomorrow.
Comment by Lita Latham — July 10, 2009 @ 1:22 pm
Time Blocking is most important, with blocks priortized so you can Plan your Work and Work your Plan.
Comment by Chyrel Madden — July 10, 2009 @ 3:11 pm
Time management is not about organizing your calendar, it is about organizing what needs to happen in your life and committing to seeing it through.
Comment by Ray A. Mondragon, Jr. — July 10, 2009 @ 5:25 pm
Where is your time currently being spent
Comment by Shawn Wallace — July 12, 2009 @ 11:03 am
You cannot manage time. Time is consistant however; you can manage yourself and how you use your time.
Comment by Belinda Wright — July 13, 2009 @ 8:58 am
If you do not plan and prioritize no one will do it for you and you will no accomplish the things that YOU want in you life. This is one great way to take contrl of your life, be intentional and FREE!
Comment by Justine Alexander — July 13, 2009 @ 10:28 am
Do the first things first!
This is simple but usually not done. We tend to do the easy small things to get them out of the way and then we end up not having time for the higher priority more time comsuming tasks. As a result they are not done in a timely manner. If we learn to do the first priority things first we would be more timely.
Comment by Clifford Reynolds — July 16, 2009 @ 3:10 pm
Do what only you can do.
If I am the only one who can do it. It stays. Only I can be the wife to my husband, and mom to my kids. The rest is negotiable.
Comment by jeanne-marie — July 16, 2009 @ 6:43 pm
I believe the most important aspect of time management is the inclusion of personal time; defining personal time as time spent doing something that the individual finds rewarding, relaxing or just plain fun! Many of us cram so much into our day and at the end of the day feel drained and stressed. I believe that if a person puts personal time ahead of everything else on the schedule he/she will be a lot happier, more peaceful and better able to meet the rest of their schedule without stress.
Comment by Julie Reinhart — July 21, 2009 @ 7:14 pm
hi. great article!
Comment by Upsessiow — July 24, 2009 @ 10:33 pm
Lots of good advice here, and I probably would have repeated some of the comments, so am thankful for the recap!
Something different that I have been thinking about – how much time do we waste looking for misplaced items, especially those we have moved & forgotten the new location? How about starting a quick index so that whenever we get “the moving jag” we have a list of where things have been moved?
Another time saver for me has been color coding – different color notebooks for different subject seminars I attend, different color file hangers for different subjects in my files = easy retrieval!
Comment by Mary C Hall — July 28, 2009 @ 10:16 am