WiRE Blog

I don’t know about you, but I remember my days spent as a child seemed longer, as did the weeks, seasons and years. How can this be, considering there are the same number of minutes in an hour, hours in a day and days in a week or year? Could it be that we have conditioned ourselves to fit more into each day? Maybe we feel guilty if we aren’t able to justify our time as being time well spent?

Time means different things to different people in different situations. However the  key is to know how best to use your time and consider how to reorganise and manage your time in such a way that it suits you, your family and your circumstances.

Being in control of how you manage your time allows you to maintain balance between your work, personal and family life. Here are 6 effective time management tips to help you on your way.

1. Carefully monitor how you spend your day. It may seem time consuming, but by writing down all your daily activities- from the moment you wake up until you go to bed- you will have a clear picture of where your time is spent. This gives you a starting point to examine where changes can be made. This single activity has improved the lives of many of the people I work with.
2. Organise yourself. Do you work in disorganised chaos? Are you always trying to find things but can’t remember where they are? You might be surprised how much time you can waste in a day! Planning can save you time and really helps you to focus on what the daily essential and non-essential activities are.
3. Avoid saying yes when you really want to say no! Do you find yourself agreeing to do things when you really don’t want to do them and can’t really justify the time? It’s easy to fall into the trap of being too available and there will always be those who will take advantage of your generous nature. So learn to say ‘no’ and only agree to do what you WANT to do , not what you feel you OUGHT to do.
4. Tackle the difficult tasks first. By doing so, not only will you feel a sense of satisfaction but other tasks will seem easy by comparison!
5. Learn to avoid distractions. This is a difficult area for people who work from home, what with social media sites, emails and the internet and as we are surrounded by distractions, it’s all too easy to become engrossed in unplanned activities. So plan to incorporate such  activities into your day for a set period of time and no more.
6. Be kind to yourself. Remember, you are only human and do not need to be busy for every minute of every day. Some of the best inspiration can come from those times when we choose to take time out and reflect.

If you have any time management tips, Smallsteps coaching would love to hear from you.