Introduction:
There is a saying “Time is money”, but in this modern world time is more than money. If we lose money we can always earn, but if we lose time we cannot get it back. Time cannot be manufactured but can be managed.
Time is one of life’s most precious things. Being poor or rich; unskilled or skilled; ignorant or intelligent everyone has the same 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. The winners of the world are time optimizers they always find time to do what they want to do. The main difference between winners and losers is that winners can take control of their time while the losers will allow everyone and everything to control their time. Time management is nothing but eliminating unproductive demands on their time through Effective, Efficient and Effortless management on the daily routines.
There are so many things we can talk about Time Management; let us see one important aspect that is Managing Time. The following are the tips to manage time effectively:
1. Time to Plan
The effective way to manage time is to determine in advance how to use your segments of time. It is nothing but planning exactly how you intend to use every minute of your time over the next several hours / days / weeks. Planning cuts down on unproductive tasks
2. Time for Contingency Planning
No plan is perfect. So, it will be always better to have a contingency back up plan that tells what to do if the original plan do not work out, or not knowing how to adjust on unforeseen circumstances
3.Time to Prioritize
Prioritizing the tasks is important to decide what to do first. This will make sure the items in the top gets the immediate attention. “Ranking is a time saver”
4. Time to Postpone/delay
More precaution should be taken while delaying things as most of the opportunities will be available briefly. So postpone or delay the tasks that have least importance
5. Time to Decide
To make optimum use of your decision-making time, decide wisely and smartly by weighing:
- Problem
- Solution
- Consequences
6. Time to Converse
- Meetings, drop-in visitors and telephone are time displacers. Conversing is a must, but, set parameters.
- Saying NO – if you have to say no, say it. Be firm and stick to your decision
7. Time to Lead
- Your Time Management strategy may be brilliant, but it will fail if it does not include motivating the right people in the right ways
- Identify the time wasters and eliminate time wastage by setting an example yourself and thus motivating your employees
- Motivate your subordinates by giving them:
i. Work that challenges them
ii. Opportunity to contribute to organization’s goals
iii. Opportunity to upgrade their skills and recognize their talents
iv. Opportunity to get ahead
8. Time to Review
- Track how you used your individual days
- Do this for a month
- At the end of each month, identify the time stealers and act upon them
