Despite all the technological leaps and scientific advances, human beings seem to be perpetually short of time regardless of their age or profession. The old sayings about time remain as valid as ever.
None of the fancy devices we use seem to be able help us save time. Only one who manages time can be successful because everyone has the same number of hours at his or her disposal. Here are a few time management hacks, which will definitely help you:
- Plan: Set aside some time to plan your daily schedule. A clear plan allows you to make good use of available time and resources.
- Prioritize: Once you have your plan in place, it is essential that you stick to it! It is important that you prioritize—tasks higher up on the priority list must be dealt with right at the beginning, when you are mentally fresh and raring to go.
- Pay attention: Focus on the task at hand. This is where the best of us falter. To achieve focus, it is important to give yourself incentives. Reward yourself with short breaks at designated intervals. To start with, go for theapproach. This simply means work for 10 minutes, then take a short break for two minutes. Repeating the process five times would mean you have worked for an hour.
- Try and avoid multitasking: Putting your hands in too many pies affects work quality and leaves you rushing from one task to the other.
- Divide and rule: Break down tasks—divide a huge assignment into doable bits. Complete one at a time.
- Use procrastination to advantage: Become productively lazy or in other words, immerse yourself in small jobs while procrastinating. If you’re putting off major chunks of work, you can take care of smaller tasks in the meanwhile. For instance, do relaxing body exercises at your desk, file papers, re-plan your schedule if need be.
- Assert yourself: Being firm and saying no is very important. Respect your time as well as that of others. Do not take up more than what you can handle. It just slows you down.
- Check your progress: Set reminders and keep note of your progress. This helps you stay on track.
- Sleep: To utilize your day to the maximum, it is vital that your mind and body get enough rest. Get a good eight hours of sleep to rejuvenate yourself.
Time is perhaps the one most valuable thing that has been gifted equally to every human being. Make sure you invest in time wisely, so you have no regrets and live a fruitful life.
