Practical time management

Effective time use has been the subject of countless lectures, published articles and books by time-management experts. But the knowledge seems to circulate only among big corporations and a few high-profile individuals. Majority of the population continues to be astounded in the face of so many things to do and seemingly too little time in which to do it all.

Although time management has been the specialty of highly successful managers in large organizations, ordinary people must learn it, as well. Everybody will benefit immensely from the various techniques in proper planning and smart use of time. Proper time management can make the difference between a full life and a mediocre existence, between abundance and want.

The term “time management” may have caused the common folk to shy away from trying to apply it in their own lives. They might have thought it’s too technical and involves a rigid process. It has some sense of structure to it, but not the type that stifles. And it’s not really technical in the sense that one would need to do complex mathematical equations to make it work.

The following practical ideas can effectively save time—time that can be used to do a few more chores, or make a few more extra client calls, or read another good book, or take the family on a picnic, and make our days more orderly and enjoyable:

Prioritize tasks. Make a list of things you need to do. Number each item on the list. Tasks of greatest importance shall be numbered 1; those of secondary importance numbered 2; the least important numbered 3, and so on. Review your priority numbering; move tasks if necessary, and then finalize it. Try as much as possible to follow your priority list when accomplishing tasks.

Avoid going for the easy task first. Resist the temptation of going straight to a priority-3 task simply because it is easy and can be accomplished quickly. As a general rule, put the easy one off until the big ones are done. Unless, of course, the easy one is also the most important and urgent; in which case it should have been listed as a priority-1 task. Otherwise, try to stick to your set priority order.

Fit your work schedule to your lifestyle. If you are a morning person – meaning, you’re most upbeat in the morning – do your most important tasks before noon. If you’re a student, schedule your major subjects in the day. If you’re a salesperson and clients tend to call you between three and five in the afternoon, don’t schedule your more important tasks for that time. A night person who has a day job may arrange to bring some important tasks home and work on them at night. Or, if not, he or she may apply for a flexible work time, where he or she may come in late in the morning and stay a few more hours after regular office time, to compensate.

Use small time in between big tasks. You will be amazed how many pages of your book assignment you can read while commuting to and from school. At home, you can switch on the washing machine while waiting for the rice to cook. In the office, while waiting for your coffee to heat up, you could go through your e-mails, make inquiries with the payroll officer, or jot down ideas to present in an upcoming meeting.

Make time for non-work necessities. Build into your workday or your off-work hours a time to exercise, visit the mall, shop, attend community meetings, and bond with your friends and family. One purpose of managing your time effectively is for you to be able to do these other things, the ones that may not be as important or as urgent as the top-priority tasks in your list, but side tasks to brighten up your day and your life.

Seek some help, if necessary. Perhaps you do not have to type every letter or answer every phone call yourself, if an assistant can do it. Relieve yourself of the petty chores if there’s help available. Focus on those tasks that cannot be done by anyone else but you, and you alone. When you try to figure it out, you will be surprised to realize that, actually, only very few tasks need to be exclusively yours, if at all. Blindly refusing to delegate is a sure way to keep your time forever tight, and you forever tired.

Keep organized. As you try to get your schedule in order, you must also get your physical environment in the proper setup. Whether at home or in the office, your space shall allow you to move about freely and find things quickly. If you have to spend several minutes looking everywhere every time you need something, you will be wasting a great deal of time in the process.

Especially during the early part of your time-management practice, when you’re still learning to properly assess the importance and urgency values of each task, you may need to check your priority list regularly. As you go through the course of the day, stop after working for a certain block of time and ask yourself: Is what I’m doing right now the most important thing I could be doing at this time? If the answer is no, go over your priority list and find a more appropriate task to do.

Effective time management is not something exclusively for top corporate managers or high-ranking people only. Time is a limited resource for all. It is, therefore, to everyone’s advantage to know how to properly use time for maximum results, whether at home, in school, at work, and in all areas of life in between.