Time management is one of the most common topics with a huge impact on your everyday life. In this article, we talk about a few tips on how best to manage this time to give you the best results. Most of us have a similar experience with time – there is never enough of it. Due to the rushed lives we live – something or the other is pushed to the bottom of our To-Do list. How do we ensure that we have time for things that matter the most?
We can’t produce more time – it is a fixed 24Hrs per day. Out of this time, we have to earmark for food, rest, exercise and all the other chores that keep us going. How to ensure a balance that you don’t feel burned out at the end of the day. The trick is – Time for yourself! Ultimately, time management is all about ensuring that you create opportunities you desire for your everyday. In the sections below, we talk about how to create that time.
A few quotes to inspire us in this journey:
Time is the most valuable coin in your life, you alone will determine how that coin will be spent. Be careful that you don’t let other people spend it for you! – Carl Sandburg
The key is not to spending time but in investing it – Stephen Covey (Source)
You will never have time for anything, if you want time, you must make it – Charles Buxton
It’s not enough to be busy, the question is what we’re busy about – Henry David Thoreau
Time is not the main thing, it is the only thing – Miles Davis (Source)
Time Management – 10 Hacks to Keep you Moving
This is a detailed article on time management taking you through 10 different steps to help manage your priorities. A concise version is also available as Time management PPt for a free download if you’re interested.
Prioritisation
Multi tasking is no joke. If we all were given one thing to do, we would perhaps be experts at it since there is no pressure, not much to confuse us or challenge us.
But turns out, we all are leading busy lives and we have to juggle a lot of things – our career, personality, finances, friendships, emotional balance and for a few the spiritual element as well. How do we manage this all?
It all comes to priorities!
And when I say priorities, I don’t mean to say that our career comes above our time in the gym, nor am I trying to say that love comes ahead of your ambitions although that makes a certain sense.
What we are trying to do here is to identify what means the most to you and organize time accordingly. And by the organization, we don’t mean one over the other, we mean to say that we are going to address each of these priorities but not at the cost of each other but with each other.
Some models to help you with prioritisation of time are – the Eisenhower matrix, 4Ds of time management, 80-20 Pareto rule
Of course, there are various ways one can organize these priorities
- Based on deadlines
- Based on what matters the most to you
- Based on Ease of the project.
And each one of these methods becomes highly valid and influential depending on the type of person you are and our simplest suggestion is to organize in each of these ways.
It is in a clever mix of these priorities where you can find the real answer to the questions.
Planning and learning from feedback
Once you make the priorities, the next important phase is planning your goals. Here you identify a more specific course of action for each of these priorities and when you would want to finish them.
In order to do so – identify what each of these priorities mean to you and how much time you need to finish them.
a) Urgent need not mean important all the time.
You need to define what is urgent and important to you – where the odds are more and where there are bigger advantages. Make clear segregation and place each one of them properly. Remember the bigger picture is your life!
b) Plan a lax time.
We all are humans and it is not the easiest to finish a project right on the time we promised ourselves. A famous cricketer once said – I don’t see the target score at 50 overs but I see it at 49! That way, he gets that extra over if he makes a mistake.
Build that sense of hurry within yourself, keep an advance deadline so that the final day or final hour could be used to do final polishing.
We all need to know that no matter how great we feel at crunch time, we always end up doing a mistake, sometimes a very small and unanticipated one.
c) Make your mistakes sooner.
The trick of any business is acting upon a mistake before it happens. I know it sounds crazy, but there is beauty in anticipation. Try and build that art in yourself, make room for mistakes.
You are not perfect, neither am I and nor is this article. But the trick to identify and move as fast as we can and make room for those mistakes in life.
And find alternatives for them. It is not about perfect planning – it all comes down to execution.
Easy one Last?
Something we all do is to put the easier projects aside cos we are very confident that we will finish them.
Unfortunately – most times we end up underestimating the challenge and overestimating our capacity. Don’t hate me, I do that too :). But at some point, we need to see what really is happening. The question is whether we do it or not. If you don’t then it is really amazing that you treat each of these challenges equally.
Having said that – understand how important they are. If they are very easy for you – then there might be some good news. You can combine this project with something else and finish it off so that it is one more item crossed off from your list.
There is great joy in crossing off something from your list. Don’t do it on the computer – do it on your pen and paper, there is a great amount of satisfaction in that.
Procrastination isn’t always bad for time management
It is as simple as this – Procrastination is the thief of time. We somehow seem to believe that there is more time tomorrow than today and we are certainly very wrong to do that.
Tomorrow is just like today, we have the same 24Hrs. Some say that we will do it tomorrow when we are better and more efficient. But in order to be that efficient, you got to make those relevant mistakes. There is no way you can do great without trying and setting yourself free. – How to stop procrastinating
And tomorrow is not at all going to be easy, it is not going to be simple at all. It is going to be worse or if you think that it can be worse then maybe we have better motivation to work today.
Chunking/Grouping similar tasks together
This is one of my favourite time management techniques of time management. As the word indicates chunking is a way of simplifying your project.
I understand that most of the projects we are involved in are complicated and they take a little more time than a week or two. But a deadline of more than 3 weeks is hard to follow up since there is no fire to push us into action.
We all respond to an immediate fear/challenge as opposed to the slow build-up of a problem. This is perhaps why we all join the gym when we are 10 pounds overweight – not at the first two!
Make smaller deadlines for each of these long term projects – may be weekly ones or maybe twice in a week. Don’t make it one per day – it becomes too taxing and too ad hoc to keep working that way. Give yourself some lead time.
Multitasking to manage time
Another fascinating technique of time management is combining tasks. There are various tasks you can combine to make your projects interesting and more fun
- You can combine reading a book with travel
- You can combine relaxation with gym by listening to a song
- You can combine audio book with running in the park
- Relationship with work by choosing to work with your partner on an activity.
- Spiritual and Social needs by choosing something like working with an NGO.
There are so many other ways you can combine activities to reach your own fulfilment. Try and look within – you will be amazed that there are so many things you can do together.
And if you can think of any such modes, please write to us below, we would love to update this space with your suggestions.
Identifying when you’re most productive time
We all have ‘Our Zones’ where our efficiency is at its peak and the mistakes are minimal with the concentration at its highest.
Identify what time of the day you are performing best and slot that to your most important project. This time of the day should be promised to your prime priority and nothing else. It can be an urgent one or a distant one – whichever rates highest in your priority list.
We all know that the time spent on hard work is not directly proportional to the result. Mere hard work doesn’t take you much far, it has to be combined with smart work. There is little result in spending 10Hrs on something which could be done in 10 mins if only it was placed properly in your schedule.
Time is the most precious thing you have and you would want to make the best use of it.
So.. look inwards a bit, know a little more about yourself and the external world will get a lot smoother.
Taking Sensible Breaks
All work and no play makes John, Johny, Janardhan, mike, daniel, lucy and ….. a dull boy/girl. Time your breaks as per your convenience.
We have already established that mere back-breaking work will not take you far. You need to be smart, you need to use your resources at your best. Coming to think of it – time management is not too different from resource management.
Take dedicated breaks, refresh yourself and come back with a rejuvenation. It is not just nice, it is necessary. You don’t want to overwork the most important resource you have – your mind.
And you don’t need to fall into the challenges of stress management when you are busy with time management. Let us keep it pretty simple and separated or else things are bound to get messier.
Working overtime to creating the illusion of time management
Now, this is something which I am not at all comfortable doing – let alone recommend.
We know the rules of accepting a project – when you accept to do something – you need to understand your capacities and promise the time accordingly.
We all are bound by a deadline and it seems imperative to work overtime sometimes. But make sure that you compensate it accordingly.
If you don’t do it, there is a great chance that you burn out and end up spending more hours at the work table than actual results.
If you are a student, it is not about sitting in front of the books for 10Hrs just cos the exams are near. It is about finishing the same in 6hrs by training your concentration to be at its optimum level.
You might say it is impossible – but it all depends on how much of it you believe. It can very well be easily achievable and impossible might be just another word invented by the brain to delay the process or explain any mistakes in the project.
Looking at The Big Picture
I know that we all live in a fast-paced world and time management is paramount. Perhaps it is the most important skill you need to master.
But at the same time, we all need to know that our lives are more important than the projects we are involved in. I do understand that the projects get to our nerves when the deadline approaches.
But the key to differentiating stress and time management is the holistic approach and knowing your priorities very well.
And your life and well being is the biggest priority of all most times. The rest of the things can really wait!
These were our top 10 tips for time management. Please do let us know your thoughts below, we would love to add a few more or remove a few which you think might be unnecessary. Or if there is any challenge that is on your mind, we would love to think out of the box to help formulate a plan for your time management.
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great posts……thanks for posting it…..we always need these kind of information
Happy to know it helps Shubham. Please do let us know if there is any particular aspect or thought you would like our ideas on. We would love to make a post on the same..
Cheers,
V
Thank you Shubham, I am glad to know it helped. This is one of my all time favourite posts :)
Thank you Vishal :). Time is wayy more than money these days, infact a lot more valuable and priceless.
Thank you my friend, it is an honor to be nominated for the award :)
Great tips for better time management. Thanks!
Thank you Moon Roy. Glad you found them useful :)
Wonderful points. Much needed. Time is supreme & needs planning & proper use :)
May we all have the time to what what is important!
Thank you Anita :). Time is indeed supreme, the almighty which deserves to be treated with respect, planning and of course sheer timing too :)..
A very informative post Vinay. I wish these things were taught at school and college so that the society had citizens who are time conscious. It is well known that we are followers of IST (Indian Stretchable Time). Punctuality is only at schools and thereafter it is taken for granted.
Thank you Fayaz :). He he :D .. I have used that IST joke in so many of the conversations and it seems to crack people up :D . Having said that time management is something we can learn from the english, I really like how committed they are when it comes to this. This and of course the sense of humor :).
I agree, punctuality and basically the importance of time is something that has to be taught at the early stages. Having said that and extending the analogy of IST – it is never too late to learn time management :)
Practical and adaptable tips here, Vinay. I especially loved your tip of striking off a task done on paper – I can imagine the contentment it could give!
Thank you Vinodini :). Nice to see you here. It had been a while. Hope things are going great..
Oh that’s a lot of fun, sometimes I like scratching them over and over again depending on the complexity of the project and sometimes just for the fun of it :D :D
Absolutely loved the post Vinay ! I love how you begin every blogpost it keeps you hooked on to the end of the blogpost :D Also Procrastination is definitely a thief of time ! This post has definitely taught me so much more than you can even imagine ! I do wish I could read every post of yours again and again but its the damnation TIME that doesn’t make up :/ Love every blogpost on inspire99!
Ps: I am bookmarking this page so I can come back and read and reread this until I get all of things in order ^_^
Hi Najm,
This is perhaps one of the best compliments I have gotten from the time I have started writing :). And it feels really good to be reading this. I’m feel very honored :). Ha ha ha ha :D .. I will put in more time to come up with more such interesting ones. Any suggestions or any topics you would like me to write on, please let me know. I would love to :).
He he he :D TIME doesn’t add up indeed :D .. Thank you for the bookmark and the share on twitter, can’t really express how happy it makes me feel. Thanks so much Najm, this surely lightens my day to start by seeing this :)
Thanks a lot friend.This post is fabulous.I am indebted to you for making this on my request.Can I have the pleasure to request more posts like this Vinay.Thanks once again
Thank you mate. I am glad that you liked the post and I am happier to know that I have done a certain amount of justice to the topic you suggested :).
I would love to come up with more such topics my friend. Please do lemme know if you have anything on your mind. I would love to make a post of it here :)
Apt points very well presented, Vinay. I’d like to just add that the secret of happiness lies in not muddling your professional priorities with your personal ones :)
Have a great day!
Thank you Ravish :). That’s precise mate. Having a distinct difference between the two really helps and simplifies life to a huge extent. And as always personal life is way ahead of the professional one. We can’t let either of the two ruin the other.
Ah, this post seems to have been written just for me! I need more hours in a day, and this seems to have become my favourtie sentence these days. Maybe if I try and follow these steps, I will find those hours. And to think, I wrote in my recent novel “”Time
is right here already, you only need to find a right schedule.” Now, if only I could stick these my own words in my mind :D
Your blog says “Rest of the things can really wait!” My rule these days is getting more like ” Rest, of all things, can only wait!”
Rightly said, Jyoti. The quote is indeed the essence of Time Management. I wanted to quote it here :)
Thank you Ravish, I find that somehow in the busy schedule that is the one statement which keeps being pushed around. Not that any of us do it consciously, it has become so inadvertent that it really feels nice to keep remembering it every once in a while. A great way to reduce stress though :)
Thank you Jyoti, I am very happy to hear such nice words from you :). He he :D .. 24 Hrs is too short for a day. And I think it is a really nicer challenge to have than wondering what to do. So much better than ennui :).
It would be wonderful to know how these steps work for you. I am personally a fan of prioritizing and combining. Those two have worked like a charm whenever I have been pushed to the limits. That’s a perfect line Jyoti – Time is already there, it is upto us to use it. I would love to read your novel someday. Could you please share me more details of the novel and its theme. I am a big fan of the genre of general management and personality enhancement.
He he he :D . well I am sure we all are on the path and will get there some day :)
Ha ha.. You flatter me Arun. I still have a very long way to go and this thing is for sure – I will be in an eternal struggle to keep finding out ways and will be sharing them here of course.. I believe it is fascinating to keep finding these simple things which make life so much more easier :)
LOl .. at “All work and no play makes john, johny, janardhan, mike, daniel, lucy and ….. a dull boy/girl..”
so right Vinay and such a nice Bang On! post !
I particularly like prioritizing, to cross the easy task done first from the list BY a PEN on paper …its satisfactory and de-stresses immediately .. and the ‘combining point’ These two i generally follow .. rest like Procrastination…ahem-ahem .. well from now on wards I’ll be careful :P :P
Great post .. as always :)
Ha ha ha :D .. Thank you Kokila :). I personally liked making this post, time is something which I place at utmost respect and it is really very exciting to find ways to manage. I always reckon that it is a better challenge to have more things to do than wondering what to do :). And probably that explains why time becomes so important.
I think I picked this idea from my boss. He always used to carry a notepad with him and I wondered why he did that even though he had a smart phone with him. Less did I know it was this much fun to cross off things from the list. The combining is a very neat trick and works really really well, esp in our stressed lives where there is so much to do.
He he he, I guess procrastination is one word which has a strong grip on every one of us.. But it is kinda fun to discover ways to win over it too :)
:P :)
Typical Vinay Nagaraju style post buddy :) Super like it….
Ha ha ha :).. Thanks Alok. I kinda wanted to get back on the old style too along with the variations of quotes and the little things segment which we started anew…
I have always loved managing time, it kinda gives a feeling of being in control :D.. Happy that you like it.. Still needs some work though, the video and slideshow and the images as well :)..