How To Improve Your Time Management Skills NOW

Do you feel like you have so many things to do, but there’s so little time? You’re not alone!

A lot of people struggle with this very thing, but there are some things you can do to fix this dilemma.

There are three tips that we share with you in the video this week. Watch this video to get those effective tips and details on how to improve your time management skills at work and at home. I am also adding some great nuggets in this blog for you about Time Management and Prioritizing.

Tip #1-Create a System

You must create your Time Management System. Do what works for you THAT YOU WILL DO!!!

• Write it down. Be consistent.
• Get a Paper planner if that works for you and use it.
• Research and choose an App, THEN USE THE APP
• Create or use a spreadsheet type system for organizing.

The right way to do this is to use whatever you will use! Make it into a system that you do on a regular basis! Time block. Know your productive times and your down times. Plan your days responsibly. If you over-book yourself, you will fail and then you will quit using your system.

If you fail to plan you plan to fail!

Tip #2-Schedule It

Learn to prioritize, delegate, hire out and find ways to add time for you!

Stay to your schedule and when you cannot make it work…reschedule it. Do not ever just blow it off! The only way you will be consistent and successful in improving your time management is to learn what works for you and what you will do consistently. You must commit to “rescheduling” what needs to be moved and making time for what is most important.

Tip #3-Make it a Routine

Make writing your schedule and time blocking a routine that you do consistently. Add it to your Morning and Evening Routine. Allow time to focus on what you get to accomplish and what you want to accomplish and watch how much more effective you are.

When we intentionally plan our life, we create what we want. When you intentionally fly by the seat of your pants, you are intentionally creating that life too. Which one do you want? When you intentionally move forward, not allowing sabotage or resistance to stop you, you can accomplish TONZ!

Remove distractions—stop allowing other things take priority over what you want to do!

BE INTENTIONAL: Being Intentional means being in control of you. This includes being intentional about your time management. As you are aware of the different areas that you are perhaps not being as intentional as you could be, when you are intentional you will see dramatic results! Check these areas:

• MANAGE DISTRACTIONS!!! MANAGE DISTRACTIONS!!! MANAGE DISTRACTIONS!!!

  Where do you GET to take more control in your life?

  How do we tie TIME MANAGEMENT and PRIORITIZATION up with a bow and make it easy?

  We could do a whole day on Prioritizing and Time Management! But I am just going to touch on this today to make it easy and impactful for you. The first things that create the fastest change is this:

  1. Use a system to Time Block your day. (Personal Planner, App on your phone, Little black book)
  2. Schedule it! Schedule what you “WANT” to do first! What you do not schedule, You will not do! Someday will NEVER come! (ie: Morning Boot up routine, workout time, date night, kids schedules, vacations, religious time, meditations, self-care, Evening Shut Down routine, etc.)
  3. Add what you “GET” to do next, (ie: work hours, important meetings, obligations or volunteer times, carpool, travel, etc.)
  4. Learn a system that works for you. Stick to it. Adapt a process for when things get “re-scheduled” not leaving them incomplete. If you put it on your schedule then you consistently do not do it, it is not that important to you!
  5. Keep your word with yourself and your schedule so you are in Integrity with you! Being out of Integrity with you, is the fastest way to stop Trusting Yourself, lowers your Confidence and puts a huge wedge in your success levels.
  6. Learn schedule flexibility – not ignoring my schedule.
  7. Be Respectful of your time and the balance that you are creating in it.
  8. Honor your best efforts and be SMART about how you are spending your time.

  What gets to change in your Time Management? How could you improve almost immediately in this?

  I love what Aristotle has to say about this: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

I believe this so much that one of my 7 Traits that I wrote one of my books about, has a complete section dedicated to Exceptional Excellence!

When we FOCUS on living our best life, we take control of all of it. We create Routines, Habits, Practices and Systems to put in place all that we want to accomplish.

Start with Prioritizing. Ask yourself GOOD questions. Things Like:

• What matters most to me?
• How can I prioritize everything into my schedule?
• What systems could I implement to be more successful?
• Where could I improve my Time Management?
• What distractions do I get to get rid of?
• What good habits do I get to implement?
• What routines could I develop to be healthier?
• What routines could I implement to gain more time?
• How could I balance my time better?
• Where do I get to add significant focus to achieve my goals?
• How can I improve my productivity?
• What could I do to improve my mindset?

This is just a dozen quick ideas for you to get started.

You CANNOT change it all in one day. You get to Prioritize what needs to happen first. Then Evaluate what fits next. As you begin to Align with all of this, they all begin to come into alignment. You will be surprised as you focus on two or three how five or six are really changing all at once.