THE ART OF MANAGING TIME WISELY.

 THE ART OF MANAGING TIME WISELY.

As life progresses , I realized , I believe you also would have observed that time proves itself a fundamental element of human success . Life splits into work , family , social circle , personal time and spiritual activities etc and nobody can deny the importance of every activity , however , rarely it is learnt how to balance life by allocating time to each part of life .

 Time keeps on becoming scarce with the upcoming phases of life responsibilities , desires , aspirations etc . We all know successful people do many things differently but they know the value of time and are familiar with the art of using it judiciously to excel productivity . I am lucky that I have gained sufficient wisdom by practical experience of assisting many people across the globe with what hurdles come in the way of managing time effectively . 

Many people approached me to master this art and they used to think that they need merely skill of time management but in actuality , the problem lies much deeper and most of them i found were facing issues of Self discipline , procrastination , perfectionism , lack of clarity about what to do , how to move forward , lack of decision making skills and commitment . It will be impossible if I consider all the factors in this article but I would like to start with some basic principles which, if applied, will transform your future . 

1 ) Gain Clarity : 

I am not satisfied with looking into the common patterns in the number of people that they just want to feel or look busy. No matter how busy it is , looking busy does not guarantee self fulfillment and in real sense productivity . People want to run by having vague ideas about direction , which lead to wastage of time and energy . First , I would recommend spending sufficient time on getting clarity. What do you want ? Why do you want to ? What 's your vision ? What are the SMART Objectives ? How will today's task contribute to your long term mission , vision ? What are the most productive ways to achieve this goal ? To say yes to this task , To which you should say No ? What are the realistic timelines to achieve it ? What skills , strengths will help you to save your time and execute this task right on time . If you feel difficulty in focusing and choosing what,s important to you , please seek help from professional coaches. It will save your vital energy , time and efforts and will even protect your body from frustration , anxiety and depression . 

2 ) Setting Priorities : 

Once you know what you want to achieve , then set priorities in executing the task . You may be responsible for many tasks but each task will have different importance in your success . you need to categories your tasks by labeling them A , B , C , D by considering their contribution in producing desired outcomes and then for example in choosing A task , further dig down through the following way 

❓What must be done ?                                       

After choosing A category task, what do you need to do ? where you don't have an option , which can be some legal requirements, some core rules to 

follow , some most important work to be done. 

❓What should be done ?                                         

These are the tasks which in doing Task of category A , will come up as second priority , once you have done tasks which must be done , then you can think of this category . 

What would be done ?                                     

These are tasks that you may like but have less contribution to your outcomes and you can have more craving or desire for them. Most people I have seen leave tasks of must and should be done for the sake of these low value tasks, these are third priority . 

 ❓What wouldn't be done ?                                      

To say yes to this task, what you will choose to not do , you can write upon the list of activities which you will stop doing . 

3 ) Choose "To - Do List " Realistically

Do you often feel overwhelmed , drain out ? If yes , then you might have a tendency to put more luggage over your shoulders and do your work more than your energy or current capacity . Make a to- do list rationally , avoid putting unnecessary items in it and be patient in execution . 

4 ) Delegate : 

If you are a leader and you don't know when and how to delegate the tasks , I can guarantee you that you would have sensed more overwhelming effects , more stress and even hampered quality in other areas of life . You need to know that if tasks are at low priority and also have lesser risk involved and teammates strengths and commitments match to this task then delegate to him and release the burden and put your mind and efforts for high value tasks. 

5 ) Apply 80/20 rule : 

Pareto law shows that 80 % of our outcomes come from 20 % of our tasks and 20 % of outcomes are produced through 80 % of tasks . 

you need to know what are your proliferating quality outcomes which produces your 80 % results , you need to choose to work upon them first and put more effort. You will be able to produce results with less time and more smartly 

6 ) Apply Parkinson's law : 

Parkinson's law is that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion . Means that if you allocate time to one task 30 days , then you will adjust your time accordingly but if you allocate time of 15 mins then your subconscious and conscious mind will help you to achieve the task in the given allocated time , so choose realistic timelines that stretch you from your comfort zone. Too lengthy timeline can lead you to procrastinate while too short can make you stressful and anxious. 

7 ) Overcome Procrastination :

This is the phenomena you also might have faced. I have also undergone it in many activities and I feel that everyone at some phase or in some work does some sort of procrastination . To overcome it , break your task into smaller segments and condition your mind to start it as early as possible. Once you take a first step , later steps will automatically be followed . View your vision daily of what this task will make you feel afterward in the short run and in the long run . Set accountability around you by having some partner even in doing the task .Focus on quantity rather than quality initially , quality oriented people have roots of perfectionism and which leads to procrastination . 

To apply the key insights , undoubtedly the better tomorrow will emerge for you . 

Here are the 4 books that have helped me become better with my time management.