Hey friends! I wanted to write a post about how to improve time management because I feel like it is such a pain point for many people.
It gets me so excited to write posts related to time management, productivity and achieving big goals. It is what I thrive on!
Are you often running around all day and by the time you go to bed wish you had gotten a million more things done? Do you have big dreams like I did to get into medical school, but have to work on those dreams around a full time job?
It can be done! But, you definitely have to take a close look at what you are spending your time on, eliminate what is unnecessary, and maximize what aligns with your goals!
This post is all about How to Improve Time Management
This post contains affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure here.
How To Improve Time Management in 5 Easy Steps
1. Define What Your Goals Are
This is by far the most important thing to do! You want to learn how to improve time management, but what are you really managing your time for?
Do you want to improve your work flow at work? Want to get straight A’s next semester while starting your own business on the side?
In the following steps, we are going to take a good look at the things you do from day to day. I guarantee there are many time suckers you didn’t even realize you were doing. Time suckers that don’t get you any closer to achieving your goals!
Those kinds of things need to be eliminated, but you have to know what your goals are to know what isn’t really necessary.
2. Take an Audit of Your Habits
I don’t really know much about taxes TBH, but I’m pretty sure that people usually hate audits. But for us, we love audits!
You should take an audit of your habits every week until you are happy with your time management and productivity.
How do you take an audit of your habits?
Glad you asked!
For one week, or Monday through Saturday, I want you to pay close attention to everything you spend your time on. Use a planner, or the notes app on your phone to track everything.
An example from one day would be the following:
- Alarm goes off at 6:00 AM
- Hit snooze until 6:10 AM
- Scroll on phone for 15 minutes and get up at 6:25 AM
- Make breakfast, eat & check social media until 7:00 AM
- From 7:00 – 8:15 AM work on side hustle, check email, occasionally get on Instagram
- Get dressed and do hair and make up from 8:15 – 9:00 AM
- Head to work at 9:00 AM and listen to music on the way
Okay, things to note here is that your list should be as specific as the one above (or more specific)! Continue to do it while you are at work, plus when you get home in the evenings.
3. Eliminate What Doesn’t Align With Your Goals
No that you have closely studied yourself for a week or a few days, there is SO much you will learn about your habits and how you spend your time!
Keep your the goals you set for yourself in mind when you do this step. Eliminate ANY and every habit or time sucker that doesn’t align with your goals.
For example…
Unless your goal is to become a social media influencer, eliminate your phone all together in the mornings and evenings. Or anytime you are trying to work on your goals.
If you are trying to start your own business on the side and the only time you have to work on it is in the mornings before your day job, then no phone in the mornings!
Get a traditional alarm clock and literally hide it from yourself until a certain time in the morning.
Let’s look at another example…
Let’s say you are trying to get straight A’s this semester, but you also work as a waitress. You only have two hours per day in between clasess and work to get homework done.
What exactly do you do during those two hours? Do you check email, text friends, or procrastinate?
To maximize your time and reach your goals, those are more things that can be eliminated!
Email: I got this advice from the 4 Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss which I highly suggest, even for college or graduate students. Instead of constantly checking your email your email throughout the day, choose ONE time to check it per day.
If you only have a two hour window for school work, then prioritize that and eliminate email. Save it for right before bed each day or something like that, and turn off the notifications for it.
Text messages: have your phone in your backpack on airplane mode to avoid this.
Procrastination: read about Parkinson’s Law, the Pomodoro Technique, and B- Work below and those will help eliminate this big time! There is also a great article to read HERE.
4. Prioritize Tasks That Move The Needle In The Right Direction
Other than seeing what doesn’t work after taking an audit, you will also be able to see what does work.
You will also still need to sit down and think about what you really need to do to achieve your goals. Having A+ time management is great, but not if your spending your time doing the wrong things.
For example…
A lot of experienced bloggers will tell new bloggers that there first priority should be growing their blog traffic before anything else.
Yet, some new bloggers will waste time making products and making an Instagram for their blog before they have traffic!
They may be Rockstar’s in time management, but they are spending their time doing things that aren’t aligned with their goals!
So what are the things you need to prioritize for your goals?
Be honest with yourself and VERY specific. Like the blogger example above, the new bloggers may have thought they were doing a great job working towards their goals.
The easiest way to figure out what to prioritize, is to learn from the “experts”. Trying to get straight A’s? What are the straight A students spending their time on?
Trying to get a promotion at work? What did your coworkers spend their time on to get their promotion?
5. Make A Detailed Plan For Each Week
Alright, here comes probably my favorite step because I LOVE to plan! Either use your planner, Google calendar, or whatever you go to way to plan is and sit down to completely rearrange your life!
Now that you know what to eliminate + what to prioritize, it is time to plan it all out so you actually do it!
I’m reading a Tony Robbins book right now and this is a quote he often brings up about this topic:
Knowledge is NOT power. Knowledge is only POTENTIAL power. Action is power.
Tony robbins
So this step, planning it all out, is how you will make sure you take action! This is how to improve time management and reach those goals of yours!
Some tips:
Plan out your schedule one week at a time. Taking an audit once is just the beginning. Plan your week out each Sunday so you can also review the previous week. Pick out a few things you can still improve and incorporate that into next week’s schedule.
Break down a big task into multiple small and specific tasks. Let’s say you have an essay for English due next Friday. Which of the strategies below do you think would make you more successful?
STRATEGY A:
Wednesday: complete first half of essay
Thursday: complete second half on Thursday
STRATEGY B:
Monday: spend 1 hour on research for English essay and write a rough outline
Tuesday: spend 1 hour filling in the outline and completing the first draft
Wednesday: review rubric, edit first draft, and ask a classmate for feedback
Thursday: revise edits based on feedback and complete final draft
Friday: turn in assignment and double check at the end of the day it was submitted
Strategy B is definitely a much better way to plan out your week! Whatever your goals are, keep this example in mind to make SMALL + SPECIFIC tasks for each day!
A lot of people like to say to set “SMART” goals. Read more on that HERE!
Thanks for Reading!
I hope you enjoyed this post about how to improve your time management! I sure enjoyed writing it because these are things I do often for myself to make sure I’m on task to reaching my own goals!
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