You have probably heard that time is one of the most important if not the most important resource.
“It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.”
Steve Jobs
Which means how we use our time matters.
It is a key measurement of our progress and future prospects.
The need to manage our time is further heightened in a new year, as it gives us a chance to take stock of the past year and determine what we can do better this year.
And if we’re being totally honest, there’s always room for improvement.
I have never heard anyone say:
“I don’t need to improve my time management because I make perfect use of my time.”
Never heard and will likely never hear it!
If you’re like me and you want to put in place a better framework to manage your time then read on.
Five ways to manage your time in 2021
Plan out your day
To set the ball in motion, we need to start with a plan.
This is the road map that shows us where we are and where we want to go.
The first thing to determine before you draw up your plan is your ‘why’. Knowing what you hope to achieve and why you want to.
This may seem complicated but it’s really not.
For instance, If my tasks include writing weekly blog posts and newsletters, my why is to be consistent with my blog and to continue to encourage/inspire young women.
My plan will include the time to research posts, write the posts and prepare my email newsletter. I will also need to put a timeline for each task.
Your plan can be daily, weekly or monthly. You could also have all three. Deciding which way to go will depend on a few things:
- Your goals – your goals can help you determine what sort of plan you need.
- Nature of your work or projects – there are tasks that will have different components that cannot be completed in a day or week, in such cases, it makes sense to create a breakdown of these components and when you intend to work on them. This doesn’t mean you have to pick up the monthly plan every day. Nope! You can still work with a daily plan that incorporates the project tasks.
- Your preferences – are you a big picture kind of person or prefer to focus on one day at a time?
I personally use a weekly plan, with tasks for each day of the week. This gives me a bird’s eye view of the things I want to achieve in each week.
It’s important that you’re realistic about what you can do and ensure your plan is specific and actionable.
You can use a digital or paper planner for this purpose.
I currently use the Passion Planner, which I love. Before then I used the Living Well Planner which was great too (the Living Well Planner also has sections for your finances, which are not available with the Passion Planner).
Use realistic timelines
Do you often find that you underestimate how much time some tasks take, and overestimate others?
For instance, I often find that I overestimate how much time it takes me to cook and clean and underestimate how long it takes me to write or complete a project.
To resolve this, you can monitor your time allocations on previous tasks as a benchmark, to help you get a sense of how long such tasks are likely to take. This can be very useful as it helps you allocate a more realistic and achievable timeline to your tasks.
Prioritise your tasks
“Never leave ‘till tomorrow which you can do today.”
Benjamin Franklin
It’s one thing to list out the activities you want to accomplish in a day or week, and even better if you can prioritize based on importance or time required.
We can use the Eisenhower matrix, popularized by Stephen Covey in his book 7 Habits of highly Effective People. The matrix divides our tasks into four possible boxes.
- Tasks that are urgent and important
- Tasks that are not urgent but important
- Tasks that are urgent but not important
- Tasks that are not urgent and not important
Being able to assign our tasks into these four boxes will help us determine the things we need to work on, and perhaps tasks that we have no business working on.
Manage your attention
It’s been said that the problem our generation faces is not a lack of time but a lack of attention as we have so many things vying for our attention.
You can probably relate.
At any given time, there are hundreds of things we could be doing – from browsing social media platforms, websites, watching movies, music, work, studying and the list goes on.
There’s always something else we could be doing and it’s important that we find ways to limit the distractions that drain our attention.
Be self-aware – work within your energy levels
Recently, I came across this concept of energy dips. This is similar to the afternoon dip.
For many of us, we often experience a dip in our energy levels at certain times of the day.
This dip may happen in the early to late afternoons, especially right after lunch. I used to experience low productivity in the afternoons but didn’t really understand why until I learned about the afternoon dip.
Now, I recognise that I’m better off scheduling intellectually stimulating tasks in the morning and later in the evening, giving me time to do more administrative tasks or other activities in the afternoon.
How about you? Have you noticed a similar dip?
Yours could also be in the evenings.
Morning people often find it hard to stay productive in the evenings and the same often holds for night people in the mornings.
One the one hand, our energy levels may very well be as a result of our body makeup/patterns(chronotype), while it may be for other reasons.
If it’s the latter, there are some things we can do to increase and maintain our energy levels such as:
- Eat better – this is always a good tip. You may need to eat lighter and more nutrient dense meals. Avoid sugary or high carb meals during lunch as this may lead to blood sugar spikes and dips.
- Exercise – this can be as simple as going on a brisk walk in between tasks to get your blood pumping and make you feel refreshed.
- Change tasks – there are some tasks that are just life-sucking. Lol. You could switch to another task, if possible.
- Take a nap – perhaps your body just needs a quick rest to get it back in working order.
While some studies advocate the need to wake up very early and have a consistent and productive morning routine, some others are not as strict about wake-up times and its connection to productivity.
In effect, it still comes down to one thing – that you find what works for you.
Ultimately, We cannot underestimate the place of spiritual strength and mental fortitude.
It is God who enables us to do, even when our flesh is weak. God is able to give us strength and wisdom to work at any point.
Learn to manage your time today
I hope you’ve found the above tips helpful.
As I mentioned in the last point, we are incredibly lucky to have the help of the Holy Spirit. I call this our “unfair advantage”.
We are able to accomplish more than we can ever dream or imagine with the help of the Holy Spirit.
He helps us to become better stewards of our time and resources.
No other resource is more meaningful than God giving us his spirit to guide us.
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
John 14:26
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