Time Management

A couple of months ago I had to prepare and hold my first “Time Management” training. And I remember that those days were quite busy with exams and projects and other stuff I had to do for school. I soon realized I had to gather the information as fast as I could due to the fact that my agenda was full already and deadlines were not very far.

I must admit that the first thing that came to my mind was panic.

But suddenly something came to my attention, something rather funny. Sure, I’ll hold a “Time Management” training…as soon as I find the time for it.

And it was only then when I really came to understand the importance of time management. So I took some time to think about it more clearly.

Time management is a concept that refers to the efficient organization of your own time. Since I like quotes and sayings, I found this old Chinese quote that says “for some people, time is their best friends, while for other people, time is their worst enemy”.

What is time, for an instance? It’s a resource that can not be borrowed, bought or transferable. Time is limited; the day has 24 hours for all of us. And if we have time to waste, unfortunately we can’t give it to people who don’t.

Further more, time is a resource we never get back. When we feel we wish we had more time to do something, it happens because we’re out of time and, obviously, we want it to come back. Students, for an instance, often say that “if they had one more day to study…”

Truth is that it does not matter how much time we have if we can’t manage it efficiently. The Chinese saying I quoted says that some people manage to do their work and use time in their advantage while others waste it with no meaning al all.

Here are some basic tips in “Time Management” to help you improve your efficiency. Of course, time management is a wide area, but there are some most important things one should know.

• Define priorities. Our daily agenda is made up of many things and some are more important than others. Set a priority list to make it clear about what you should do first.

• Plan. Things you do in the last minute are usually things you do in a hurry under stress (we’ll talk about stress management
in a future blog) and they usually don’t come up right. If you plan things you get more time to do them and your efficiency level shall rise.

• Set your objectives as clearly as possible. It is always easier to go for what you know you want than for what you don’t know. Always have in mind what is it that you are doing and the purpose you are doing it.

• Delegate efficiently. Some things don’t need to be made by you, but they still must be done so you most find the appropriate person to delegate the work. But be careful. Don’t delegate all your work and when you decide to transfer your work to someone else, look for a capable and appropriate person. If you fail to do that, then it is a complete waste of time.

• Use an agenda. Either a notebook, a calendar or even post-its, writing what you have to do helps your mind to organize itself and do the work efficiently. Plus that it helps you not to forget what you have to do.

Also avoid:
- Over involving
- Being unorganized
- Postpone things you don’t like to do. You’ll have to do them eventually.
- Stocking too much work.

So take your time to organize your life.
It’s time to use time in your favor.