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Time Management: Beating
The Clock
Do you catch yourself ever so often at the edge of a deadline? Negotiating
for an extension? Or worse, blaming everyone except yourself for not
finishing a task on time? Looks like you need some time management 101.
Sure, that adrenaline rush at every approaching deadline can make you
feel like you’re a manic superhuman, but hey, its hardly worth
that tension headache. Rather than live each day gawking at what needs
to be done, do yourself a favor and do something about it.
Here are some simple yet time-changing tips you might want to
try…
List it down. If you often give all the credit for
unmet deadlines and missed appointments on your self-proclaimed version
of amnesia, then it’s probably time to pick a pen and some paper.
A simple to-do-list would keep you on track on what needs to be done,
and what has been done (won’t it feel good to note that you’ve
accomplished something after all?). Use brightly colored “post-its”
to make sure you can’t miss your “notes-to-self”.
After you’ve done what’s on the list, cross it out and pat
yourself on the back for great time management.
If you’ve got time to kill, do something productive for a change.
If it takes 20 minutes of transport time for you to get to work and
all you do on that trip is listen to your MP3, try reviewing notes for
a test or editing a report. Recycle some minutes while waiting in line
or doing the laundry (assuming you’re machine washing). Instead
of simply doing nothing, try multi-tasking! You’ll find out you
can finish more on your to-do-list if you try inserting small tasks
in between. Need more examples? Try cooking while running the dishwasher
(as long as you don’t burn anything) or making calls while waiting
for the next bus. Before you know it, your to-do-list will be down to
one.
Plot your very own schedule. The secret to time management
is knowing what has to be done, when it has to be done and finally,
actually doing it. A schedule would allow you to divide your 24 hours
into definite time slots, breakfast at 8, gym at 10, class at 2, library
time at 5, etc. That way, you will hardly find yourself with time to
kill or dead time spent doing practically nothing. If it helps, try
allotting specific time periods for tasks depending on their urgency
or complexity. For instance, if you need to finish a report due the
next day, schedule it from 3pm to 5pm, you will probably need a whole
2 hours for it if it’s needed right away (especially if your teacher
required a 15-page report). But if its no big deal like finishing a
pedicure or sweeping the floor, give it a couple of minutes. If you
create your special “deadlines”, you’ll tend to accomplish
more things just in time.
Prioritize. Prioritize. Prioritize. I know that new
movie they’re showing at the mall is guaranteed to be a box-off
ice hit, but don’t you have files to e-mail somewhere beneath
your cluttered desk? Decide what comes first. Remember, that movie will
be much more entertaining if you don’t have thoughts of office
deadlines lurking at the back of your mind. Finish the more important
tasks first. If it’s not that urgent, set it aside for a while;
you’re no Clark Kent to do it all at once. Decide if that shopping
spree should go before your client meeting, or if it’s imperative
that you have a haircut rather than finish that reaction paper due two
days later.
After you’ve finished reading this, stop brooding on what needs
to be done. List it, put it on schedule and for once, just do it. Now.
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