Manage Your Time – Counteract That Counter Productivity – Three Time Management (Part 1)
Time management is one of the most important, yet also one of the most overlooked, skills that every human being should have. The inability to manage your time properly has serious negative consequences in the arenas of relationships and careers. Because you have only about sixteen hours each day to function as a productive human being, it is important that you focus on your tasks during those hours. Procrastination with regard to your tasks can only make things worse. Managing your time properly, though, can help you keep focus and control over your disorganized life.
Before you can even begin to manage your time appropriately, you must examine how you are currently using your time. Examine your memories and last week’s calendar. Try to categorize how you spend each day. You can probably put most of your activities into five categories. Category one is the time you spend in negative productivity. This means the things you do that you should have done before. This is, by far, the worst category for most people. It is the sheer number of activities people place in this category that sets them off track and screws up the rest of their schedule. Category two is running interference. How often are your planned activities interrupted? This is not a very positive category for most people because they have no control over the events that happen in this category. Category three is accomplished tasks. These are the things you planned to do and actually finished. Upon examination, this category makes most people feel good about their level of productivity. You may actually be completing more than you realize. Category four is the time you spend working in solitude. While you may not be working on what you are supposed to be completing or what you had planned to complete, you are still working, so it can be a fairly positive experience. The final category is leisure time that is actually leisurely. If you get interrupted during your coffee break or you workout, it does not count. This category is essential to good productivity. Now it is important to fully analyze your schedule. This analyzing session should allow you to cut down on the categories that are interfering with your productivity rates. There are a few tips, though, to guide you as you go through your time management strategy session.
