You can’t manage time…. It’s that simple!

There is no such thing as managing time. Time is a limited resource.

What you can do is find out where you are allowing time drainers and wasters to use up this limited resource in an unproductive manner. This is more self-management than time-management. I bet right now you can write down at least five activities that you do each day that are unproductive and can be classed as Time Wasters. How about?:

• Unfocused Internet Surfing
• Personal Phone Calls
• Personal Online Chatting
• Playing Online Games
• Dealing with Spam emails

I bet you can name more things that you do each day that are a complete waste of time. I’m not saying you can’t do all these things during your day, but these are not tasks that add value to your day. With issues like spam emails, there are tricks and tips that you can do such as using a separate Gmail account when you sign up for newsletters, Google alerts, etc… and outsource or delegate tasks associated with that so that you only need to read the most important emails. Additionally, keep work and personal email separate.

“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst” – William Penn Tweet this

To get a better idea of your time wasters start tracking your daily activities. You can use a spreadsheet or a piece of paper, but it’s important to track every moment of your time during the day for about a week. Once you’ve finished tracking your time for the week, go through and highlight the time wasters. Next, identify items that can be outsourced or delegated. Now, identify items that you need to do yourself. Separate the items you will do yourself between business and personal time. Divide further into money producing activities and non money producing activities.

Once you have your list, set goals to help you manage the use of your time in a way that is most productive. By changing your behavior to be more productive you will feel more accomplished, Make a list of daily goals, marking off each task as they are completed. Goals should be very specific and include exactly what needs to be done, who will do it, and how it will be accomplished and by what time. By being very specific but realistic about goals as you’ll be more likely to achieve them.

For some people, it helps to tackle one issue at a time, working toward a full time management system within a month by eliminating one or more time wasters each week. Changing your behavior slowly with an end goal in mind regarding managing your time well will result in a new attitude about the time you spend doing various tasks. Increasing your productivity will feel great and while you can’t actually gain extra time in your day, you will feel as if that is what you’ve accomplished by freeing up time you used to waste..

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