Time management

Pocket watch

Time management is the process of planning and exercising control over the amount of time spent on specific activities - especially to increase the areas of effectiveness, efficiency or productivity.

Key processes of time management

Below are key processes of time management:

- Set goals correctly

- Prioritize wisely. Carrying out activities centered around those priorities. Focusing on behaviors which will achieve the highest results towards achieving your goal.

- Set time limits via scheduling. Block out time chunks via scheduling.

- Delegate

- Take periodic breaks

- Organize yourself

- Remove non-essential tasks elimination/reduction of time spent on non-priorities

- Plan ahead (Schedule out the day/week/month)

- Incentives/rewards to help modify behavior to ensure compliance with time sensitive deadlines.

- Concentration and focus. Minimize distractions in your environment.

Source: What are the keys to time management?

Time management skills

"I have two kinds of problems: the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent." - Dwight D. Eisenhower

• Prioritization - To effectively manage your time, you will need to decide in which order you should complete your tasks. Create a priority list rather than a to-do list

• Goal setting. Set short term and long term goals. Goals give a measurable way to determine progress toward the end product

• Organizational skills

• Planning skills

• Scheduling and managing appointments

• Delegation

• Focusing/concentration, minimizing distractions

• Communication skills

• Setting boundaries and saying "no"

• Problem solving skills

• Note taking and record keeping

• Stress management skills

In psychology, concentration as a cognitive process means focusing selectively on a single aspect of one's environment or thoughts while ignoring other things.

• Decision making skills

• Strategic thinking

• Automation

• Project management skills

• Recording of activities to track performance in terms of timeliness and key tasks relative to goals

• Start early, set deadlines and avoid procrastination

Articles and videos on time management skills

Articles:

• 7 Essential Time Management Skills, Coursera

• 9 Key Time Management Skills and How To Improve Them

• 12 Essential Time Management Skills

• Top 16 Time Management Skills to Help You Become a Success, Simplilearn

Videos:

• Time management skills - Video playlist, Video playlist

Scheduling the day

• The Most Productive Way to Schedule Your Day, Syracuse University

• 8 Steps To Create a Daily Schedule (With Tips and Example), Indeed

• 5 daily scheduling methods to bring more focus to your day

• How to make a daily schedule: Template and examples, Asana

Video:

• Scheduling a day - Video playlist, Video playlist

Day planner

External links

• What is time management, Mindtools.com
• Time Management: 10 Strategies for Better Time Management, University of Georgia
• Time Management, Corporate Finance Institute
• 5 Tips to Better Your Time Management
• Time management, SkillsYouNeed.com

Videos:

• Time management video playlist, Video playlist

Brian Tracy videos on time management video series:

• Brian Tracy on Time Management, Video playlist

• Mastering Time Management: Learn from Brian Tracy's Video Collection, Video playlist