On time management -- Keeping a date with time.
Time is perhaps the most important feature in the universe that man has no control of. It simply moves on, even when the unthinkable happens.
With time, there is nothing new. Everything is simply recurring for the umpteemth time. Time is boundless and has no limit as well.
Perhaps, if we learn to do things, and live life with the mind that we've got time to questions us how productive or useful it had all been, we'd lead better lives with better senses of direction.
Here are a few tips on how to manage your time effectively.
1. Know your goals.
Make sure you’re engaging in activities that support your goals and ideas, whether they're short-termed or long-termed. Beyond your goals, it's possible that everything else could be potential time wasters and you should take care to avoid them. Basically, your plans every day should revolve around the activities that relate directly to your growth and development.
2. Set priorities right.
Arrange those activities according to their importance weights. Most important ones go up and you work on them first. Then the least important go down and you take care of them later. You'll find that your willpower is stronger in the beginning and can cope with the most important before you get tired in the evening.
3. Plan ahead on time.
It's not a good idea to jump into work before planning how your day would look like. Then there's no constant checklist at the back of your mind, and you don't know what's next to do. By spending time previously planning on the next things to do, you save yourself the time you'd have wasted on being idle or on irrelevances. If it's work, you could plan the night before workday or go earlier than startup time to plan and arrange.
4. Say no when you have to.
Don't be afraid to look people in the eye and decline a request, no matter how close they are to you. I mean of course, there are some exceptions where you might have to give in. But if you don't feel like it, no.or you have the nudge that the idea isn't worth anything, don't. Just tell them
5 Keep distractions away.
We know those distractions. They make us work slowly and at the end of the day, we never get anything done. For me, my phone is one major distraction at work because I'm very social and I'm constantly checking my feeds to know what's happening. However, whenever the time comes for serious work, I have to put it away and settle down for work. For others, it could be friends and the small talks in-between. Secude yourself if you must, stay free of distractions.
Finally, learn to delegate the smaller and non-important tasks if necessary. Delegation is an aspect of true leadership and you must learn to effectively manage your time especially when you have people following you.