Five Tips for Effective Time Management

If you are looking for effective time management techniques, you are in the right place. Before we discuss the practical aspects of time management, you should shift your mindset and understand that you absolutely own all of your time. 

Here is what to know:

You Own Your Time 

Once you realize this, your life will change for the better, especially when you have been thinking the entire time that you don’t have time to do things. At any given moment, you can be doing what you want to be doing, which means that your time is entirely in your control.

This aspect also means that you will actively choose what you don’t want to do. So, when it comes to effective time management, the first step is to always recognize that you are always and will always be in control of your own time. 

Yes, you might have people, such as your boss, spouse, or parents, telling you what to do, but fundamentally, you are in control of your own time. This aspect also indicates that you can actively choose to do what you want with time.

So, if you don’t have the time to do something, that something is simply not your priority, which is understandably fine – but – you shouldn’t pretend that the reason you are not doing something is because you genuinely don’t have the time. 

Yes vs.  No – Know What You Want 

When you are young, and you don’t have many opportunities in life, you might say yes to the majority of things that are coming your way. However, as soon as you get older and you start getting more inbound leads than you have time available, you will want to see what your priorities are and respond with a straightforward “yes” or “no.”

The underlying reason is that anything that comes your way and requires your time is either a yes or no. So, if you receive a text message from someone saying whether or not you would want to do a certain thing and you are thinking whether it is maybe the right thing to do, then your default position will be a no. 

On the contrary, if you have someone asking whether you want to do a certain thing, and you instantly respond with a “yes” in your mind, then your mind is free of doubts, and you already know what you really want without a second of hesitation. This aspect also indicates that you should learn to say “no” to things. 

Establish Your Daily Highlight 

Every day, you decide one thing that will be the highlight of your day. The highlight can also be the only thing that you want to get done for the day. For instance, if you have an amazing book idea in your mind, then your daily highlight is completing a certain number of words on the day.

Speaking of writing and working on a book, if you indeed have an amazing book idea that you would like to share with the world but you are struggling with jobs and looking after a family, leaving you not enough time to do the needful, then your better option might be to hire a freelance ghostwriter in Canada, that is, if you reside in Canada, and want to ensure that your amazing book that loads of people can benefit from, finds its way to the bookshelf and in the hands of your ideal readers. 

The power of setting a daily highlight is that it will instantly increase your chances of getting that peculiar thing done for the day, which also means that you will feel happy and satisfied at the end of the day. The daily highlight is more likely to be your most urgent, most fun, and most interesting thing that you have to do for the day, which will be incredibly useful for your time management. 

Leverage a To-Do List

The next effective time management tip is to use a to-do list. Every morning, when you are absolutely clear on what your daily highlight will be, you will want to jot down your daily highlight and also a bunch of other stuff that you have to do for the day.

If you prefer a physical to-do list, such as a journal or a note card, you can then proceed to cross them off with your pen as you go through your day. It doesn’t really matter what system for the to-do list you use, but you will immensely benefit from it in terms of effective time management.

The underlying reason is that your brain is a tool that is exclusively designed to have ideas instead of holding them. One of the biggest reasons why we allow stuff to slip through the cracks when it comes to time management and boosting productivity is because we haven’t done the much-needed tasks and written them down. 

So, if you are using an app, anytime you need to do something, you will want to write it down in an app so that you have a record of all the things you need to do. At the time of making your to-do list, you can set your priorities and make your to-do list based on your priorities. Also, there is something very satisfying about crossing things out from the list, as it generates a sense of accomplishment and makes you feel happy about yourself.

Integrate Protected Time

Last on the list of effective time management tips, we have protected time. If you are struggling with jobs and maintaining social connections, there is a great chance that you might get loads of calls and you might struggle with time, which is where the importance of integrating protected time comes in. 

For instance, you might want to integrate protected time first thing in the morning so that you don’t get glued to your gadgets in the early hours of your day. At least for a solid hour, you will want to ensure that you have uninterrupted time where you have the freedom to do whatever you want. 

For instance, if you want to be an author, you might want to use your protected time for writing. Whatever you do during that one hour, it will be genuinely nice to have that timestamp where you can do whatever you want. 

So, you will want to figure out what your protected time will be so that it is just for you and you alone. 

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