Time management as another step towards success

Time management is the ability which many people begin to develop only by perforce. Many people, being overloaded with work and private problems, do not see any way out of such a situation and, supposing that nothing can be changed, continue to flounder in this whirlpool. However many psychologists consider that the problem of the time shortage can be solved. The desire to change yourself and the attitude towards time is the only thing which is necessary.

Thus in most cases it appears, that it is not so easy to get rid of deep-rooted bad habits and to use this valuable skill to one hundred percent.

If you master the art of time management you will find some interesting advantages for yourself. First of all you will stop postponing issues and avoiding execution of your duties. You will be able to estimate work and your possibilities quicker and more precisely. You will be less worried about the terms of work execution and will increase effectiveness. Besides, you will have more time for rest. And the most important, you will have more free time.

Here we are talking about the personal time management. By the way, interesting, that time management is not about management of the time, but it is about how to manage yourself.

First of all it is necessary to spot and to eliminate all factors which "steal" your time. In our case these are activities which constantly distract you. These can be visits of the colleagues, entailing additional actions. To avoid such distracting factor, it is necessary to set the visiting hours and make the colleagues observe the rules, remaining accessible only in urgent situations. In a word, for the sake of intricate and delicate problems resolving the manager must not be afraid to stay alone.

Personal disorganization and lack of self-discipline. These are two different things. Means against the former include: keeping the table clean, creating a to-do lists, assorting tasks etc. The weak points of the self-discipline and organization can by easily found by making the "picture" of the work week or the work day. What kind of pastime does seem to you the most unacceptable? This is the time thief it is necessary to begin to fight with first.

Procrastination is the thief of time. The root of the problem is that we postpone those issues to be done until that time, when it is already late and therefore impossible to do anything at high-quality. If it is a cyclic process, repeating day after day, we began to lose the self-respect, feel pangs of conscience. This means that intricate problems should not be put aside to the end of the work day, week or month. It is necessary to start working on it in the first half of the day, when you're not tired yet, full of energy, not overloaded with the current work. In this case the requirements of the task will meet your potential. And you will be able to do far more.

Another factor stealing your time is inability to say "no". To overcome a certain barrier, try to say "no" as frequent as possible to anyone including your chief. If a request finds you by surprise, finish counting up to 10, and then however say "no". At first simply pronounce it, then adduce the arguments of why you said so, and offer an alternative.

Here are 10 useful time management tips:

1. Make lists. Write down all your tasks. Always have your personal organizer or the notebook at hand. As for me, I prefer to use a simple little notebook with blank paper (without lines and margins like in the personal organizer).

A simple list of daily proceedings often appears a good help. To my mind, the 3-by-3 (when you use 3 lists each containing 3 tasks) method is the best, because too long lists seem even on paper to be impracticable. Or you can limit yourself to a maximum 10 tasks and do not forget to redo your lists every work day.

2. Encourage yourself. Having completed some business (especially if it was rather difficult and important) find time to reward yourself for the great job.

3. Make profit from the forced inactivity. Plan your work, while you are walking or driving the car, taking the shower or in other time, when you're not unoccupied. Think over the plans for today or the next day. Which of them are the most important? The basic task is to set out the priorities.

4. Concentrate on one assignment. A human brain works more effectively, when it is concentrated on only one thing. As obvious as that last sentence is, the multitask activity greatly reduces the productivity. Focus on one task and try not to mix it with the other ones. Sometimes the multitask mode of work seem to be more effective, but it isn't actually.

5. Do not postpone tasks for any reasons. Raising the effectiveness of your work and saving time, try to avoid the delays - the main enemy of the productivity.

6. Set the due terms. Nobody likes to observe the deadlines, stressing and getting you down, deepening the anxiety. A reliable method to remove the part of these worries is to set your own more early terms of completing the job. Be realistic, but demanding to yourself. Set yourself the task and, according to our tip number 2, praise yourself after the completion of difficult test.

In this way you will not only save time and raise the effectiveness of the work, but also will have the spare time in case you do not succeed to finish till the date assigned by you. This advice is often neglected, therefore it is recommended to set the punishment for the terms violation.

7. Shift duties. Rather often people undertake more than they can do. The overrating of one's abilities (perhaps, not a bad quality) often results in an overstrain and surplus work load. To avoid unnecessary stress, do not be afraid to shift tasks onto other workers.

Some people are afraid of shifting part of their duties on other workers, which is the wonderful possibility to increase the average work effectiveness of all members of the group. Make sure, that all members of the group understand the tasks and know, who carries responsibility for their completion. Ascertain that all communication lines are always in good condition. High-usage or idle line always reduces the effectiveness of work. Give the tasks to those, who are able to execute them quick and at a high-quality.

8. Have a personal organizer. In the bustle of everyday life we often forget about important matters. Personal organizer allows to constructively plan time for yourself and rationalize the daily proceedings. Every time, when you think: "Why am I doing this work now? I could sit home and watch my series!", simply look into the personal organizer and remember that you need to repay the mortgage or save money for your children's college. Look your personal organizer through every month in order to make all assignment on time.

9. Use special software. These are special applications, creating records and diagrams to show how efficiently you distribute your work time, sitting at the computer. You may find that short breaks, made to visit some sites, to drop an e-mail to your friend or to check out the weather somewhere in Peru, on the whole can make a rather large time interval spent for nothing and decrease effectiveness of your work.

10. Try not to be overstrained. An overstrain comes when your body and mind can't cope with the exhausting work any longer. Don't try to compel yourself to do the impossible. Assign time both for important issues and for rest and reflections. Think over your recent achievements and make sure, that you feel healthy. Analysis and reflection are one of the best methods to acquire self-confidence and therefore high capacity.