How to Better Manage Your Time

Let’s be honest, effective time management seems harder than stopping a Mack Truck, with no brakes, going down hill. It’s one of those things that we all try, or “try” in some cases, to get better at but don’t seem to make any headway.

Seriously, who wants to be the one that can’t get it together? No one! At least hopefully no one. We try and try and still no substantial change in our time management habits.

So if everyone is trying, why is it so hard to get better at time management? My guess is we are all reading tips/tricks/hacks/shortcuts/etc and not applying anything (looks at self in the mirror).

With that, allow me to give a few tips, that I use in my everyday life, to help you on this never ending journey ( That’s not to sound pessimistic. It is just that, a never ending journey).

*Disclaimer: My job is 100% commission based and I, literally, set my own hours (As I write this article from my living room). Still, there are great nuggets for you to use.

Make a Schedule Today for Tomorrow
This is easily my #1 time management goal.  “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road’ll take you there”.  “Failing to plan is planning to fail”. “Give me 6 hours to chop down a tree and I’ll spend the first 4 sharpening my ax”. There are endless quotes about planning before action so why do we wait until we are in the office at AM to figure out what we are going to do that day? If we made a schedule the night before, there’s a chance we could’ve knocked out those errands in the morning that we didn’t remember until 1 PM. Try it for a week and see if you notice a difference in your time management.

Prioritize. Prioritize. Prioritize.
Making a schedule is great but it’s more effective when things are prioritized. As Brain Tracy says “Eat That Frog!” We should get into the habit of doing first things first and second things never. Simply put, that means do the most important thing on your list first. Then the next most important thing. Then, etc etc etc. Prioritizing your list will do wonders for your time management. It has for me. Also, realize that your priorities are not the same as your coworkers/friends/church members. Maybe the most important thing on your list for the day is going to breakfast with your daughter. Everyone isn’t going to understand that and it’s okay. Prioritize things and watch your time management improve.

Realize that Being Productive Doesn’t Mean Being Busy
Can I be honest? This is a daily struggle for myself. Remember how I said that my job is 100% commission based? Well sometimes that gives me anxiety if I’m not “busy”. Then I remind myself that one of the reasons I chose this career path was the freedom it gave me. Part of the freedom is that I can do my laundry at 10 AM or go help my grandmother with something at 3 PM. These are things I would be doing anyways bu maybe it makes sense to do them at those times compared to others. I think we have to define what “being productive” means for ourselves.

Limit Distractions
My wife tends to have the TV on when she works from home. It works for her. For me, the only thing I have on are Ambient Sounds like waves, rain or birds. Find what works for you. If you know that you have to check your Facebook every 30 minutes because you have FOMO, then delete the app. It will force you to login on the web browser and yo’ll eventually get tired of doing it. That’s how what I did.

I hope that helped. Feel free to let me know some tips that you use. Also, If you have any questions my email is always open at JoshA@CIMTX.com