For every adult who tries to balance work and life, it always seems that there is never enough time in the day. We all get the same 24 hours, how come some people achieve so much more with their time than others? The secret is good time management! “Time management” is the process of organizing and planning how to divide your time between specific activities. Good time management enables you to work smarter so that you get more done in less time, even when time is tight and pressures are high. Failing to manage your time damages your effectiveness and causes stress.
What Is Time Management
Time management is the process of planning and exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities. It is a technique that aims to increase effectiveness, efficiency or productivity in our lives. Good time management skills can bring you greater productivity and efficiency as well as enhancing your professional reputation. It can also help you reduce stress and increase opportunities for further advancement.
Meanwhile, for many professionals, failing to manage time effectively can lead to a series of unpleasant consequences such as missed deadlines, inefficient work flow, poor work quality, and high stress levels. Spending a little time learning about time-management techniques will have huge benefits throughout your career.
Why Practice Time Management Skills
It’s important that you develop effective strategies for managing your time to balance the conflicting demands of time for career, study, leisure, and family commitment. Time management skills are valuable in work, in school, and also in job search.
Sometimes it may seem that there isn’t enough time to do everything that you need to, which can lead to a build up of stress. When prepping for exams, or conduct job search while juggling between a full time job and a family, good management of your time can be particularly important. Here are a few tips that can help you develop time management skills:
Make a list: List out all the things you need to do and check them off off one by one. Set reminders on your phone to remind yourself to proceed to the next to-do item. You could create a list on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, whichever one works the best for you.
Prioritize Your Work: After you made a list of tasks that need your attention, prioritize them and avoid spending too much time on unimportant items. Some tasks need to be completed at once, which should be bumped up to the top of your list; while the less-important tasks could be carried forward to the next day.
Set deadlines: Setting a deadline can help create a sense of urgency, for some of you that may be the best encouragement. Try your best to stick to the deadline, and make no excuse to push anything back. Set your deadline a few days before the task absolutely has to be done so you can have some buffer time in case something gets in the way.
Avoid Procrastination: Procrastination is the enemy of productivity. It can lead to drastic time-waste and skyrocketing stress level. Procrastination is a bad habit that you have to quit since it results in major issues in both your career and your personal life. Remember, when you see a task on your to-do list, don’t wait till it’s to late to start it.
Take Some Breaks: Give yourself a 10-15 minutes break once a while, especially when your mind is cluttered. Take a walk, listen to some music or do some quick stretches.
As the largest career college in Canada with 50 campuses across the country, Academy of Learning College attributes the growth in our success to identifying the gap between the formal education available and the realities of the working world. We fulfill the needs of learners by developing customized programs for each student, while meeting the requirements for convenient and effective training at an affordable cost. Browse our program list by province and find the best program that suits your needs!