Time Management
Time management is crucial to your life. If you do not take control of how you manage your time you will keep saying “I don’t have time” or “I want to, but I’m too busy”. I create art, study full time in University, participate in the community, and work as well.
Here are my tips to own and control your day.
Make a list of all you want to do
make a list of your responsibilities
make a list of your must do, but you don’t like to do
Notice how I placed what you want to do at the top of the list. Yes, you should know what you want to do to enjoy your day. Everything else is planned around it.
Now that you have your list, create a time schedule. You will write down everything you want to do during the day. I personally like to space them out through the day. Then I set my tasks and responsibilities around them. It gives me a buffer of bliss to enjoy my day and not feel like it is a dread.
What do you do with work and other activities/responsibilities that are fixed at specific times? You want to schedule those in. Then you want to strategically schedule the rest of the day with your free time.
Next tip, and pay attention!
Assign a time of completion to each activity. For small tasks I set 5-10 min. I assign regular tasks 15-25 min. The large tasks I assign thirty minutes maximum.
Now you might be wondering how can a 2 hour project be done in 30 minutes? It is possible! See, during the alotted time you will be dedicating complete focus to the activity. Leave the phone aside. Ignore all distractions. I have learned that some activities take about an hour. But I keep track of the time, so I do not waste it.
Lastly, we cannot go back in time but we can multiply our time. We must focus on freeing more time for our selves. This involves segmenting our wants, responsibilities, and tasks so we can focus on what trully matters for the day. There are no excuses. Learn to prioritize what is and is not important to you, and necessary and unnecessary to do.
If you can delegate tasks, do so. It will help you dedicate time to what is important and urgent to you. I suggest keeping a simple bullet journal with a time line on the margin to schedule your day and activities. Make room for novelty and change things up. It will keep you and your brain younger.