We are busier than ever, but that is why time management is more critical than ever.
You found this page because you were curious about time management or someone suggested that you needed to work on it.
Let’s talk about how time management plays a vital role in ensuring we get what we want.
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It prevents wasting time on things that don’t matter.
Often without thinking about it, we spend tons of time on things that don’t matter or don’t help us get closer to our goals or dreams. At the same time, we usually waste our time without even realizing it.
Time management is about setting in stone what you will do with your time rather than letting your whims lead the way.
Playing video games or scrolling on social media for an afternoon might be fun, but that isn’t improving your life.
Wasting time is often a result of not having a plan rather than anything else.
More things will get done.
The more time you dedicate to getting things done, the more you will get done; sounds obvious, right? But it isn’t; for many of us, we haven’t seen what we are truly capable of because we haven’t had a chance to show ourselves.
Some people are born with the ability to use checklists and keep track of their progress, others learn along the way, but most don’t even know there are better ways to manage their time.
Getting more stuff done is about planning and managing your time efficiently.
Many people are hyper-focused on grinding away at projects and working too many hours, but this is ultimately a waste of time if we focus on the wrong things.
Regardless of your time, if you have a sound time management system, you will ensure you put your time where it will have the most significant effect.
Stop building up a collection of potential regret.
So often, we regret what we didn’t do or what we could have done differently in the past.
But this is usually the result of wasting our time right now; put another way, if we use our time wisely now, we won’t need to regret what we aren’t doing.
If you look back on your life, you could have done many things differently, but that doesn’t mean it is worth wasting your time on regrets today.
When we focus on what matters, we have nothing to regret later.
We are more likely to regret what we didn’t do rather than what we did. We can make mistakes and want to undo them, but often our regrets form around “what if I?” questions.
The more we work on what matters to us today, the less we have to regret tomorrow. If you try and fail, at least you will know, but if you don’t try, you will always wonder, “what if?”
Avoiding stress will become easier.
Stress tends to show up when we get behind in what we are trying to accomplish, which means that if we stay on top of things, we are less likely to build up a surplus of stress.
When we manage our time correctly, we always know that we are getting the right amount of stuff done. And while we might fall behind at times, if we have a plan, we know that the end goal is still achievable.
Stress is often a result of flying blind into a situation, but with a plan, you know how to manage your time.
With proper time management, we are always better prepared for the situations we find ourselves in. And while planning doesn’t guarantee success, it does give us confidence that we are doing our best.
We can reduce our stress by planning and sticking with our plans. This will also decrease the likelihood of a surprise.
Reaching your goals becomes more believable.
It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that we can’t accomplish anything; this will, in turn, make it easier for us to give up or not try.
Doing something extraordinary often takes luck or ignorance, meaning we are surprised by the outcome or don’t realize the odds against what we are trying to accomplish.
Managing your time and having a plan can help you realize that you can accomplish more remarkable things than you realize.
The first time I set out to write a book, I thought it would be impossible, but when I was done, I proved to myself that it was a process I could go through.
Put differently, writing a book is just a matter of making a plan and following through with it. Easier said than done, but not as complicated as it may seem.
When we get something done, we prove to ourselves that it is possible, making it easier to do it again the next time.
We respect people who keep their promises and get things done.
The biggest obstacle to keeping our promises is good time management. We can promise our friends we will meet up with them on Friday, but we may be stuck at home if we don’t finish our work on time.
It is essential to keep our promises, but keeping a promise depends on our ability to get things done.
When we do what we say we will, people gain trust in us, and in time that trust turns into respect.
Everyone knows somebody who promises the world but never delivers. While we might maintain that relationship, when it comes to promises from that person, we will never take it seriously.
Respect in life comes from a series of proofs that shows we are who we say we are. Getting stuff done generally results in social proof that we are a person of our word.
The life we want becomes possible.
Related to the idea of goals being possible with proper time management, the life we want is a more important goal equally likely with time and effort.
Please don’t take this to mean that you can do anything you want with appropriate time management; instead, take it as something that can be better understood through this lens.
Plans, goals, timelines, and tasks become easier; at the same time, being honest about timelines reveals what isn’t possible.
We can have the life we want, but we need to be realistic about what is possible and how much we can accomplish with our time.
If it takes ten years to master a skill, you must be committed for the long haul. If you aren’t really into it, it is better not to waste your time.
Work-life balance is easier to achieve
As a university student, I always rushed or crammed in the last couple of days, which meant late nights and unnecessary stress.
By the time I went to college, I’d learned better time management skills, so I didn’t need to burn myself out with every assignment.
When you can see what you will be doing for the rest of the week, it is easier to maintain a balance over your time.
When we procrastinate or put things off, we do not have time left when we need it. Put another way; we can have free time today at the expense of having free time later.
However, the problem with not having good time management means that we can enjoy now, but it is impossible to plan enjoyment in the future.
Our work-life balance depends on our ability to manage our time wisely and without waste.
Seeing what you can do helps you figure out what needs to be done.
If we are always rushing and doing things haphazardly, it is much more challenging to plan what we need to do next or prepare for subsequent projects.
Every project we do is preparation and training for the next project we will be a part of. Put another way, when we use our time wisely, we have a better chance to learn from our mistakes.
When we have a chance to plan out what we are doing, we allow ourselves to learn from the past.
When rushing and spinning around in circles, we are likelier to make mistakes or stick with our bad habits. Good time management skills enable us to plan correctly for the circumstances we find ourselves in.
It isn’t always obvious what we need to do to create better outcomes for ourselves, but when we manage ourselves well, we can quickly correct our mistakes.
With greater focus, everything is more accessible.
Managing our time helps us focus on what we are doing, what is essential and what needs more of our attention. Focus also enables us to level up our skills and position ourselves for success.
If we don’t manage our time, we will constantly be shifting our attention to what seems important at the moment, but that is problematic because it will constantly be changing and poorly prioritized.
Focusing on what matters makes our time go further and helps us accomplish what matters first.
When we don’t have a plan, we don’t have anything to focus our time on, leading to procrastination and time-wasting. And while it isn’t so obvious when we are young, our time is one of our most precious resources.
Focusing on what matters most makes our life easier because we don’t waste time on frivolous matters.
Time management makes fulfillment possible.
Fulfillment comes from accomplishing what matters to us and seeing results in the endeavours that we cherish and value.
It is cool to get recognition for what we have done, but if we don’t care about those things or do them for reasons other than our satisfaction, it doesn’t necessarily lead to fulfillment.
To feel like we are making a difference in the world, we need to work towards the goals that matter to us.
Our lives are filled with things that we can’t avoid; we need to do our jobs or go to school, and we need to do our chores and keep our living spaces clean.
All these things take time, but once they are finished, we can focus on the other things in life that matter more to us.
Put another way; there are many things you cannot avoid doing. But when you use your time wisely, you have time left to do the optional stuff that brings fulfillment to your life.
It helps you realize when it is time to give up.
As I mentioned before, when we have a solid plan, we have a more realistic sense of how much time it will take to accomplish what we want.
But if what we want is impossible or isn’t going to work out as planned, we need to know when it is the right time to pull the plug and move on to something else.
With poor time management, we might focus too much on our sunk costs and not realize where we can get better returns.
Sometimes it is ok to give up, but it is always better to give up once you’ve done an accurate assessment of the situation.
Without time management skills, we are never in the proper position to judge our progress and ability to achieve our goals.
Time management is vital for many reasons, but most important; it helps us accomplish what we value most. Without a system to track what we are doing, we always risk wasting time or working on the wrong things.
My question for you is, do you have good time management skills? Are there any reasons I missed as to why it is essential and worthy of our attention?