Time Management Activities
Time Management Activities
So you are aware that you need to manage your time better. It’s midnight and you didn’t get half of the things finished that you promised yourself, again. It’s time to make a change and do things differently, you just don’t know how to go about doing it. This article will provide you with 5 outstanding and very effective time management activities.
1. Activity Logs: Activity logs allow you to analyze your time. It helps you to understand and see clearly just where your time is going. It is best to do this over a period days. This is a very similar activity to pre-planning a budget. Before you create a budget, you find out where your money is going, then you proceed. Same concept here. Find out where your time is going, and then re-allocate it to where it needs to go. Also take note of your feelings and energy levels throughout the day. It will be during these times that you perform your most stressful and highest priority activities.
2. Action Plans: Action plans are a bit different then to-do lists. Action plans are focused on a particular achievement or goal. You simply write out all the steps you need to follow to get one particular activity done. For example, your eight-year has a science project due in a week. Your action plan may look something like this:
• Moday: Decide on science project subject
• Tuesday: Buy materials for science project
• Wednesday: Put science project together
• Thursday: Hide science project so eight-year old cannot destroy
it.
Do you get the picture? This is not a list of everything you have to do in one day. Instead it is the action plan for a particular activity.
3. To-Do Lists: I know, a to-do list. Every time management expert tells you to write a to-do list. This is because it works. It allows you to gather your thoughts, decide what needs to be done, prioritize it and then do it. There’s great satisfaction in checking off completed tasks.
4. Set Goals: Setting goals is another time management activity. This is because once you determine your goals, you can figure out what activities need to be done in order to accomplish it. So once you have set your goals, create either an action plan or a to-do list and then get it done!
5. Create a Priority Quadrant: Take a sheet of paper and section it off in four sections. In the top left-hand quarter of the page write in Important and Urgent (ex. Doctor’s important today), in the top, right-hand quarter write in Important but not Urgent (ex. Doctor’s appointment in 2 weeks), in the bottom left hand quarter write in Not Important but Urgent (ex. Telephone ringing), and in the last quarter write in, Not Important and Not Urgent (ex. Playing video games). Next simply write in your activities in the box that best describes it. Once you have that done, you can begin to create your to-do list or action plan.
Managing your time correctly can really bring balance and peace into
your life. The above time management activities should help you do just
that. When you begin to realize that you don’t have to do everything,
or that you can’t possibly, you will be able to manage your time
better and bring more balance into your life.