Selectivity and Depth in Time Management

Why do we manage our time? We do it in order to make to the most efficient use of it.

I’m sure many of us have experienced situations where, if we had managed and organized our time better we could have done something a lot better or prevented a lot of nonsense from happening.

Time management allows us to do many things. It allows us to prioritize activities, schedule the appropriate amount of time for each activity, make sure that we do everything we need to do — because one you’ve put something in a schedule, it’s much easier to follow through. You’ve written it down and you’ve scheduled it in, as opposed to saying “Oh, I’ll get around to that.” So time management allows us to do many things. Fundamentally, it allows us to choose our time and plan it out…ahead of time, as opposed to just “figuring it out” and potentially getting sidetracked and mixing activities together.

There are a lot of advantages to time management. It allows us to hone in on certain activities. If time isn’t managed properly, then many different priorities will constantly be running through your head, “Oh I need to do this. Oh I need to do that.” If you know that you have things scheduled, then you don’t have to think about them.

But what are some ways in which people take time management too far? These are the type of people who I would classify as being more concerned with managing their time than actually enjoying it, or being fully engaged in their activities.

The reason we manage our time, in the first place, is so that we can perform activities at their best. But a lot of people get into this trap of being more concerned with “following the schedule” than actually enjoying or getting engaged in activities.

To take an example, it’s similar to the person who writes a perfectly detailed travel itinerary that takes everything into consideration, but then during the actual trip he can’t actually enjoy it because he’s so concerned with following the itinerary to a T. He’s always checking up on everything, making sure everything is going to plan that he can’t actually focus on the activities that he’s planned. He’ll be on a tour or exploring some area and he’ll be thinking of how he needs to be at a certain place by a certain time and whether his time is being used efficiently — when the itinerary was meant to make sure everything was organized smoothly so that he’d be able to enjoy the trip. What ends up happening is he lets the itinerary take over his mind and destroy the purpose of the trip.

A lot of people do this with time management. They get so used to this organization; it makes them feel so good. But then they can’t even “chill out” and relax during their activities. They’re too concerned with how efficiently their time is being used. And many activities, if you want to perform them effectively, require your full focus. If you’re working on a project or playing a sport, you need to be fully focused on the task at hand. You can’t be worried about how well you’re currently following your schedule or whether it needs to be updated. You need to have your “head in the game”, so to speak.

So what many people have with time management is the selectivity. They’ve selected the right things. They’ve scheduled the right things in. They have that selectivity, which is great…but they lack that depth to get “fully engaged” in the activities that they’ve scheduled. So what you want is both sides of the equation. You want to keep that selectivity, but you also want the ability to focus on a task and reach that level of depth where you become fully immersed in the activity.

---

by Mark Swan
Visit his latest website at http://www.bestmultivitaminformenshop.com/ which helps people find the best information on products like the multivitamin for women.

12 Tips on Time Management

Do you ever make a to do list and give yourself a certain amount of time to do each thing but then when your time is up you only got a portion of your list accomplished and just wish you had better time management? If you said yes you are not alone, we all go through this on a daily bases but luckily I have 12 tips on how to manage your time more wisely, effectively, and efficiently!

1. You need to spend time planning and organizing

Give yourself 15 minutes to sit down and make your game plan and organize everything that needs to be organized. This is crucial because if you go through and make a quick list of things to do that is not effective at all, you could have missed important things or rushed through it and put things that might take more time than what you actually got!

2. Set Goals

Make sure you have your goals set for long-term work and short-term work. If there is some type of goal you want to achieve give yourself time to achieve it, whatever it may be. The only way to achieve is acting on it. Instead of putting it on the back burner and letting it sit there for awhile put your step to achieving your goals on your to do list. A little of time spent on it adds up to a lot of time spent on it!

3. Prioritize

Make sure you have your priorities straight. If you have something that has to get done, get it done! Why put off tomorrow when it can get done today. If you put your priorities first you will find yourself spending less time on them than you thought you would. If a priority of yours is spending time with your family, do it, then get your list done. Don’t let that time pass by because you will be thinking of it that whole time you are working on what ever you may be working on!

4. Use your to do list

Like I said earlier making a to do list, make sure you use it. There are so many times when I will spend the time on making a to do list then set it down and go do what I think I should be doing then look back at my to do list and notice how many things I forgot! A great tool to use is Gmail calendar. This is such a great tool, we can make an efficient to do list and always have it open in a tab to make sure we are getting it done!

5. Be flexible

Make sure you are flexible with your time. Give yourself more time than needed to accomplish a task. This is very important because don’t forget about transition time between things to get done. Sometimes you can spend 5, 10, 15 minutes between each task! So make sure you are flexible with your time!

6. Consider your prime time

Lets say you have a break when working or doing some type of activity around the house, job, or life in general. Is that break a prime time for your to work on your to do list? Most likely it is not. Make sure you find a good time slot that is your prime time. Whether it be early in the morning, afternoon, or at night. This is important not to be scattered with your work because many times we find ourselves forgetting to finish something that we have started. Sometimes I think I will have enough time to write an article or post and not finish. That evening I will make my list of things to do and then when working on stuff I remember that I did not finish a task that I started!

7. Do the right things right!

This is so imperative on whatever you are doing. If you are writing an article make sure you are doing it right and giving it your 110% effort. The worse thing to come across is when I read an article and you can tell the author just wrote it for quantity not quality! Make sure everything you do is amazing content and it represents you how you want it to. The quality of your presence is so important, don’t let one article ruin your reputation.

8. Eliminate the urge

If you stumble upon a great website that seems to distract you, you must eliminate that urge to go on. The TV can always be a bad urge to, if you have the TV on in the background and you are trying to focus, just turn it off. The TV will grab your attention and suck you in. Before you know it an hour has gone by and you haven’t started anything.

9. Do not double task

There was a study that I was reading up on that the average person that double tasks spends 80% more time on the two tasks put together than if you would have done the tasks separately. Double tasking makes it so you are not giving your 110% effort towards one task and can easily get distracted doing other stuff besides what your plan was to do. just trust me on my judgment don’t double task!

10. Avoid being a perfectionist

The sad truth is is that nothing can ever be perfect. So avoid attempting to be a perfectionist. If you are working on a task and feel that something is not perfect only give it a few revisions because if you try to make it perfect you will spend hours on trying to fix something that is not fixable. People love the way you are thats why they are readers, viewers, followers, and friends of yours. There is nothing to prove to one. So when you write something or make a video just give it your best shot and if its not perfect in your own eyes thats ok no one cares.

11. Conquer Procrastination

This is probably the most important tip of them all. Procrastination. We all hate the word but we all do it anyway. Like I said earlier why put something off till tomorrow if you can get it done today. Procrastination is nothing but evil, it brings stress and lost time in the long run that you could have used to work on something else. So when you tell yourself you will get it done today, you tell yourself right back and say NO I will get it done NOW!

12. My favorite tip – REWARD!

Every time you accomplish a full list of things to do reward yourself. This is so important in life. Make sure you give yourself a pat on the back and say Good Job for what you just did. Rewards can come in so many shapes and sizes! Whether it be taking yourself and the family to a movie or simply relaxing on the couch and watching some TV, whatever you love to do make that your reward when you get your list done!

---

Kyle Nelson helps people financially, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Learn more at: http://www.kyle-nelson.com

Are You Managing Your Time With Activity Or Productivity?

Rich, poor, celebrity or unknown, we are all blessed with 24 hours a day. You probably know someone, who seems to do everything in the world and you wonder how they can. You also know someone who seems to do nothing every day, yet can not seem to add anything more to their day.

What is the difference?

The difference in this time management is surprisingly simple. The difference between the person who seems to be able to do a week’s worth of work in a day and the one who has no time is all a matter of scheduling and realizing what is truly important. It is a matter of changing your productivity to match what needs to be done as part of the big picture rather than what needs to be done in the now.

How does seeing the big picture help?

Here is an time management example, imagine your aunt is coming in a week to visit you. You have not seen her in a long time, so you want the house looking nice. You are hoping you can get it clean in a week. She calls and tells you plans have changed, she is going to be there in tomorrow. You were not certain how to get the house clean in a week, yet suddenly you find either a way to clean the house or make it presentable in a day.

What changed?

The difference was you could not find ways to delay, you were forced to manage your time. You realized the what parts of cleaning your house were actually important. You accepted that some things could not be fixed in the time allowed and changed what could. You knew what needed to be done in the time allowed and did it, without question or delay.

Are you productive or active?

Moving paperwork from here to there, only to move it again later is being active. Putting papers that actually require work in an inbox, filing papers you need later, and throwing away any paperwork you do not need away is being productive. Rather than deal with all your clients focus on the clients the buy from you. Instead of organizing all your emails, decide on what is really important and eliminate the rest.

Read more