MENTAL DIET

DEVELOPING GREAT HABITS (PART 14)

THE HABIT OF TIME MANAGEMENT

The habit of time management is the mother of every successful habit. The quality of your life is the product of the way you use your mind and the way you use your time.

Time management is a call to self-discipline. Everything in life revolves around time because time is the currency of the earth. You trade your time to build quality relationships; you trade time to earn an income and grow your wealth; you trade time to develop your spirituality; you trade your time to accomplish your dreams; you trade your time to improve on yourself; you trade your time to do virtually everything in life.

This makes time the most important and valuable resource bestowed to mankind. Time is a priceless resource but yet it is free. Time management increases the value you get from the use of your time because it enhances personal effectiveness.

Time management begins with clarity of purpose and organization that makes for balance and harmony in life. Time management makes you decide on what you want to do rather than living in reaction to the happenings around you.

 Until you know where you are going, you will go nowhere with time and you end up wasting time. Take stock on how you use your time and evaluate the value of your daily activities. Does your daily activities all matter from the long term perspective?

Until you master your time, your life will not matter. You must be clear about your goals and objectives in every important area of your life. Since time is the most valuable resource, you must consistently ask a corresponding valuable question, “What is the most valuable use of my time, right now? Then get to work.

Clarify your objectives by asking; “What are the goals in every important area of life that can make the greatest difference in my life? Then give them the highest priority in your time frame. Your priorities should be rooted in long term perspective of the consequences of your choices; tasks must have a significant impact on your life.

To focus on the most important goals in the use of your time, you must put away the unimportant things that occupy your time. You must prioritize the most important things over the less important things.

What are you going to put away in order to put up with the things that matter? What are you going to stop doing that is wasting your time in order to start doing those things that can turn your life round?

Time management entails accomplishing results with the time you have available. That means you do not have time to do everything but you have the time to do the important things that matter.

Are you stuck between having too much work to do and having little time to complete it? Are you overwhelmed with work overload? There is a critical need to develop the ability to set priorities and concentrate devotedly on one task at a time.

For every given time to produce value, you must consistently ask yourself, “What is the most valuable use of my time right now?” Think through your work and activities; weigh your priorities on the consequence scale to determine the level of importance.

• Write down the list of the goals you want to accomplish for the month gotten from your long term goals. Then before a new week begins, write down what you want to accomplish for the week. The night before; write down the list of actions or tasks for the following day.

• Prioritize the list of task to be done the next day, beginning from the most challenging and important task sequentially to the least importance. This means you must think through and plan well in advance on a monthly, weekly and daily basis before engaging in any given action.

• As you begin the day, make your working environment conducive to effectively perform the day’s tasks. Clear your work table of everything that distracts and prepare for the day’s work by organizing the things needed for the execution of the day’s task. Make yourself comfortable so that you can better concentrate to deal with the day’s issues.

• Take on the first task on your daily list which is the most challenging and important task and concentrate on it until it is thoroughly completed. Don’t permit yourself to be distracted. After completing the first task cross it out on your list and take on the second important task and repeat the same process.

• Good planning shortens execution time and stimulates creativity which enhances the quality of the work. Ask yourself, “How can I produce results faster in a more efficient way?” Take on your daily tasks with a sense of urgency.

• Delegate the task that someone else can do effectively and concentrate on doing those tasks that is exclusively yours. Remember; consistently ask yourself on an hourly basis “What is the most valuable use of my time right now?”- And get into a space of focused purposeful action.