These 8 Things Are Wasting Your Valuable Time Everyday Time Management Upload TheProjectKnowledge Loading... Working... ► Play all Time Management 5 videos756 viewsLast updated on Jul 7, 2013 Play all Sign in to YouTube Sign in History Sign in to add this to Watch Later Add to Loading playlists... A Formula to Stop You from Overcommitting Your Time When I dive into time coaching clients’ schedules, I consistently discover that people misdiagnose themselves as having a “productivity” problem when, in fact, their bigger issue is an overcommitment problem. When they have committed to more external projects and personal goals and obligations than they have hours for in the day, they feel the massive weight of time debt. One of my coaching clients suffered from a huge amount of false guilt until he realized he had the unrealistic expectation that he could fit 160 hours of tasks into a 40-hour workweek. Effective time investment begins with accepting the reality that time is a finite resource. The single most important factor in feeling like a time investment success or failure is whether or not your expectations of what you will accomplish align with how much time you have to invest. Time investment success (External expectations) + (Internal expectations) ≤ 24 hours — (Self-care) Time debt stress Here’s an example of this breakdown:
8.1: Time Management Strategies - Social Sci LibreTexts Introduction Do you ever wonder where the hours in the day go? Do some days seem to just fly by—leaving you feeling like there just isn’t enough time to do everything you need to do? People in modern society often struggle to balance the time-consuming needs of going to school, working, and taking care of families. Is there a way to accomplish the things we need to do, along with the things we want to do, each day? There are many strategies out there for organizing our daily activities. In this lesson, we’ll explore useful ways to organize your days—and even your weeks—to get the most mileage out of your time. How to Make a Daily To-Do List We often have many tasks and activities to take care of during the day or throughout the week. Here are useful ways you can organize the day’s activities: Step 1: Brainstorm tasks. Step 2: Estimate time. Now, pull out your calendar or Time Monitor/Time Plan. Add up the time needed to complete all of your to-do items. Step 3: Rate each task by priority.
If You Don't Have Time, It's Because You're Afraid Source: PicJumbo. One of the most common excuses for not improving a habit is arguing, “I don’t have time”. This is a lie. You do have time. But you say you don’t because you’re afraid. Afraid to ship your art, say, “This might not work”, press publish, strength-train, make time for yourself, etc. If you weren’t, you would find time. Saying “I don’t have time” translates to, “I’m busy” and, “I have a lot on at the moment”. But are you working hard on the right things? If not, it’s because you haven’t asked yourself The Focusing Question, found your ONE Habit and distinguished the vital few from the trivial many. Finding time isn’t that dissimilar to overcoming your fear: you make what your putting off a priority, you make it a must. Here are a few examples of how you can do that. How to Prioritise Track Your Time: You do have time. Checking Facebook. Use time tracking software like Toggl or Timely and learn how you really spend your time. Start by saying no to ONE activity or effort.
2.3: Time Management Reality - Social Sci LibreTexts “You cannot hoot with the owls and then soar with the eagles.” – Hubert Humphrey There is a difference between a goal and a wish. When we apply this to education, there are many areas that require action in order to be successful. “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” – Michael Jordan Author’s Story I had a friend in college who wanted to be a professional athlete. One of the challenges many students face is being over committed. Other students may struggle because college does not have as much structure as what they may have been used to in high school. Procrastination “Do or do not – there is no try.” – Yoda Either a homework assignment gets done on time or it doesn’t. Procrastination is the act of putting something off. Reasons We Procrastinate I don’t feel like it. Perfectionism. Fear of success. Fear of failure. “If we are not prepared to fail, we will never create anything original.” – Sir Ken Robinson So how do we avoid procrastination?
How a Themed Schedule Can Help You Stay on Task I’m a writer, a productivity coach and a speaker. Since I work from home, I have work-related activities that may carry over into my home life if I’m not careful. I’m also a stay-at-home parent who has responsibilities during the week that can bleed over into my work life … if I’m not careful. So what keeps me on the right tasks at the right times more often than not? It wasn’t something that happened overnight. It took discipline — discipline that was forged over a period of time in large part because of a framework I put in place that fostered it and allowed it to flourish. The framework I built revolves around assigning themes to periods of time. A theme is defined as “a unifying or dominant idea.” Here are my themes, listed by day: Monday The focus on Monday is on the creative aspects of my business, Productivityist. Tuesday Every Tuesday is a Daddy Duty Day. Wednesday Like Tuesday, Wednesday is also a Daddy Duty Day. Thursday Friday Friday is generally Meeting Day. Saturday Sunday
1.4: Time Management - Humanities LibreTexts Case Study Kai feels like he is struggling through his first semester of college. He works long hours at a job every night, lives at home, and helps care for his younger sister. When he gets home from work, he is ready for bed and is often too tired for homework or studying. Lots of students like Kai have to balance a lot of responsibilities, such as work, school, and family. For work-life balance, we need to Eat healthy meals and snacks Exercise regularly Get enough sleep Manage stress Talk to guidance counselors and instructors Have good time-management practices Know when we are trying to do too much and make decisions about our time. Time management allows us to achieve our goals and at the same time remain healthy. Identify your time management style Create a schedule Get better at prioritizing At the end of their session, Kai and the counselor have put together a rough schedule for Kai to further refine as he goes through the next couple of weeks. Identify Your Time Management Style
Measure Your Time “You can’t change what you don’t measure.” I’ve read this quote, or something very similar to it, in all kinds of contexts—running, professional, budgeting, eating, etc. This post will look at the statement in the context of time management. In What Would You Do If You Had More Time, I wrote “The first step in optimizing your time is to find out where all your time goes… Keep a time log for at least a week… Success in any endeavor always begins with assessment of where you are right now… Discover your time leaks, your time stealers, to get rid of them.” You can download a printable or a digital (Excel) time log from Laura Vanderkam’s website (author of 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think). Since I am on the computer most of the day anyway, the Excel version was best for me. When I started tracking my time, I was looking for ways to streamline my morning routine. You’ll note that in the category “Personal Care” I include making my bed. And so the process goes. Like this: