The topic of “time management” receives a lot of attention, but you rarely find someone who feels they manage it well. How are you doing in this area?
- Do you find you have more than enough time to get things done?
- In a world of complex and competing priorities, it can often be difficult to get everything done.
- This is especially true for things that matter most to us, like health and family.
Living a full and meaningful life begins with improving your utilization of time.
Time utilization is frequently discussed, but rarely is it seriously considered or taught. Time passes very quickly as our minutes, hours, days, months and years seem to “fly by.”
We just concluded 2022 enjoying the Christmas season and celebrating the start of 2023. However, if we’re not careful, 2024 will soon be upon us; we will be starting another year with another New Year’s Day.
We often begin the year with resolutions focused on things such as losing weight, getting a promotion or saving a certain amount of money. Rarely do we make resolutions related to better managing time.
“Time is the only capital that any human being has, and the only thing he can’t afford to lose.” – Thomas Edison
Allocating Time Among the Important Areas of Your Life
Getting serious about better time management can lead to personal fulfillment and living a life with more meaning. You will find that you are able to focus on things that matter most to you. To do this well, you should begin by considering the important areas of life such as
- family and home,
- spiritual and ethical,
- financial and career,
- mental and educational,
- physical and health and
- social and cultural.
These areas can be considered priorities and components of a “Wheel of Life.” How are you currently allocating your time among these important areas?
It is possible to improve our utilization of time and renew our focus on important life priorities. Think of time as a precious and limited commodity. The three points below are things to consider as you intensify your focus on this important concept:
- Prioritize priorities – Rank the six areas in the aforementioned Wheel of Life from the most important to the least to you. This is critical because it provides clarity around which of the priorities you value the most.
- Set goals and develop action steps – Goals should be set in each area of life along with a few action steps to accomplish the goals. Focus on setting daily, weekly, monthly and yearly goals. The goals should be SMART:
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- specific,
- measurable,
- achievable,
- realistic and
- time bound
- Plan daily – Your calendar will play a very important role here. Regardless of whether you use an electronic calendar or a Franklin Planner-type tool, it should be utilized frequently.
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- Plan at the beginning of each week for the upcoming week.
- You should also plan at the end of each day for the upcoming day.
- Priorities should also be scheduled on your calendar.
Getting comfortable with this process will take time and effort: it may help to work with a life coach. Nevertheless, any time invested in this area should yield great results. You will find yourself working on what matters most to you. This will lead to a higher level of personal fulfillment and satisfaction.
“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.” — Carl Sandburg
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