How to manage your time better
If you want to learn how to manage your time better, managing the way in which you think about time is a great place to start. In this article, you’ll learn which thought patterns might be holding you back and how to change them to boost your time management skills.
1. Lack of strategic planning
If you find that you seem to be perpetually late meetings, that you never allow enough time to complete projects or that you forget important events altogether, lack of strategic planning could be the reason. The key to overcoming this time management block is to understand how you conceptualise time and if necessary, change it. Think for a moment about how you might draw or describe time. Most commonly, people who are naturally good time at management tend to think of time in an orderly way that involves visual blocks or segments. If you find that your own vision of time is more chaotic than you'd like, try changing your view of time into one that looks more like an internal wall planner. If you have difficulty visualising time, this is where time management software, apps and planners can be extremely valuable.
2. Lack of confidence or motivation
If you feel under confident, you’ll tend to dwell upon that lack of confidence, rather than just getting on with the job. In other words, lack of confidence creates procrastination, which leads to poor time management. Three changes in your thought pattern are likely to help here: 1. Ask yourself whether you are missing any vital information or support that will enable you to get the job done. If you are, find what you need as soon as possible. 2. Think about how you’ll feel fifteen minutes after you’ve successfully. 3. Whilst you’re actually completing a task, think of nothing but that task. The thought of a task is usually much more alarming than the task itself. At the other end of the scale, a project may seem so dull that you lack sufficient motivation to finish it. If this is the case, you might also spend a lot of time thinking about all the more interesting for exciting things you prefer to be doing. In either case, the net result is the same: you end up accidentally wasting time. The solution here is simply to allow yourself the reward of doing those more exciting things you really want to do, once the more boring task is complete. Managing your time really can be simple, as long as you remember to manage your thoughts as well.