Managing Your Time.

Many people get confused with the phrase time management and they ask, what is Time Management. Time management is about effectively scheduling of your time, goal setting, prioritizing and choosing what to do and what not to do. Deciding  what is important, what  is urgent, delegating tasks, analyzing and reviewing your spent time and motivating yourself to work towards a goal. In simple words, it is setting your goals or deciding what to do and when to do.

Time is constant and it always goes forward. It cannot go backwards.  When you say Time Management, what you mean is, you are trying to make the best use of your time and hence one should not waste the time.

Managing your time is basically managing your day to day life and the best way to start your day is to plan your day. You should plan your day the day before. I started applying this technique during the year 1999 when  I enrolled myself for masters program. Every one on this earth, is bestowed upon only 24 hours in a day. Not one second less or a second more. Heading a Multinational Company in Abu  Dhabi, I had  to work 12 to 16 hours a day and had to find time for my studies. The only solution was managing my time. I started planning my day and prioritizing my tasks.  Before going to bed I’d create a To Do list of what needs to be accomplished in the  next day and prioritized it. The next day I exactly knew what I need to do. If you apply these two techniques i.e. " To Do list " and " Prioritize List" , I assure you that you will improve the quality of your life, have more time to do the things you want, reduce your stress, and achieve greater peace of mind.

Plan your day -To do List!

When creating your list make sure that you note down every task that reeds to be covered. Right from the  phone calls, appointments to the meetings. You can also create another list for your personal life such as attending parents teachers meet at your child's school, taking your wife to a mall for the shopping, or visiting your parents, or attending some house hold chores. Now, there might be some unplanned events that will happen but you still have a sense of control of your day. It requires some discipline to effectively manage your time. Discipline here is doing what needs to be done even if you don't want to do it, or when you feel like not doing it. Do not procrastinate!  Planning your day will double or triple your productivity!

 Prioritizing your task

Once you have prepared your To Do list it is time to prioritize your tasks depending upon the urgency and importance such as:

Most urgent, Most important, Most difficult, Easiest, Smallest, Largest.

There are some tasks, those are Urgent and most important. Some are important and not urgent and some are most Urgent but not important. You can also use the P1, P2, P3, P4 method. Below is a brief description of this method:

P1 is your Urgent and important task, such as you must get the gas cylinder today, otherwise your wife cannot cook food for the next day.

P2 is your Urgent Task not important as of P1 task such as going to the Lunch.

P3 is Not Urgent, but Important task P2 such as paying your Internet bill.

P4 is Not Urgent and not important. Your wife or subordinate can do its such as going for the grocery outlet.

Always work on your P1 tasks before working on your P2 tasks. Also make sure to review your list during the day. There are times When P2 tasks becomes P1.

Getting Organized.

I would recommend the use of a  simple note pad or a day planner as a tool for planning your day.  Now a days electronic gadgets are available and lot of software available on your mobile phones or iPads. You can download those freely available tools. I find using a paper notepad is more cheaper and efficient as you can write your notes and additional information about your tasks.

If you study the most successful people in our society you will notice that they managed their time very effectively. They did not waste their day watching the IPL, or football matches or latest reality shows.  They organized their lives by effectively utilizing their time. During my visit to USA in 1999, I came across a book "The Seven Habits of Most Effective People" by DR. Steven Covey, that changed the course of my life. I studied the book second time thoroughly and started the implementation of the Goal setting and time management system.  I got myself organized. I started managing my time since then and could achieve whatever I wanted within the stipulated time frame. Those of you, who finds time management is their weakness, I would suggest to read the above book. It would guide you to discipline yourself to effectively set your goals and manage your time. If you are a tech savvy you will find lot of material on the internet on Time Management. Similarly, There are countless books written on this subject providing tips and guidance to manage your time.

If you want to succeed in your life and in your profession or business, you must effectively manage your time.  Time management is an instrument  to accomplish your goals in your lifetime. Whether you want to be an excellent writer, get all A grades in your exams, a successful athlete, a great parent, successful businessman or finding your dream job, managing your time is the key.