Time Management Self Improvement

We live in a busy, even hurried day and age, to be sure, and that is precisely why we must start making our priorities really work for us, for this is actually the key to having greater success and happiness in life.

Once you have established the main key result areas of your life, such as Spiritual, Family, Career, Health, Financial, and so on, the next step is to begin the process of establishing priorities within those key result areas. To do this, make a list of goals and objectives within each of your key result areas, and place them in order of importance.

For example, my marriage is a key result area in my life, so I will begin to determine what my priorities are within my marriage. I know for sure that good communications is high on the list, especially as it relates to listening to my wife and hearing what she is sharing with me. Tuning in and trusting her intuition is another priority in my marriage. These, and many more priorities, are all listed in both our marriage plan and life strategies, and help to keep me on course, or bring me back to what’s most important in our relationship, when I do get off track. These strategies must be working, because we have a strong and healthy marriage, even after 26 years.

Make sure you do not just set these priorities and forget about them. I encourage you to review them on a consistent basis. Share your priorities with those people you trust. Establish some accountability to make them become realities. I might add that writing down and or printing out your priorities and getting them out of your head and in front of you in black and white is also great mental therapy.

©2004 Professional Development Systems All Rights Reserved

Robert Prentice of Professional Developments Systems has spent the last twenty years bringing inspiration and motivation to business owners as well as their employees. For more information visit his website at http://www.mrattitudespeaks.com

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Time. There never seems to be enough.

There are relationship, career, personal interest, family and social demands all screaming for attention in our life. Each of us has the same amount of time available to us as we begin a new day. Twenty-four hours to use or abuse as we see fit.

This is not an article about time management. Time management is a misnomer. You can’t manage time. Time passes oblivious to your needs, desires, problems, goals, expectations and dreams. You can only manage a variety of activities and attitudes within a framework of passing time. Well, if we can’t manage time, what can we manage. We can manage our resources, decisions, thoughts, expectations, problems, people, failures, activities, successes, risks, feelings, goals, money, emotions and a whole host of attitudes.

Let’s get to the heart of the issue. Many people live with daily frustration unable to manage some or all of the items on the previous list effectively. They are anxious, troubled and often angry at the relentless passage of time that is insensitive to their wishes, demands, frustrations and goals.

Many of these people feel stuck, have given up, or have settled, thinking, this is just the way it is, and has to be. They see themselves as a pawn to the demands and expectations to one or more areas of their life therefore, robbing themselves of the pleasure and happiness that is available to everyone who have learned to live with balance.

These people are out of balance, and they know it. They are puppets on a string waiting for the next tug that pulls them this way or that. They feel like their life is out of control. They feel stuck. They see themselves with very few options. They don’t realize that the choices they make, or have made in the past, determine their next options. Poor choices in the present, equal limited better future options. Yes, we all, always have choices, but if these choices are made with a narrow vision of what can be, an unclear picture of reality, or clouded perceptions and interpretations of people and circumstances, they will always be made with limited resources and understanding.

These people remain stuck. Some have moved on in some area of their life, but they still feel unable to shed the feelings of anxiety that there is more to do, more to become, more to have, and more to learn, and not enough time to do it.

There are several major areas in a persons life that demand a portion of their available time. They are: family, career or business, social, personal development, spiritual development, physical development, personal interests or hobbies, friends, misc.. social activities, and let’s not forget time to sleep and eat.

Is it possible to live a balanced life? Is it possible to satisfy the expectations either from ourselves our or world, on how we should be using our time? Is it possible to have it all? Become it all? Do it all? See it all? Learn it all? Read it all? No, it’s not that kind of world.

So we are back to choosing. How each of us chooses to use or spend our time is a very individual matter. Juggling the expectations of a boss, customers, a spouse, children, parents, friends, siblings, and the world in general is a difficult and delicate task at best. No one has an answer, or easy formula to this very difficult life issue. You will not find an answer in this article. What I hope you will find, however is some insight or self-discovery as to why you are feeling as you are and the courage to modify any behavior or attitudes that are sabotaging one or several areas of your life.

You may have noticed that when one area of your life is out of harmony or balance that it impacts every other areas as well. When you are devoting too much time (and only you know what is too much) to your career, every other aspect of your life is impacted. Every aspect of your life is intricately entwined with every other area. If you choose to devote no time to your personal growth, you will lack skill, understanding or wisdom that could contribute positively to some other aspect of your life. By the same token, if you spend time regularly relaxing or meditating, it could help you find the patience or calmness that you will bring to your career or family issues.

Why do people get out of balance?

There are a number of causes that include but are not limited to:

unrealistic goals or a lack of goals, lack of planning, a need for approval and/or acceptance, inadequate personal growth, over estimation of abilities or skills, the inability to say no, the desire to please, lack of discipline, arrogance, greed, insensitivity, lack of spiritual development, un-managed ambition, the need for power, un-checked egos, lack of commitment and a lack of congruence or integrity. Hefty list. I would guess that everyone who is out of balance in their life is guilty of several of these. However, it only takes one.

Being out of balance in life doesn’t feel good. We often feel like the special people in our lives are being cheated. What you might not realize is that you may from time to time cheat your children, friends or a spouse, but you are always cheating yourself when no matter where you are, who you are with or what you are doing, you wish you were with someone else or doing something else.

Life is lived in the present, one moment at a time. It is not lived yesterday or tomorrow, but now. Every time you make a decision to spend time in a certain way, like passing time reading this article, you have eliminated all other choices of time use now. Once you decide to go to a movie, you have eliminated the options of dinner, dancing, golf and so on. Once you decide to work late you have chosen to sacrifice something else. I don’t mean to be funny, but you can’t be in two places at once. You can’t be on vacation and at work too, although many people try. Once you choose one restaurant for dinner you have eliminated all others for that meal.

People need to understand that they have choices, and that the choices they make, and the consequences that come with them are a part of the bargain. Frustration sometimes sneaks into people’s lives when they believe it is possible to break the rules and have it all, do it all or become it all.

You chose your career and life path. You chose your current relationship. You chose your current circumstances by the previous choices you have made. You made them for you. Even if you are in a career that was chosen for you by your parents (and that happens less and less today, than years ago) you have chosen to stay in it even if you are unhappy. You have given the power in your life over to someone else.

If you rationalize that you have to work eighty hours a week and weekends because your boss or organization expects it, you have given up your power to someone else. Then you might say, but I need this job or career. I need the money. No, you have chosen to need it. You could have chosen a different more modest lifestyle that would have required less income. You may feel like you are stuck in a relationship emotionally, physically or financially. Again I doubt that anyone forced you into it. You may have gone into it with closed eyes, but you chose to keep your eyes closed. Like it or not in every situation in life you are where you are because of your choices. Want a better life? Make different choices.

I would like to share fifteen ideas with you that may help you put balance back into your life, so that you can find time for the people and goals in your life that are possibly being shortchanged, including yourself.

One- Spend some quiet time reflecting on the quality of your life in general. Not just a single area, but consider every aspect, and the relationship of each to your overall life.

Two- Make a list of all the areas or people in your life that are coming up short and why.

Three- Determine which area of your life is getting most of your time and energy, and which is getting the least. Ask yourself why. Is the gain in one area worth paying the price of a loss in another area? Only you can answer that question, and only you will pay the price or enjoy the rewards.

Four- Write a letter to yourself about how you would like your life to look like six months from now. Describe in detail how you spend your time, and what proportions of time are dedicated to the various activities and people in your life.

Five- Give yourself at least thirty minutes a day for thirty days to reflect on your overall life goals and your progress toward them.

Six- Write a personal mission statement. Include your life philosophy, guiding principals, desired outcomes and overall direction you want your life to take.

Seven- Move ahead mentally to age 70. What have you accomplished, what do your relationships look like, who have you become and what is important to you. Now work backwards. What do you need to change now to get where you say you want to be. Remember, you change the quality of your future in the present.

Eight- Ask several people who know you well, and will be honest and non judgmental, to offer some feedback on your life and its direction. Listen and learn with an open and receptive attitude. You may not change because of the feedback they give you, but the insight you gain can give you some ideas that could be life changing.

Nine- Take a few days off from your job, career and/or current relationships. Spend time in a place that you are at peace and alone. It could be the beach, the mountains or anywhere where you can spend quality time with yourself evaluating your life without the distractions and expectations of others. Go with no agenda other than self-discovery.

Ten- If you do not keep a journal of your thoughts, lessons learned, life progress, feelings, interests, or observations, start one today. Take a few minutes at the end of each day recording whatever you feel in some way contributed to who you are, how you feel, and who you are becoming.

Eleven- Develop an action plan to begin to re-allocate your time and energy to those people or activities that are important to you.

Twelve- It isn’t necessary to sell your business, quit your job or end a relationship to find better balance in your life. It requires a conscious awareness of what your life is really like, a desire to modify it in some way, the courage to change, the necessary skills and the commitment to stick with it.

Thirteen- Learn to detach from other people’s emotional and or physical hold over you. It will not be easy. There will be people who use blame, guilt, manipulation or any number of emotional or physical techniques to keep you stuck in past behavior or thought patterns. They will know how to push your buttons hoping to control you in some way. When you permit others to manipulate you in any way, you give them power over your life. Detachment means letting go of the hold other people have over you. You can still love them and want to be with them, but you no longer have to be a slave to their “stuff.”

Fourteen- Don’t try and change everything over-night. It takes time to change attitudes and behavior that have developed over the years. Be patient and loving with yourself. But you must also hold yourself accountable. Letting yourself off the hook or making excuses will not put you on the road back to a balanced life.

Fifteen- reward your successes. Treat yourself when you achieve a “worked for” result. Make it something symbolic or significant, but whatever it is make sure you take time to bask in the sunshine of success. Then begin again. Don’t spend too much time basking, or you may fall back into your old habits. Change, permanent change requires vigilance and persistence. You can’t let up until you have achieved total and permanent success. It will always be possible to fall back, so even though you have reached your goal, don’t become too casual or relaxed. There will be new people and circumstances lurking in the shadows for a vulnerable moment. Be watchful.

None of these steps may be easy. Only you can decide if the potential outcome of more balance and inner peace are worth the price that must be paid. Don’t change because of guilt, other people’s expectations, or some casual or superficial whim. If you like working seventy hours a week and seeing your kids once a month for a few hours. Fine. If you want to change, that’s fine too. But do it for healthy emotional or physical reasons not ego-driven motives.

One final thought.

Total balance in life is an ideal. There will always be times when you may be temporarily out of balance devoting extra time to a new career, project, relationship or activity. This is healthy and normal, however be on the lookout that these times don’t stretch into years or decades. It is then that you may end up paying the heavy price of regret in one area of your life. Regret weighs tons, but the daily discipline of change weighs only ounces.

Which are you willing to pay?

Tim Connor, CSP is an internationally renowned sales, relationship, management and leadership speaker, trainer and best selling author. Since 1981 he has given over 3500 presentations in 21 countries on a variety of sales, management and relationship topics. He is the best selling author of over 60 books including; He can be reached at tim@timconnor.com, 704-895-1230 or visit his website at http://www.timconnor.com.

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The way you use your time determines everything that happens to you in life. All really successful people are excellent time managers. They are very well organized, they plan their work and they work their plan. They know where they are, what they are doing and where they are going from dawn until dusk, seven days a week. They feel in complete control of every aspect of their lives. As a result, they get more done in less time and they enjoy more of the rewards that life has to offer.

Perhaps the greatest single problem that people have today is “time poverty.” Working people have too much to do and too little time for their personal lives. Most people feel overwhelmed with responsibilities and activities, and the harder they work, the further behind they feel. This sense of being on a never-ending treadmill can cause you to fall into the reactive/response mode of living. Instead of clearly deciding what you want to do, you continually react to what is happening around you. Pretty soon you loose all sense of control. You feel that your life is running you, rather than you running your life.

The first step in managing your time effectively and taking control of your life is setting priorities. High achievers are adept at separating the essential from the non-essential. There are several ways to designate which tasks are the most important. One way is to limit the number, using the process of natural selection to weed out the least important jobs. Another way is to create two lists, a short-term checklist and a long-term, top-priority list, flagging or ranking the most important. To decide which items demand the highest priority, put each task to a series of questions. Does it have a specific deadline, like April 15th? Is it an order from someone who you can’t ignore, such as your boss? Will doing it advance your career, or will not doing it hinder your career? If the task doesn’t elicit a definite “yes” it’s a safe bet it doesn’t deserve top priority.

The most important question to ask when ranking your priorities is, “Will doing this help me to reach my goal?” Goal setting is perhaps the most important thing you can do to manage your time more effectively. Your goal must be clear, specific, and it must be in writing where you can see it every day. You must have a detailed plan to accomplish your goal that calls for you take some action towards it every day.

Before you go to bed each night, create a list of things you must do the next day. It’s nearly impossible to remember everything that has to be done. Unless you write out a list, you won’t sleep as soundly. Your mind will work overtime while it should be resting, reminding you not to forget each of your important tasks. Moreover, putting a task in writing helps you sort out what is really important. Anything not worth writing down is probably not worth doing.

Always commit yourself to completing each task on your list by a specific date and time. The way to make your list more effective is to set aside time to do each task in a planning diary that is broken down into half-hour increments. It is also a good idea to keep a list of your top items on your work desk. This way, if you get tied up for hours, you can glance at your list to see if it is something that should be taking up a lot of your time. If you don’t have a constant reminder of things you want to get done, they aren’t going to get done.

Making lists is also a powerful tool you can use to manage others. Whenever you delegate responsibilities, make sure that the members of your staff keep lists of the items assigned to them. Then, ask them to bring their lists to meetings to use as a basis of their progress reports.

Organizing your time is easier when you organize your workspace. A neat desk helps you stay focused on the task at hand when you need to find something. Think about how mechanics do their work. They line up their tools on trays in an arrangement that allows them to reach for a tool without taking their eyes off their work, and then they put it back in the same place.

How you keep your office is up to you. What is crucial in good time management is that you make your workplace work for you. Make sure that your office matches the flow of your daily activities. By rearranging the placement of your desk, phone, computer, and storage space, you can save thousands of extra steps every year, which can mean big savings in your time.

A cluttered desk creates stress and distracts you from giving your full concentration to the job at hand. To keep your desk clear, file everything but the one item you are working on at the moment. Store the files according to whether you need to use them every day, every week, or every month. Keep the items that you frequently use within your reach, perhaps in your desk drawers, and put those things you look at less often in file cabinets and storage boxes. Create a “To Be Filed” folder, as well as one or two “To Do” folders for items requiring immediate or less-urgent attention, and keep them in a place you can readily access. Regularly schedule time for catching up, reorganizing, and working your way through the folders.

To make the best use of your day, concentrate on what you do best. For example, if you are good at writing proposals, and that is what you are paid to do, find someone else to do your photocopying or look information up on the Internet. If you’re overwhelmed with paperwork to review, considering hiring an intern or a student from a local college. Although this will require an initial investment of time to teach the intern what to do, the time savings in the long run will be well worth it.

If you decide to hire someone to lighten your load, choose only the best. Pick people who can accept responsibility, and who have the right skills and interests. Assign priorities and a due date to each task, provide the necessary training, and delegate as much responsibility as possible.

An important part of effective time management is being able to set aside blocks of time when you will not be interrupted. By setting aside blocks of time it will allow you to focus on your work. But setting aside chunks of time isn’t easy when you’re continuously bombarded by phone calls and personal intrusions. To find time to concentrate, you may need to come to the office before anyone else arrives, or stay after everyone else has left. If your company allows flex-time, take advantage of it. Many people find that coming in a half-hour early gives them time to go through their lists and find tasks that can be accomplished before the phone rings and the crises begin.

Finding chunks of time actually means that you do things when nobody else is doing them. This principle can be applied to all areas of your life to save time. For example, avoid the Friday afternoon crush by cashing checks and shopping when other people are not forming long lines. Use the photocopier during lunch, while everyone else is out of the office. Check out of your hotel when others are still in bed, or use the automatic checkout service. Buy presents all year long, rather than waiting for the headaches of the holiday season.

The ability to stay focused plays a major role in saving time. Staying focused means being able to concentrate on one problem without being distracted or growing tired. In order to do this you have to find the time of the day when you work at your peak. All of us have work rhythms, which include certain times when we do better work than at other times of the day. Studies have shown that the biggest surge of energy for most people starts at around 11 a.m. and usually lasts for about two hours. Another high-wave begins about 4 p.m. and lasts until about 6 p.m. To take advantage of high-energy phases you may want to try doing non-creative tasks, like opening letters, filing, or reading the paper, in the early morning, and concentrate on the most mentally demanding work between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., and from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Up to now, we’ve been discussing time tactics, addressing the question of how you can save time. But there is a bigger issue to ponder: what you save time for. Getting more work done in the same amount of time, of doing the same amount of work in less time, is not an end in itself. It’s absolutely critical to ask yourself continually, “What for?”

The answer lies in the priorities that you have set. The “What for?” question should be asked about the life you live, not just for the work you do. Albert Einstein once said that, if he could send just one message to the world, it would be this, “Never forget that the fruits of our work are not final in themselves. Production is meant to make our lives easier, to give our lives a touch of beauty and refinement, but we should not allow ourselves to be degraded into mere slaves of production.”

Most of us have no interest in becoming slaves of production. While saving time can allow people to work more efficiently, it also gives each person the opportunity to achieve his or her own answer to the “What for? Question. Perhaps you’d like to retire early, or start a new business, or attain peace of mind. Whatever your response to “What for?” you need to discover what it is. Then you can use time saving tactics to do everything you need to do in as little time as possible, which will leave you much more time to do everything you want to do.

Copyright© by Joe Love and JLM & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.

Joe Love draws on his 25 years of experience helping both individuals and companies build their businesses, increase profits, and achieve total success. He is the founder and CEO of JLM & Associates, a consulting and training organization, specializing in personal and business development. Through his seminars and lectures, Joe Love addresses thousands of men and women each year, including the executives and staffs of many of America’s largest corporations, on the subjects of leadership, self-esteem, goals, achievement, and success psychology.

Reach Joe at: joe@jlmandassociates.com

Read more articles and newsletters at: http://www.jlmandassociates.com

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