Time Management
Time management is basically about being focused. The Pareto Principle, also known as the ’80/20 Rule’, states that 80% of our efforts that are unfocused generates only 20% of the desired output. However, 80% of the desired output can be generated using only 20% of a well time managed effort. Although the ratio ’80/20′ is only arbitrary, it is used quite effectively to illustrate how much is lost or how much can be gained using your time properly. As network marketers, what this means is 80% of our results come from 20% of our efforts.
Most people view time management as a list of rules that involves scheduling appointments, goal settings, creating to do lists and prioritizing. These are the basics and do make up the core of time management that is needed in order to develop an efficient personal time management skill set. These basic skills should then be fine tuned further to include the finer points that relate to the industry you have chosen. But there are more skills involved in time management than the core basics. Skills such as decision making, inherent abilities such as emotional intelligence and critical thinking are also essential to your personal growth.
Personal time management involves everything you do, big or small, everything you do matters. Each time you learn something new, every piece of advice you consider, each new skill you develop should be taken into consideration and added into your time management arsenal.
If you are an entrepreneur or business owner, be mindful of what you are actually working towards. This is not business just for business sake, this is about having the lifestyle you desire with the ones you care about to share it with. Having a balanced life-style should be the key result in having personal time management. This is the main aspect that many practitioners of personal time management fail to grasp. What is the point of having a thriving business if you lose what truly matters.
What people often fail to realize in their quest to have a successful business is the need for personal time management. There are six key areas that should not be neglected.
The six areas that personal time management seeks to improve in anyone’s life are: physical, intellectual, social, career, emotional and spiritual.
- The physical aspect involves having a healthy body, less stress and fatigue.
- The intellectual aspect involves learning and other mental growth activities.
- The social aspect involves developing personal or intimate relations and being an active contributor to society.
- The career aspect involves school and work.
- The emotional aspect involves appropriate feelings and desires and manifesting them.
- The spiritual aspect involves a personal quest for meaning.
Thorough planning and having a set of things to do list for each of the key areas is very practical, but determining which area in your life is not being given enough attention is also part of time management. Each area creates the whole you, if you are ignoring one area then you are ignoring an important part of yourself. Personal time management need not be a daunting task. It is a very sensible and reasonable approach in solving problems big or small.
A great way of learning time management and improving your personal life is to follow several basic activities. One of them is to review your goals. Be sure to include immediate and long-term goals often. A way to do this is to keep a list that is always accessible to you. Always determine which task is necessary or not necessary in achieving your goals and which activities are helping you maintain a balanced life style.
Each and every one of us has a peak time and a time when we slow down, these are our natural cycles. We should do the most difficult tasks when we are at the sharpest and save the least difficult tasks when they do not place such a drain on us. Remember, we are not Superman; we cannot be everything to everybody. You have to learn to say “No”. You actually see this advice often. Heed it even if it involves saying the word to family or friends if it puts you in personal jeopardy.
A few tips to keep you on the right track.
- Pat yourself at the back or just reward yourself in any manner for an effective time management result.
- Try and get the cooperation from people around you who are actually benefiting from your efforts of time management.
- Don’t procrastinate. Attend to necessary things immediately.
- Have a positive attitude and set yourself up for success. But be realistic in your approach in achieving your goals.
- Have a record or journal of all your activities. This will help you get things in their proper perspective.
These are the few steps you initially take in becoming a well rounded individual.
Personal time management is the art and science of building a better life. From the moment you integrate into your life time management skills, you have opened several options that can provide a broad spectrum of solutions to your personal growth. It also creates more doors for opportunities to knock on.
“Every day do something that will inch you closer to a better tomorrow”
Doug Firebaugh
Success in all you endeavors,
Fred Villareal
