Time flies when you’re having fun. Time also flies when you’re not having fun. No matter what you do, time’s wings never stop flapping. Do you ever lay down in bed in the evening and realize you accomplished absolutely nothing that you intended to that day? You’re not alone.
The key to managing your time is organizing your time. You can’t add hours to your day, so you have to make the best of what you have. Pick one day of the week and dub it as a planning day. On that day, write down everything you need to accomplish within the next week. Then, rank those items as high priority, moderate priority, or low priority. If you actually give each task a priority level, it can be easier to visualize what the upcoming week will look like while you block out your time. It can also be helpful to write down which days you will complete each task. When determining which tasks are worthy of the ”top-priority” label, you may want to consider a few things:
Evaluate what is important and what is urgent. Sometimes an urgent matter might rank higher than an important matter simply because of timing. Furthermore, you may find that only 20 percent of the items on your list are actually important to your goals, and this can be a powerful realization. Not every bit of time and effort you put in is going to have the same effect on reaching your end goals.
For example, sometimes an unimportant chore takes too much time. A low-priority task may be mundane, require little decision making, and be mentally simple, which are attractive qualities when staring at a long to-do list. After all, the coziest area to hide in is the comfort zone. However, choosing to complete a time-consuming, unimportant task takes away from the time available for larger, goal-reaching projects. You may be producing results by completing the low-priority chore, but do you even care about the results? Sure, it would be nice if the coupon drawer was organized, or if the files on your desk were color coded; but perhaps it would be far more fulfilling to finally sit down and do your taxes, or complete your business plan.
This isn’t to say that the small jobs should be completely disregarded (that coupon drawer still needs to get organized), but every task on your list isn’t equally important. Don’t give everything the same amount of time, or the same amount of effort. Working on the top-priority tasks that directly impact your goals is the best use of your valuable time and will surely be the most fulfilling. Focusing on those tasks can help ensure when you lay down at night, you don’t feel unaccomplished; rather, you feel like you’re making progress and intentionally achieving something.
