Time Management Strategies

Some time management literature stresses tasks related to the creation of an environment conducive to real effectiveness. The time management strategies include principles such as –

• Get Organized

• Planning Your Time

• Goal Setting And Goal Focus

• “Identify the time habits and attitude”- self analysis

• “Recover from Bad Time Habits” – recovery from underlying psychological problems, e.g. procrastination

GET ORGANIZED

Getting organized includes organizing yourself, place (home, house, office, shop etc), time and work. There are also other psychological factors that can affect your productivity and effectiveness that should be considered when getting organized. These are improved memory, assertiveness, stress and concentration. Here we shall discuss organizing yourself, time and other psychological factors.

Organizing yourself

At all time, you need to learn to plan your goal, prioritize them and allocating resources (including time sensibly) to achieve them. It must be understood that there are many persons/activities demanding for your resources while the supply of these resources are scare or limited.  The persons and activities include friends, boss, pastor, church, social activities, work, home, family and so on. Trying to satisfy all these demands can be quite daunting. Success is not just about intelligence, but about how you approach all the opportunities that life affords, and how you use your time. To manage your time effectively requires self-discipline.  This is a necessary life skills – habit that can be applied in all life endeavors.

How to organize

The best way to organize is the one that works for you. There is no golden rule that works for everyone. These are general ideas that may help you to work out your own system for organizing your time.

DO:

• Work out how much time you have available, and when.

• List the tasks in hand.

• Work out priorities between these tasks. Which are more urgent?

• Make decisions about how long to spend on each task, and set targets for each work .

  Organize pieces of work into smaller, less daunting tasks.

DON’T:

• Don’t try to do it all at once.

• Neglect any aspect of your work, especially those you find relatively easy (or particularly difficult).

• Drift from deadline to deadline. While working on a project, you should continue to put an eye on others without losing concentration and preparing for them, and

  perhaps make initial preparations for a future event.

• Allow yourself to be distracted. Stick to your timetable.

Psychological factors

It is important to remember that in order to manage your time, you must be well organized.  Also,  no matter how developed your professional skills are, you are not going to perform to the best of your ability if you have other problems affecting your work. Thus getting organized requires improving assertiveness, memory, concentration and dealing with stress.

Assertiveness

Assertiveness is about balancing your needs with the needs of other people. It is about demonstrating respect for others as well as self-respect.

As an assertive person you can:

• Say no without causing offence

• Ask for what you want without stepping on others

• Say what you want without the fear that you will be derided or criticized

• Describe your feelings to others without embarrassment

• Complain without humiliating the other person

• Ask for your rightful entitlements whilst staying calm and respectful

• Remain in control even in fraught situations.

To be assertive is to stand up for your own rights, but in such a way that you don’t violate someone else’s rights. If you are clear about your own rights and the rights of others, you will find it easier to decide whether they are violating your rights or you are violating theirs – whether to raise an issue and if so, how far to go. Remember that with rights go responsibilities.

Coping with stress

Being alive can offer all sorts of opportunities for personal development but it can also be challenging and disturbing at times. Doing what we can to look after our mental health is important for all of us. This is especially true at the start of a new stage in life, or when faced with pressures to achieve and be independent, be successful socially, deals with family and relationship changes or financial worries.

If you are feeling stressed and would like to talk to someone about it, then consult your doctor who will provide some private counseling.

Improving memory

People often ask me how much should they try and remember. While you work, should you be remembering facts, figures and names?

Every day in life you will be inundated with new information. At first this can be quite daunting. However, when working you should keep in mind that what is really important and, be able to demonstrate that you understand what you are doing. You are encouraged to develop your own idea about everything without necessarily quoting it verbatim.

There are times, however, when you will need to remember key ideas, dates or facts. You may need to remember a particular Bible verse or key Bible stories or events. Most of us do have a good memory. Often what is important is how we use our memory.

Improving Concentration

Most people do not find it difficult to plan their work for the day, the week, or even the year ahead. Where it all gets a bit more difficult is when they actually have concentrate on their plan without distraction. Effective plan depends on having the right space, time, materials and, most importantly, the right state of mind.

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Presented below is a list of other articles on time management in this website that might be of interest to you.

1. What is time management?
2. Importance of time management

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