Improve Your Personal Life

When it comes to good time management most people automatically think of their work and their professional life, but studies show that many people waste a tremendous amount of time in their personal life. By identifying and dealing with the time wasters in your personal life you can help manage your time better in your professional life.

Most of us can’t help but feel overwhelmed by the pressures and demands of work and home. After you tend to your spouse, children, pets, housework, lawn maintenance, presentations, and reports, what little leftover time you find is usually reserved for friends. Time alone is practically nonexistent.

Because there are only 24 hours in a day, many of us need a little help in determining how to manage our responsibilities within that infinite time frame. According to many time-management experts, it’s not the vast amount of activities we have that keeps us running perpetually behind; it’s the small chunks of wasted time that gobble up the day.

The first thing to remember when it comes to good time management is that you are the only person who can decide when you’re not using your time effectively. Sometimes you don’t consciously make that decision; it’s made for you by your tired body. If that is the case, heed the call. Your body is probably telling you to slow down.

Realistic goals are vital to good time management. Expectations are a time management killer. Your aim should be to feel good, not to do more. For example, sometimes you expect to get a lot done on the weekend, but when you don’t accomplish everything you set out to do, you feel frustrated. Instead of trying to do it all, try to do one thing. Make that your goal.

Another way to start gaining control of your time is to become aware of how you currently spend it. A good first step in learning how to manage your time is to start keeping a log of daily activities. Use a calendar for this purpose, so you can get an idea of how you typically let time get away from you. This will give you a solid basis upon which to formulate strategies to spend your time more effectively.

Through my seminars and consulting over the years I have dealt with thousands of people. My experiences with people have allowed me to identify some of the common time wasters that many people deal with in their personal life. While, realistically, we can’t avoid these things, we can reduce their impact on our lives.

The telephone acts as lifeline to the world, but its presence can also be disruptive. Learn to cut back on your use of the phone. Answer it if you want to talk, but don’t answer out of obligation. If you do take a call, limit it to 15 minutes or less. Another way to reduce telephone time is to use it as an answering machine. If the telephone continues to be a problem, unplug it or if it’s your cell phone, turn it off. Just don’t forget to reconnect it or turn it back on when you’re ready to talk to the world again.

The television is a big source of wasted time. If you have children, the concept of television rationing is probably not unfamiliar to you. Practice what you preach, turn off the television if you can’t afford distractions. Physically remove yourself from the room if you have to. Or, if you do decide to watch, try to do something else at the same time, such as paying a bill or letter writing. Remember, when you are watching television to avoid doing something else, it has become a time waster for you.

Next, examine how much time you spend in the car. Can you cut down that time by using alternative means of transportation? Limiting your use of the car is not only a time saver; it also makes sense economically and environmentally. Join a car pool, or take public transportation. You can read or listen to the radio while you’re taking a bus or subway to work, turning time previously spent on driving into precious free time.

Another big time waster that you have to get control over is trivia. This includes the time you spend doing housework, and running errands. If you can learn to streamline these activities, you can make your time much more effective.

To gain control over the time you spend doing housework and general property maintenance I suggest that you use a cleaning and maintenance schedule. You should reserve certain activities for a particular day of the week. For example, clean the bathroom on Saturdays, but do the not-so-critical items every other week. Also, limit the amount of time you spend running errands.

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