Time is the point or period at which things occur. Have you always felt like you can’t just get anything done? If so, it’s simply because you can’t manage time.
You can’t value something if you don’t know what it means.
60 seconds makes a minute, 60 minutes make an hour, 24 hours makes a day and 365 days makes a year. This is clock time.
When someone turns 50, he’s exactly 50 years old because his life starts counting the moment he was born. What about real time?
In real time, all time is relative. Time flies or drags depending on what you’re doing. Two hours at the mechanic workshop can feel like 12 years. And yet our 12-year-old children seem to have grown up in only two hours.
Which time describes the world in which you really live, real time or clock time?
The clock itself cannot manage your time because clock time is irrelevant. You don’t live in or even have access to clock time. You live in real time, a world in which all time flies.
The good news is that real time is mental. It exists because you create it. Anything you create, you can manage.
There are only three ways to spend time
- Thoughts,
- Conversations and;
- Actions
Regardless of the type of business you own, or the work you do, your work will be composed of those three items.
Here are 7 tips to manage your time:
- Get a book and record all your thoughts, conversation and activities for a week. This will help you understand how much time you spend doing what, how much you get done, and how much you spent on unproductive activities.
- Avoid the to-do list trap: If truly an activity or conversation is important to your success, you’ll surely find time assigned to it. To-do lists get longer and longer to the point where they’re unworkable. Instead, schedule appointment with yourself and do this based on priority of each activities. Most especially, have a start and end time for each activity.
- Schedule time for interruptions: Plan time to be pulled away from what you’re doing it helps.
- Don’t start your day until you complete your day time plan. When you wake up each morning, plan your day, schedule time to schedule time.
- Plan before making a call: take time to determine the results you want to attain before making a call. Also take time, say 5 minutes after each call to determine whether you’ve attained what you want.
- It’s not a crime to shun fun at some point in time. Put up a “Do not disturb” sign when you absolutely have to get work done e.g “I’m recording”.
- Practice not answering the phone just because it’s ringing and e-mails just because they show up. Schedule a time to answer emails and return phone calls. Block out other distractions like Facebook and other forms of social media unless you use these tools to generate business.
Related: 44 effective ways to be more productive
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