<p style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; text-indent: 0px; line-height: 18px;"> Do you spend your days in a frenzy of activity and then wonder why you haven't accomplished much? Do you find yourself overwhelmed by the number of tasks you have to complete each day? </p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; text-indent: 0px; line-height: 18px;"> These simple time management practices can help you reduce stress, increase productivity and improve your quality of life.</p>
<ul style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="margin: 0px 10px 12px 20px; text-indent: 0px; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; padding: 0px;"><strong>Plan each day.</strong> Planning for your day will help you accomplish more and feel more in control of your life. Writing a to-do list will help you get clarity on your goals. </li>
<li style="margin: 0px 10px 12px 20px; text-indent: 0px; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; padding: 0px;"><strong>Prioritize your tasks.</strong> Prioritizing tasks will ensure that you spend your time and energy on those tasks that are truly important to you. Avoid starting your day by checking your emails as that will only distract you from your priorities for the day. </li>
<li style="margin: 0px 10px 12px 20px; text-indent: 0px; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; padding: 0px;"><strong>Limit distractions.</strong> Block out time on your calendar for big projects. During that time, close your door and turn off your phone, pager and e-mail. </li>
<li style="margin: 0px 10px 12px 20px; text-indent: 0px; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; padding: 0px;"><strong>Evaluate how you're spending your time.</strong> Determine how you're spending your time. Look for time that can be used more effectively. Do you spend too much time surfing the internet, reading email, or watching TV? </li>
<li style="margin: 0px 10px 12px 20px; text-indent: 0px; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; padding: 0px;"><strong>Errands: </strong>Keep an ongoing list for errands. This way your time spent doing them will be more focused and effective. Anything that is going out of the house with you, such as a store return, should be set by the front door until you go.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 10px 12px 20px; text-indent: 0px; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; padding: 0px;"><strong>Use time management tools. </strong>Whether it's a Day-Timer or a software program, the first step to physically managing your time is to plan how you're going to spend your time in the future. </li>
<li style="margin: 0px 10px 12px 20px; text-indent: 0px; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; padding: 0px;"><strong>Be sure your systems are organized.</strong> Wasting time looking for data on your computer? Take the time to organize a file management system. Filing system slowing you down? Reorganize it so you can quickly find whatever you need. </li>
<li style="margin: 0px 10px 12px 20px; text-indent: 0px; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: disc; padding: 0px;"><strong>Don't waste time waiting. </strong>Rather than just sitting there wasting time while waiting for appointments, always take something to do with you. Do you have mail you need to open? Bills you need to pay? A report you need to read? Or bring a pad of paper to plan your next marketing campaign, your to-do list or your grocery.</li>
<li style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px 10px 12px 20px; TEXT-INDENT: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 18px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; LIST-STYLE-TYPE: disc"><strong>Use only one calendar.</strong> If I were only allowed to offer one time management tip, this would rank high on the list. It is imperative that you combine all of the sports schedules, school schedules, social schedules, daycare schedules, etc onto one calendar. This way you can readily see well in advance any scheduling conflicts that you may have and you can address those immediately AND it allows you to discard that big pile of paper schedules that you normally have to shuffle through. </li>
</ul>
2009-06-19T03:51:14Z
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the-abcs-of-time-management
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2009-06-22T07:14:53Z
2009-06-22T14:15:06Z
Do you spend your days in a frenzy of activity and then wonder why you haven't accomplished much? Do you find yourself overwhelmed by the number of tasks you have to complete each day?
The ABC's of Time Management
1
2009-06-22T14:15:06Z