Your Top Tips to Time Management Success

By Liz Rapelje

In part 1 of this article we looked at how goal setting, saying no, avoiding procrastination, and breaking up large tasks into smaller ones can help you manage your time more effectively. Here is the second half of 10 universal tips that, if followed, will ensure that you are on the road to time management success.

6. Prioritize

To manage your time effectively, you need to prioritize tasks, and make sure that the most important things get more immediate attention. When combined with techniques to avoid procrastinating, prioritization can help to ensure that what needs to get done, is getting done.

7. Delegate

You can’t always do everything yourself. Learn to delegate tasks to other people. When you open yourself to letting friends, family and co-workers help you complete your tasks, you become able to get more done overall than you would if you were doing it all yourself.

8. Beat Time Suckers

Look realistically at your time management issues. Try to identify your weak areas, and make a plan to fight those time wasters. If you know that family will distract you when you’re trying to get some work done at home, take steps to withdraw from the public spaces in your house, and use private space to avoid distractions.

9. Use Time Management Tools

Take some time to learn about the available time management tools. Whether it’s simple “tricks of the trade”, specialized software programs, or self-help style books that guide you through various time management techniques, take advantage of all the opportunities to improve your productivity.

10. Use All of Your Time

All of us have times through the day that we could be using more effectively. Waiting in line at the DMV, use those cool functions on your new smartphone to catch up on email, or to review the week’s schedule. Use audio books to catch up on your self-improvement reading while stuck in traffic during your daily commute. Bring the bills and your checkbook with you when you take the kids to swimming lessons. It’s amazing how much we can get done with better planning of our otherwise wasted time.

By using the top 10 to time management success, you’ll be well on your way to becoming more productive, feel a greater sense of accomplishment, and be well prepared to implement more advanced time management techniques.