How to Manage Time Effectively

At times you might face difficulties when trying to manage your time effectively. This can be quite frustrating as you see the work you have to get done pile-up, while you clearly know the goals you need to achieve.

It’s not that you lack skill, or that you’re not proficient in what you do, but there are times that at the end of the day, you just couldn’t finish what you wanted to.

In this post, I discuss the main issues that contribute to having a less fulfilling day and the different methods you can use to counteract them.

All in all, this would help you waste less time, be more productive & have a greater sense of achievement at the end of a day’s work.

Create a To-Do list / Schedule for the day

Create a clear plan, ordered by priority, for what you need to accomplish the day before. This way, as soon as you get to work, you know exactly where to start, what to do & where to end.

Also, you should map out the time needed for each task with an adequate amount of breathing space to complete the tasks properly & successfully. This will help you manage your time effectively and optimally.

Additionally, this would prevent you from rushing things too much at the expense of doing a less than stellar job.

Understanding that every minute counts

You need to understand that one of the key factors to manage your time effectively is to really understand time itself by breaking it down to the minute.

Out of the 24 hours a day, when you take out 8 hours to sleep, you have another 16 hours left of awake time. Depending on where you’re in life & what you want to achieve, your work hours will differ. But, let’s say that you might utilize 8 to 16 hours of this time for your work & other personal goals.

Let’s take the average of these two which is 12 hours. 12 hours equals to to 720 minutes. Given that you take out 180 minutes to eat, drink and other personal stuff, that leaves you with 540 minutes. Given this, I would say that every minute does count.

The stats here show that the average user spends 140+ minutes a day on social media. If you think about it, wasting your time on social media even for 60 minutes is quite a lot. Give or take that would be a about 10% of your allocated work time.

And, that is just one way out of a hundred, where something disrupts our attention.

every minute you waste is actual money

60 minutes or 1 hour a day equals to 365 hours a year. Which, for example, let’s say your time is worth $20 per hour. This would amount to $7300.

Imagine you invested that money each year and it compounds at 10% per annum. As shown below, over a period of 10 years you would have saved more than $110,000.00. Yes, One Hundred & Ten Thousand Dollars!

Given that almost 30% of American have 0% savings for retirement, this is something you definitely need to give a lot of thought to.

As you can see, this can make a huge impact on your quality of life in the future. So, remember that time itself has a significant correlation to your income. And, keep in mind that wasting time equals wasting money and the potential to multiply your net worth as well.

Also, it’s important to remember that a wasted minute is a minute that you can never recover – ever. That is why they say that time is as a precious as gold. So, make sure to be aware of this and make every minute count if you’re serious about your life goals & aspirations.

Saying No to Time Wasting activities

Self discipline is absolutely essential if you want to effectively manage the limited time you have in each day. Get rid of bad habits like scrolling endlessly on Social Media, watching Youtube videos or Reels, or reading unwanted articles on Sports, Politics etc.

These are recreational activities that we do that are dopamine boosters that in reality serve no purpose to us 99% of the time. If you think of it, you will remember almost nothing of what you saw or read for ‘entertainment’ the next day. This alone shows that it didn’t contain any value at all.

This cheap dopamine release can make your scrolling turn in to a bad habit that can be hard to get rid of. You will basically get addicted to the rush of effortless dopamine on a daily basis.

Moreover, ask yourself, did you wake up in the morning for this? And did you plan the day ahead for work, to end up scrolling on your phone?

Or are you going to slay the day by being ultra productive & finishing all the work you outlined for yourself? The choice is yours.

At every fork in the road, where the choice is between doing your work or wasting your time , choose wisely. Make the conscious choice to reject cheap dopamine thrills & choose to expedite the tasks at hand.

Order instead of Chaos

If you really want to take things in to your own hands on how to manage your time efficiently, remember this: Always, order instead of chaos.

That is the importance of having a to-do list or a schedule as I mentioned at the start.

Also, avoiding time wasting activities as discussed above.

You should fully understand and concentrate on the work at hand. You need to give your undivided attention to perform the work in front of you to the best of your abilities. Being unfocused means performing below your potential.

So always remember, order over chaos. This is important if you want to be as optimal as possible with your time, in order to mange not just your time but your day as well.

fully immerse Yourself in what you do

You should not take this lightly. As mentioned above under ‘Order instead of Chaos’, immersing yourself fully is paramount to your goal in managing your valuable time.

Do not try to multitask, it will hamper your productivity. Focus on the task at hand as you had outlined at the start of the day.

Do not cater to any distractions whatsoever. Be it your mind, eyes or ears. These sensors represent an evolutionary adaptation that makes you easily distracted. Obviously, this would be a good thing if you were in the middle of the jungle, facing the risk of an apex predator killing you.

However, it’s not beneficial if you’re seated at your workplace, which carries nowhere near the risks our ancestors faced.

So focus intently, and work on it till you’re 100% done. Be as efficient as possible to complete the task at hand. This is what managing your time optimally comes down to.

take small breaks, to be sharper

As much as you need to be fully focussed in on the job you’re doing, it is crucial that you need to take periodic breaks to keep going at your most efficient levels.

Taking breaks of about 5 minutes per half an hour ensures that you avoid burnout as the day progresses. Also, it keeps your mind fresh throughout the day.

This, is in essence the Pomodoro Technique. That is, to break your task in to 30 minute chunks & take a break at the 25th for 5 minutes.

You can refresh yourself by doing some quick exercises for instance. Try doing some exercises such as push-ups or even shadow boxing if you’re into Martial Arts. This will get you out of the imminent slump of being stationary for too long. This works well for whether it be your mind or body.

Or you can grab a coffee or call a friend. Just something that takes your mind & eyes off of the work for a moment, so that you can refresh & start anew.

I use the Tomighty app, which I personally find to be very helpful. It’s available for download for both Windows & Mac as a free app.

So, if you want to manage your time more effectively don’t underestimate the importance of taking short breaks as well.

Get rid of Procrastination completely

I don’t think it would be much of a stretch to call procrastination the arch enemy of productivity. Procrastination basically is the bad habit, or chronic behaviour that makes you keep putting things back for later. So it’s no wonder that this is one of the main contradictions of wanting to manage your time both efficiently & effectively.

There are several reasons that you would procrastinate as I have discussed in this article here.

But the bottom line is that putting the most important things for later is never a good thing. It causes unwanted stress & leads to a less perfected outcome. And, not only that, you’re basically pushing yourself against a wall when it comes to managing your time.

Ask yourself: Is this something worthwhile to you, important & can make a positive act in your life? If yes, you have to take charge and get started on it right now.

In Conclusion

We’re all given the same amount of time each day. So it’s a level playing field when it comes down to the amount of time we all have.

And time does have a huge correlation with money. So, if you waste your time, you’re essentially throwing away potentially boat loads of money.

Is that what you want in life? Or do you want to manage your time efficiently and be as productive as possible?

The choice is yours and I know which one you will choose. Keep grinding!