How often have we said or heard someone say “no time”? We have 24 hours in a day, of which 8 hours we dedicate to sleep. The rest of the hours we divide between work and home. Does this mean that we need more hours in the day? But isn’t that impossible. So, what is it that we need to do? Simply put, we need to manage our time efficiently.
Time management helps keep a balance between professional and personal life. Time management as defined is the ability to use one’s time effectively or productively. The purpose of time management is to do more and better work in the given dedicated time frame.
There are various ways to achieve the skills required for time management, and with consistency we can excel at it.
• To prepare a To-Do list
This list should comprise of work to be done either on daily basis, or as required, and a time limit should be set. For example: pay electricity bill by 10.00 am or complete homework by 6.00 pm.
• The 4 D’s technique: DO, Defer, Delegate and Delete
This technique involves in making quick decision of whether to do a task, delegate it to someone, postpone it for future or completely delete it form the list of tasks to be completed.
• Set reminders
• Do one work at a time, avoid multi-tasking, as it could hamper the quality of the work.
• Establish a routine
Example: Sleeping time and waking time should be the same every day.
• Respect other’s time and demand the same from others. Example: Reach office on time and stop giving excuses for being late.
• Always coordinate with others. Don’t take up all the tasks on self.
• Learn to say ‘no’.
These are a few ways through which we can learnt to manage our time, without being stressed. Having a to-do list, is very important, that way we will know the task that we have in hand and the time required to complete the same.
With regular practice, we use time excellently, without having to be worked up about deadlines. And also, we can give ourselves enough time to unwind and relax. A mind that is free of stress and a body that is healthy, helps in the long run. Remember we always have tomorrow if for some reason a task remains unfulfilled.
Manage your time well, and live a happy life.