Get organised

• Use a calendar and a diary to keep track of your appointments. Write them in as soon as they come up. Writing your appointments down means you are not so reliant on your memory, freeing your head for other things. Also you are less likely to double book, so you don’t have to spend time rescheduling.

• For your upcoming appointments and activities, try to plan ahead so you can set aside the appropriate amount of time needed for the activity. It may be worth adding on more time than you think you need, preventing you having to rush around, thereby reducing your stress levels.

• Write weekly goals and daily to-do lists.

• Make time to clear the clutter in your house and at the office. Schedule a one-off clear out session, then ongoing maintenance sessions so you will always be on top of things.

Prioritise

• When writing your to-do list, prioritise tasks in order of importance. Then make sure you do the important things first. Remind yourself how good it will feel to get the must-do tasks over with early on, freeing yourself up to enjoy the rest of your day.

• I know this is not easy, but try not to multi-task. Instead focus fully on the job at hand.  Doing so means you will accomplish the task quicker as you are not being distracted. It may also save you from having to do the task over if you did not do it well enough the first time.

Delegate

• Learn how to delegate tasks, whether at work or in the home. Remember to get family members involved.

• Once you have delegated tasks, recognise that it is now their task, not yours. Don’t invest your time worrying about other people’s tasks and what they should be doing. Trust them to do their thing.

• Associated with delegation is support. Identify your support system and then use it. Who can you go to for help? Has anyone ever offered their time, but you feel you cannot impose? As well as support from people and organisations, remember the internet. Can you do your shopping or pay the bills online?

Routines

• Do you need a routine to work at your best? Then create it. Develop a weekly routine and try to stick to it. However, if you get bored easily, you may need to change your routine on a regular basis to keep things varied.

• When inevitable interruptions crop up, how will your routine cope? Have you got a plan of action? Which activities will you drop altogether, which ones will you reschedule? Who can you draw on for help from your support system? Although unexpected things may happen, having an idea of what you may do can be helpful.

Goals

• When scheduling your time, you will need to juggle your day so you can meet your short term goals as well as working progressively towards your long term ones. Try not to neglect your long term goals.

• If you have a long term goal, remember you can achieve a great deal by spending short amounts of time on it, each day or week.  Rather than saying the task is too big, ten minutes won’t make any difference, recognise that it will. Those minutes build up over time and you will have achieved more than you would have done if you decided not to do anything at all. Also, breaking down a large task into small, enjoyable chunks may help prevent procrastination.

• When setting goals, make sure they are clearly defined. You should be able to know exactly what you have to do to achieve the goal. 
  

• Set yourself deadlines for your goals. Review your progress occasionally to check how you are doing.

Time wasters

• Be aware of those things you do daily that you know are wasting your time on. These are the things you do them instead of the task you should be doing. Email, the web, television, coffee breaks are all popular time wasters.

• For all those activities that you have identified you waste your time on, specify times each day when you will allow yourself to indulge in such activities. This includes the time spent checking your email or using the internet.

Down time

• Remember to give yourself regular breaks throughout the day. You will need your energy to make the most of your time. Don’t skip lunch and try to get some exercise.

Motivation

• Have a look at my motivation article to encourage you to use your time well.

Other time management articles

The importance of time management.
Are you managing your time well?

Be motivated to maximise your time.