Productive Time Management Can Be Tricky

Do you manage your time or waste it little by little?

Most of us have very little concept of just how much time we fritter away.  For instance, take a quick survey of how much time during the average week that you watch TV, surf the Internet, or any other time-consuming activity that may not directly contribute toward accomplishing your most desired goals.

If you find yourself thinking you don’t have enough time to finish what must be done, much less time to productively contribute to the goals you want to accomplish, you may be overdue for a realistic time evaluation. 

And now you’re thinking, “Take time to do a time evaluation?"   I know, if you don’t have enough time now, you certainly don’t have time to do an evaluation of your time.  It’s ironic, but that is precisely when you need to take stock of your time management.  Consider it an investment to gain better use of your time and to accelerate the achievement of your important goals.

Let’s look at an example of a typical time consuming indulgence.  How often do you watch your favorite television shows or DVDs. Say you watch 3 one-hour shows each evening Monday through Friday, and over the weekend you view 3 to 6 hours of sports, a DVD, or some other entertaining show.  If that’s the case, you have consumed 18 to 21 hours each week.  That is a significant amount of time out of anyone’s week.  Of course, there will also be other activities that don’t directly contribute to successfully achieving the things you really would like to accomplish.

If you are really serious about evaluating your time to see where it all goes, consider the following exercise. Track your time each day for a week in 30 or 60 minute increments. To do this right, you will have to commit to accurately documenting your activities. 

Be honest as you note where your time is spent.  This can be tricky, as you will certainly surprise yourself along the way. You may find it hard to admit just how much time is clearly nonproductive.  It is just human nature to bounce from one activity to another without a lot of forethought. 

Of course, we all have unexpected, but important things come up that require attention.  Mark those down as necessary tasks.

If you adhere to this time evaluation exercise for at least one typical week, you will then learn how you are realistically spending your waking hours. You will soon develop a new perspective about your time priorities. 

You may find that you actually like the way you are utilizing some of your time.  But, what about the time that you discovered as being frittered away?  The approach to making changes in your time planning can run from making a simple priority list each day to implementing a time management software program.  Only you can decide which action will work best for you. 

However, beginning with a simple approach is the best place to start.  Figure out what your goals are, decide what must be done to accomplish those goals, and then breakdown the steps required to achieve the results you want.  You may find that there are 3 to 4 specific tasks that must be done within a certain time frame if you are going to be successful.  Those tasks become your priorities and the other daily duties simply follow behind.

The trick is to learn how to discipline yourself to adhere to the priorities you have set, and not be led astray at every turn.  For someone who has difficulty managing time this will take practice.  But, if you truly make a commitment to accomplishing your goals and set a time frame in which that must be completed, you will be on the right track.

With this knowledge in hand, you can now plan how you want to more productively use your future time.  That is, how you will best use your time for greater efficiency, more successful results of your goals, and even how you want to respond to unexpected events or tasks.