Good time management allows you to achieve bigger results in a shorter period of time. By learning how to manage time wisely you can take advantage of bigger opportunities, increase your focus, reduce your stress and achieve greater levels of productivity.
Effective time management is important because it allows you to complete more in less time. Because your attention is focused on important activities, you don’t waste time on distractions and procrastination.
Time management is an essential skill for success. Managing your time is not just a good habit, but it is also good for greater productivity and higher motivation. By following an effective time management practice you can achieve your most important goals in business and life much quicker.
The best way to manage time effectively is to set better goals, plan, schedule your time, and work smarter, not harder. These time management strategies will help you use your time wisely and make time for your most important activities.
When you use your time wisely every day you can eliminate the bad habits that stop you from achieving your goals. Instead, you can focus on the good time management habits that increase focus and productivity.
In this article, I’ll share 8 time management tips to help you manage time wisely.
Read also: Top 10 benefits of time management
What is time management and why is it important?
Time management is important for busy people so they can prioritise their work to help them be more productive and achieve their goals faster. When you can manage time wisely, you’ll be become more focused to take on new opportunities and achieve bigger results.
Good time management allows you to organise your time effectively so you have more time freedom to shoot for bigger goals and to have more time with the people that matter most.
Lack of time is often a prioritisation problem that can be cured by better focus and attention.
Read also: The importance of time management: 10 ways it matters
8 time management tips to manage time wisely
Here are 8 time management tips to manage time wisely.
1. Create a time audit
It’s difficult to manage time wisely if you don’t know where you’re spending it. You can start managing time effectively when you know exactly where you’re investing your time.
To manage time wisely it’s important to take a time audit to give you clarity on how much time you’re spending during the week on which activities.
Taking a time audit helps you track activities and time spend on each one. This gives you a big picture view on how much time you are investing in activities that you love to do and those that don’t.
When you understand if you’re managing time wisely or not you can create the necessary changes. You can expand your time on activities that create the biggest impact and eliminate, delegate or outsource those activities that take up too much time and don’t support your goals.
2. Plan your time
If you want to manage time wisely it’s essential to plan your time effectively. Being able to plan your time effectively starts with setting both long-term goals and short-term goals.
Having these goals to work towards helps you plan your time because you know exactly where to invest your time to achieve those goals. When you plan your time in advance it’s easier to manage time wisely and avoid distractions.
Planning ahead creates more time abundance which lowers stress and increases productivity. When you plan your time you can create better boundaries around your time and filter out any activity that doesn’t support your goal achievement.
Being able to manage time wisely in this way reduces overwhelm and ensures you have an effective day, every day.
Read my guide on weekly planning to help you plan your time.
3. Use a to-do list
Using a short to-do list makes it easier to manage time wisely. Having a to-do list helps you organise your time each day and ensures you have clarity on your most important activities each day.
This clarity builds good time management. It also helps you filter out activities which aren’t important, so you can better manage time and be more creative and productive.
It’s easy to get caught in the tap of trying to do everything. An effective to-do list will help you maximise your time on the activities that create the biggest results.
Managing time wisely is about focusing on quality, not quantity. An effective to-do list ensures you manage time effectively rather than being overwhelmed with busy tasks.
Use my daily planning guide to help set up your to-do list the right way.
4. Set a time limit for each task
If you want to manage time wisely it’s important to set a time limit for each task. Setting a time for your work will help you stay on task and avoid distractions. You can use the Pomodoro technique or use time blocking to help you stay on task.
To stay on task, set a timer for a specific period of time. This could be 60 minutes, 45 minutes or even 15 minutes.
When you take the time to look at each task on your to-do list, and then set a time limit for each task you can be fully focused and be fat more productive.
Setting a time limit for each task ensures you don’t waste time going down endless rabbit holes.
5. Focus your time
It’s easier to manage time wisely when you can focus your time on your most important activities. It takes commitment to focus your time and avoid distractions.
We all have many work distractions to cope with every day. When you can focus on your most productive activities you can manage time better, and achieve faster results.
To focus your time better cut down your to-do list, stop multi-tasking, and find an environment to work in that supports focus.
Use my 2021 goal setting guide to help you focus your time on the right goals.
6. Leverage time
The key to manage time wisely is to find ways to leverage your time. Good time management is about doing less, not more. When you use your time wisely you learn to work smarter, not harder.
You can leverage your time by realising that you don’t have to do everything yourself. By delegating, outsourcing, creating strategic partnership, or using technology you can leverage your time to create bigger results in less time.
Learn more about how to leverage time.
7. Set aside time for future planning
Managing time wisely allows you to get more done in the present and gives you more time to plan for the future. If you have no time to think and plan, you get stuck in the day to day. You don’t have the time to think bigger and set better goals.
Good time management is about investing time in future planning. By taking the time to plan for the future you get more time back in the present.
Having that time freedom helps you clarify what works and what could work better. This helps you continually manage time wisely and stay productive.
Use Friday and Sunday for future planning. This can be the week, month or quarter ahead of you.
By setting aside dedicated planning time you will always feel in control of your time.
8. Protect your time
To manage your time wisely it’s important to get plenty of rest and recuperation to stay focused and productive. When you have more energy you can manage your time better.
If you’re exhausted or feeling tired all the time, you won’t be creative or productive. Protecting your time lowers stress and overwhelm. When you’re tired it’s difficult to think clearly and manage your time well.
Working less increases energy and helps you focus for longer. When you take regular breaks your energy and focus levels stay high.
If you don’t protect your time you could be at risk of burnout. Read my guide to how to stop being burned out at work.
Summing Up
Productive people manage time wisely because they’re clear on the results they want to achieve. The simplest way to start managing time wisely is to set better goals, plan your time and schedule your time to avoid distractions and overwhelm.
With the time management tips I’ve just shared, you can start to use your time wisely to be more productive and create bigger results in less time, without the stress.
Now I’d love to hear from you.
What one tip to help you manage time wisely are you going to take action on?
Let me know in the comments.
Read also:
8 time management tips to manage time effectively
Goal setting: how to set and achieve your goals
Productivity: tips on how to be more productive
How to deal with overwhelm: 11 simple tips
About the Author
Mark Pettit is a time management coach based in Colchester, Essex, UK. He is the Founder of time management coaching company Lucemi Consulting.
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