Stay fit. Go to work. Do food shopping. Socialize. Write blog posts. Plan the following week. Go to work again. Get to the gym. See family. Pay bills. Have enough sleep.
There’s so much we need to do whilst remembering to breathe too. Sometimes life can get a bit on top of you and you end up not doing what you needed to because something else cropped up along the way. Then you start to feel bad for not doing that thing you were meant to do the day before *sigh* We don’t have enough hours in the day it seems, and those of you with kids...I raise my glass to you because along with all of the above, you have another little person depending on you and taking up 110% of your time. Hail all mums and dads out there!
I’ve come up with 5 ways to manage your time or just some tips that I follow in order to make sure I've done what I need to when I need to whilst giving myself some time to relax!
PRIORITIZE
It’s easy to do the tasks that you like first...like socializing or sleeping! But i’ve found if you get the boring or annoying things out of the way first, you feel better for being productive and you know exactly what you need to do next. Personally i write lists, lots and lots of lists. Put the most important, must be done task at the top and work your way down.
GOALS
Set yourself a goal, for example…
- I want to sit down and write 4 blog posts tonight so that I’m up to date for the next week.
- I’ll call that company before 12pm tomorrow.
Giving yourself a deadline, an attainable one by the way, there’s no point in setting yourself something you won’t stick to like getting to the gym before 6am every morning, if you do that again I raise my glass to you. If it’s something that has to be done, like paying a bill, set yourself the deadline for a few days before so you know it WILL be done.
DOWNTIME
When I say this I don’t mean your spare time that you should be relaxing, I mean those moments like when you're stuck in traffic or waiting for a train etc. Start thinking about your day ahead or prioritizing the things you need to do when you get to work or home. Then once you're where you need to be you already know how you're going to get stuff it done and how to make a start.
LIMIT MULTITASKING
Yes, it’s brilliant when you multi-task and it works. But more often than not, by splitting up your focus and concentration on two or more things means your probably not able to do them at the best ability you could. Of course certain things like writing and listening to music can happen simultaneously and it’s all good, but try writing, watching TV, talking on the phone and eating a sandwich...no, you’ll either have mayo on your top or you’ll drop your phone. Try and focus on one thing at a time!
REWARD YOURSELF
After all of that time managing and task completing you deserve a break. Grab a cuppa and watch some mindless TV or a film you’ve been dying to see. When you accomplish something that was difficult or time-consuming, celebrate! However you choose to do it make sure you're giving yourself credit each day for being productive and getting what you needed to done! Okay, okay, so maybe a Matilda sized chocolate cake after every accomplishment could end up being counter-productive….but, you get my gist right?
Even if these tips aren’t right for you or you have other ways of managing time, just make sure your not living life just going through the motions. Managing your time efficiently means you’ll have more time doing productive things and also more time to do the things you love.
What's your favourite way of making sure you get stuff done?
Thanks for reading!
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