INTRODUCTION
Time management is one of the pillars of having an organized life. But sometimes, it can be hard to figure out how to manage your time effectively and smoothly. You may also have many obligations that make time management seem tough and scary–school, work, extracurricular activities, exercise, family commitments, and hobbies. Once you can manage a life filled with commitments and activities, you can do anything.
WHY IS TIME MANAGEMENT IMPORTANT?
Time management is important because it means you are both dependable and organized. As you grow in your career, time management becomes one of the most vital skills you can have in your pocket. It helps in being responsible, fulfilling your personal and professional goals, and becoming more successful in life.
SKILLS OF TIME MANAGEMENT
Being organized goes hand in hand with time management, as organized people are generally punctual and able to manage their time effectively. Organization involves planning out your day, making time for your activities (both related to your responsibilities and what you do for fun), and being conscious of your commitments before taking on new ones.
To be successful in time management, you must be able to prioritize your goals, commitments, and activities. You must be able to know which of your commitments are higher priorities. There is nothing set in stone about what kinds of activities have more priority than others, but you must know which activities have more priority for you. This can also involve breaking your day into chunks. By devoting set amounts of time to your various activities, this will help you work more productively. This includes carving out time in the day for job, classes (if you happen to be a student), chores, your hobbies, and extracurricular activities.
Goal-setting is another pillar of time management. If you want to succeed at your job or complete your education by a set date, then you must set those goals in advance (such as making plans for career advancement and setting a graduation date and outlining when you should take certain classes to meet that goal). Once you have these goals outlined, setting goals for other things, such as hobbies (like learning how to knit a sweater, if you like to knit) and exercise (wanting to be able to bench press a larger amount than you do now), becomes much easier.
Holding yourself accountable is a skill that is important in most areas of life, but especially with time management. Accidents happen and sometimes, your time management gets out of control. You might show up late to a meeting, you might have to call out of work because of an emergency, and you might become overextended because you took on too much at one time. It is not the end of the world if you become a little less conscious of time management now and then, but it is important to acknowledge when you’re becoming less organized and time-conscious. Hold yourself accountable by admitting your mistakes, making modifications to your schedule to get back on track, and smoothing things over with your colleagues, classmates, supervisors, and teachers to keep everyone in the loop. You will be remembered for being organized, responsible, and conscientious of others. These qualities and time management go hand in hand.
MAINTAINING TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS
Like everything else in life, it takes time for these skills to become second nature. Practicing time management does not only begin with your career, but in every other aspect of your life…such as balancing your activities, chores, errands, and free time. Having commitments allows you to practice your time management skills…prioritizing the commitments that have more importance and deciding what is really important so that you do not become overwhelmed with a wide variety of activities.
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