Is Time On Your Side?: A Quick Guide to Better Time Management

“You will never find time for anything.  If you want time you must make it.”~Charles Buxton

Do you suffer from a lack of time? Does it seem like there are never enough hours in the day? Is there alot of stress throughout your days?

If you answered yes to any of the three questions, then is it possible that improving your time management can help improve your lifestyle? You may be thinking, “What’s time management have to do with wellness?”. Time management is an important part of wellness. When you manage your time better it can provide several benefits. Some benefits include:

More Time For Fun – When you manage your time better, you can get the most important items completed which will allow you to spend more time enjoying the things you love in life.  Effective time management can give you that extra time to spend with family & friends, enjoy your favorite hobby or simply relax and have some down-time.

Increase Your Productivity – Effectively managing your time can make you more productive. One thing I noticed personally, is that I used to be really busy but not feeling like I got much done by the end of the day. With a few slight adjustments I’ve found that I am getting more accomplished in less time! The increase in productivity has also enhanced my sense of purpose.

Reduced Stress- We all have some type of stress in our lives and one way to reduce some of it is through effective time management. When you manage your time better, that can reduce the stress of getting things accomplished by certain deadlines. Also, as mentioned earlier, better time management can help make more time for the things you enjoy in life which can make the challenging  parts of your life not seem so bad- the fun sort of balancing out the difficult.

A few things you can do to help you start managing your time better are prioritize, organize and eliminate! Quick Time Management Tips:

1. Prioritize – What are the most pressing items currently going on in your life that need your immediate attention? Figure out your priorites and write them down! (Writing them down will also help you to manage your time more efficiently.) After you write them down in order of importance, start executing!

2. Organize – Honestly, how much time do you think you waste in your life due to lack of organization? Be honest!! Sometimes it can be a simple thing like misplacing your keys that can take valuable time away from your day or searching for important papers for hours that you know you have but can’t find. Work on your organization skills to take back some of that time that you lose daily. Make sure everything has a set place and that it remains there when not in use.

3. Eliminate – Do you have distractions during your day that cause you to be less productive? Again, please be honest! Do you find your self surfing the internet, reading too many tweets or allowing too much time for other activities that can take away from your overall productivity? I can say that I have and when I finally realized it I started eliminating my distractions by designating certain time frames for each activity. I still do everything I was doing before, just not simultaneously. That has helped a great deal to increase my productivity. On a personal note, having the TV on in the background can be a big distraction sometimes, so I have to make sure it is off during the times I designate for the most important matters.

Bonus Tips

4. Delegate- Delegating can be a very helpful way to add time to your days. Is there someone that you can trust to help lighten the load a little? If you’re used to doing things on your own (like I am), then this can be a slightly difficult and take a little while to get used to, but can be a tremendous way of helping you manage your time better.

5. Reduce- Sometimes cutting back on the amount of commitments that we have is a good idea to help restore more balance in our lives. What activities are you involved in that you could possibly let go of (or scale back your involvement in) that may have become of less importance?

Time is a limited resource. Make the most out of your time! John F. Kennedy  said, “We must use time as a tool, not as a crutch.” I hope this information is helpful and if you have any additional info, tips or personal experiences about time management, please feel free to leave a comment.