20 Expert Tips on Managing Your Time

Whether it's a list of things to do from running errands to papers for school, or the presentation from your boss that you've been dreading you've got to figure out how to manage your time to keep up. If you're anything like me that may not be something you're good at, hence the reason you've looked up how to get better at it. Here's a collection of great tips for getting those skills in order.

 

1. Don't be afraid to say no

It's great to be helpful and want to make other lives easier but don't do it at the expense of your own time. You and your life come first so when you have that extra time, by all means, help out, until then, keep your schedule on top of your priority list.

 

2. Delegate what you can

In most adult situations you could probably delegate something. Need to get the house cleaned before a party? Delegate. Assign some of the lighter tasks to your kids or pass some of them onto a roommate or significant other. When you're at work if you do have people under you pass some of the projects down to them so you can focus on the heavier stuff and give it the attention it deserves.

 

3. Prioritize

This has to be one of the biggest challenges of time management but definitely the most useful and necessary. Prioritizing will also give you that sense of relief that the biggest (and generally most daunting) task is over. Think about it, when a hospital is faced with a car accident or kidney stone they're going to triage it and pick to the most pertinent situation. You just have to triage your life.

 

4. Narrow down what you’re trying to accomplish

For any task go into ensuring you have a plan in mind. Know what your goal is, if you know you're trying to get your legs together or get those abs you've been wanting for summer you should have a workout plan. Let's say you don't have much time that day then look up sources you can use or layout your template. It's easier and more rewarding when you know what you're going in for and know that you've succeeded.

 

5. Plan plan plan

I can't stress this enough, you need to plan accordingly especially if you have a busy schedule. Set time aside each day for any goals you want to reach or projects that need to be finished. Whether it's time for the gym, meditating, or even just reading. Planning everything out will greatly reduce your stress because you'll know when it's coming, what you'll need and how much time you can spend on it.

 

6. Put a time limit on tasks

Time limits can help you get that little push you need to get things done. That gym workout? You've got two hours to do it because afterward, you need to write the body intro and half the body of your term paper and be done in time to make it to your girls night. If you're able to stick to your time limits you'll be able to enjoy your time off knowing that all of your work is done as opposed to stressing because you know you still have things to do.

 

7. Multitasking is not a good idea

You've got all these things going and you feel like you can't get to them all so you get to multitasking. You're answering emails while trying to run on the treadmill just hoping and praying you don't fall. You're on a conference call with your boss talking about training new employees while working on a term paper for class then slip up and write half your conversation down. The base point being multitasking does more harm than good. When you section off your time for a specific task you're able to truly devote all your attention to it and actually be done with it faster. You finished your emails during that allotted time earlier you were able to really focus on your run and commit to the rest of your work out, you even got a faster time. You want to be able to devote all of your mental energy to each task and finish it to the best of your ability.

 

8. Inspiration may not come

You may be waiting for that strike of inspiration or that drive to come up from nowhere to really get you going into a project and honestly, that may never come. You may never get the urge to sign up for the classes you need next semester or apply for a new job. They're not exactly things most people look forward to, so don't waste your time waiting on inspiration. Just do it. Push yourself, get your timetable together and as much as you may hate it make sure that's on there too so that once you're done with it you won't have it hanging over your head.

 

9. Make sure you take a break

While it's great to get all of your things done in as quick and efficient manner as possible you need to remember to take a break. If you don't take a break and have some peaceful or relaxing time to yourself then you will definitely burn yourself out. The idea behind planning and getting your time management is to make great changes overall, not just in the meantime. If you go too fast and too hard to quickly with breaks you're not going to be able to keep it up and you'll end up discouraging yourself.

 

10. Wait times? Use them to your advantage

You know in the back of your mind you've got a few quick emails to respond to and this line isn't going anywhere? Answer them. Use any easy downtime you have to get a jump on little things like that. Any little thing that you can squeeze in and bring you closer to a finished checklist will help you feel more accomplished by the end of the day.

 

11. Break the bad habits

Everybody has some bad habits, and I'm sure they include things that waste time. For example, you woke up at a good time but you laid in bed for an extra 45 minutes just scrolling through various websites and now you have to rush to get ready. Break that habit, trust and believe I know how nice it is to just lay in your bed and scroll through Instagram but it'll be nicer to get up and move slow in the morning as opposed to running around because of some mindless scrolling on your phone.

 

12. Work smarter not harder

Always keep this in mind, there are tons of apps nowadays that can help with small or big projects. Things as simple as citing sources on a paper (which Word will do for you) or finding apps that can help you manage your time and schedule things out so you're not spending hours just getting your life straight. Trust me, there's an app for just about everything now.

 

13. Don't focus on the small details

You want that project to be perfect, you want to get that last set in, or you want to make sure your tub is sparkling. I understand, you want everything to perfection and the devil is in the details but that saying goes both ways in this situation. While you want all the details to be taken care of you need to make sure that your obsession with it doesn't interfere with the rest of the things you need to get done that day.

 

14. Distractions? Cut them out

Ah, distractions, the greatest threat to reaching goals. Nowadays your biggest distractions will probably be Facebook, (or my favorite) Twitter but you can't give them the time that you're using to be productive. You should put your phone on airplane mode and keep it out of arms’ reach.

 

15. Figure out where you're spending most of your time

Get a log and jot down what you spend most of your day doing, you may be surprised to see how much you spend on your phone, sleeping, or playing games. Once you see just how much time you spend doing nothing you'll be able to better plan your time to do something productive.

 

16. Start a to-do list

While it may seem a little childish to need a to-do list it can actually help out your motivation quite a bit. Every time you complete a task that'll be one more check off the list and you'll really get a visual of just how much you get done in a day. Anytime you do something you'd be surprised at how motivating that one little check can be.

 

17. Use a calendar

It can be a small one like a planner or a big one that you have in your bedroom, either way, it needs to be somewhere you can see and somewhere you can check often. Also, seeing them down on paper as you approach that date will you a sense of urgency that you simply won't get just by remembering it. You also decorate it, make your calendar something fun and something just keeps track of all the monotonous things in your life. Schedule a girls night and put it on there, make an appointment for the spa or that new nail place you wanted to go to. I suggest using the whiteboards and getting the dry erase markers, that way you can make it bright and colorful. You can also color code things, assigning different colors for kids, work, or school.

 

18. Be early

Everywhere with everything, always be early. It makes everything easier to deal with, you have extra time to settle in or find what you need to and you also have a buffer for the unexpected situations that will no doubt get thrown at you from time to time.

 

19. Set an earlier end date

To stay on top of things give yourself an extra day, if it's due Thursday than make your due date Wednesday just so you have that extra cushion in case life happens and for whatever reason, it's not ready in time.

 

20. Turn some tasks into habits

Gym time, self-care, meditating, whatever it needs to be, make it a regular occurrence. You like meeting with your friends? Make a date of it. Say every other Tuesday you guys get together and have dinner or go see a movie. Do those 15 minutes of meditation make the world alright? Set that time aside to bring peace to yourself and care for YOU. Because at the end of the time getting better time management is meant to help you, not stress you out even more.