{"id":11537,"date":"2016-08-26T00:10:46","date_gmt":"2016-08-26T04:10:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/?p=11537"},"modified":"2023-06-13T16:29:32","modified_gmt":"2023-06-13T20:29:32","slug":"simple-ways-to-manage-your-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/simple-ways-to-manage-your-time\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Simple Ways to Manage Your Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"3Do you view time management<\/a> as a long and drawn-out practice?<\/p>\n

Do you think it will take several weeks\u2019 worth of work to see even the subtlest change to your schedule?<\/p>\n

Well, the good news is that you don\u2019t have to sweat bullets to get a grip on your morning routine<\/a>, busy afternoons at work<\/a>, and evening activities<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You can make great changes to your calendar with the slightest bit of effort.<\/p>\n

All it takes is a few moments of planning<\/a> and reflection.<\/p>\n

In this post, I offer three simple tips to help you better manage your time.<\/p>\n

Use a timer while you work.<\/h2>\n

Has this ever happened to you?<\/p>\n

You\u2019re sitting at your desk and say to yourself, \u201cI\u2019ll only spent five minutes checking my email.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thirty-minutes later, you\u2019re up to your elbows in messages<\/a> and wonder where all those minutes went.<\/a><\/p>\n

Hmm\u2026<\/p>\n

If you have trouble minding your minutes (and hours!), you may find it helpful to use a timer while you work. Using a timer makes you aware of how much time you\u2019re actually spending on a task<\/a>. It also focuses your attention to the task at hand: you either work on the task, or you don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

The work-by-timer technique is simple: choose a task, set a timer for a specific amount of time, and get to work. When the timer goes off, it\u2019s time to stop working. Repeat the process as necessary for any new tasks.<\/p>\n

Try using this technique when you check email<\/a>, sit down to write a presentation, or visit your favorite social media site<\/a>. You\u2019ll be surprised at what you can accomplish when you\u2019re working by the clock<\/a>!<\/p>\n

\n

Give your schedule some breathing room.<\/h2>\n

Lumping similar tasks, appointments, and meetings together in your calendar can save you a lot of time and money. Why make five separate trips across town running personal errands, for example, when you can do so in one trip?<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s important to have a well-organized calendar<\/a>, it\u2019s also important that your calendar has adequate time for rests or breaks<\/a>. What\u2019s the use of booking meetings<\/a> back-to-back at work if it makes you drained, tired, and cranky?   <\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of scheduling every single minute and moment of your day, leave some free or flexible time for yourself. This is allows you to take breaks from your day-to-day responsibilities, transition from appointments and meetings<\/a>, enjoy personal time with your family and friends, and make up for any latenesses caused by traffic trouble.<\/p>\n

\n

Review your schedule the night before.<\/h2>\n

Do you get goosebumps looking at all the different items on your to-do list first thing in the morning? You\u2019ve got to admit, that\u2019s a lot of information to process all at once, so early in the day!<\/p>\n

A simple way to get around this is to briefly review your schedule for tomorrow before you finish your work. You can think of this as a sort of \u2018pre-programming\u2019 for your mind. You\u2019re gently reminding yourself of your upcoming meetings and appointments so it won\u2019t be such a shock in the morning.<\/p>\n

Now, keep in mind, this doesn\u2019t have to be a long and drawn-out affair: all you have to do is quickly glance at your schedule<\/a> so you have an idea of what\u2019s to come. Try adding this simple technique to your end-of-work routine<\/a>. You\u2019ll immediately notice a difference in how you relate to your upcoming appointments and meetings.<\/p>\n

\n

How about you? Which of these tips do you think you\u2019ll use in future? Do you have any other simple time management tips that you\u2019d like to share? Join in the conversation and leave a comment below!<\/i><\/p>\n

A version of this post appeared on the blog in August 2014.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you view time management as a long and drawn-out practice? Do you think it will take several weeks\u2019 worth of work to see even the subtlest change to your schedule? Well, the good news is that you don’t…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[325],"tags":[355,142,184,364,110,72,881,130],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11537"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11537"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24262,"href":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11537\/revisions\/24262"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}