Effective Time Management

Effective Time Management

Written by: Dr. Jacqueline L. Knight

The Business Transformation Coach, LLC

Copyright © 2019

 

Time management is an essential skill, and hour blocking is an easy and powerful way to master this skill. You can use it to block off hours in your schedule and get more things finished. It enables you to take control of the minutes in each day.

 

Follow this process to take advantage of this valuable technique:

 

  1. Start with planning. Make a list of all of your important tasks for the week. Then, narrow this list down to three to five essential tasks.

 

  • Be realistic about your planning. Avoid thinking that you can do a million tasks in one day or week.

 

  1. Block your hours. After you have a short list of tasks, block the hours on your schedule. This is called time blocking and essentially requires you to take each hour and assign a task or item to it.

 

  • Clump related tasks together and add them to specific blocks of time.

 

  • Remember to schedule lunches and breaks. Taking time to rest your mind and body is important! Your breaks allow you to get back to your tasks with renewed energy.

 

  1. Reduce distractions. Hour blocking demands that you eliminate distractions, so you don’t lose focus.

 

  • Figure out what your main distractions are. Do you waste time on social media or constantly check your phone? Do you spend hours in your email inbox and respond to every message instantly?

 

  • Eliminate or reduce these distractions. You may want to set aside a specific chunk of time each day to handle your social media, email inbox, and other tasks that distract you from your more essential actions.

 

  • Also, when you’re working, let others know that you’re busy so they can limit their interruptions.

 

  1. Keep the time blocks flexible. Unless you know the exact amount of time each task will take, it’s important to keep the time blocks flexible. This will also enable you to take care of other important things that come up with a minimum amount of stress or changes to your schedule.

 

  1. Review your time blocks regularly. Make adjustments as needed. If your tasks change, or you find that they take more or less time than you thought, modify your time blocks to take the new information into account.

 

  • Reviewing your time blocks will also give you the chance to see when you’re most productive. If you do your best work in the morning, schedule more important tasks during these hours. Reviews will help you evaluate your productivity levels and decide which parts need attention.

 

  • Another advantage of doing reviews is that it gives you the chance to see if your reminders are working or if they need to be changed. Use alerts on your phone or computer, sticky notes, or traditional alarms to remind you that it’s time to move to the next task. The key is to find something that works for you.

 

Effective time management can help you finish more tasks each day and feel more accomplished. Hour blocking is a useful method for anyone who is interested in greater productivity, either at home or at work.

 

You Can Do It!

Staying Disciplined

Staying Disciplined

TOP TIPS

There are more distractions in our lives than any time before. The internet alone gives us thousands of different ways to stray from our goals. Use the tips in this article to help you keep disciplined.

  1. Project How Life Will Be When Goals Are Met:
    You have probably heard the term, keep your eye on the prize. It is a bit overused. Yet, it still drives home the point that if you have a goal that you really want to reach, focusing on the end result can help keep us on track. It gives you a purpose to do what is needed to meet the objective.
  2. Project How Life Will Be When Goals Are Not Met:
    If your life is not going the way you want it, you need to make changes. If you have a goal to make more money or get another job, think about what life will be like if you don’t take steps to make that happen. This can be a great way to keep your discipline.
  3. Figure Out How to Reduce Stress:
    Stress will be a big factor in not staying disciplined. It will be difficult to concentrate on what you want to accomplish when you are stressed out. Consider taking up exercise, meditation, and other ways to relax like massages. These have all been shown to help reduce the onset of stress. When your stress is reduced, you will have a much easier time concentrating on accomplishing your goals.
  4. Put Accountability into the Mix:
    Try to find a way to hold yourself accountable for whatever activity or goal you are trying to stay disciplined with. For instance, perhaps you used to play a musical instrument and wanted to take it up again. One way to make that happen is to start playing in a band. This arrangement will require you to go to band practices and show up for gigs when you get them.
  5. Look at Your Journey in a Different Light:
    Sometimes when we are focusing on staying self-disciplined, we frame it in a way that others have already shown us how to do. For instance, perhaps you are learning a new language. You have always been told that repetition is the way to learn. Look for other ways that may liven up the process. You could try something like playing games in the new language, etc.
  6. Break Down Tasks into Subtasks:
    When we have some kind of goal or problem that seems too big to tackle, this can put up barriers within our mind. These barriers often prevent us from reaching the intended results. When this happens, consider breaking the end result into subtasks. This makes them more manageable and they can help us alter course along the way if needed.
  7. Don’t Dwell on the Small Stuff:
    There are times when people will let unimportant items get in the way of their lives. This can hinder our focus and keeps us from reaching the desired goals. Do this often enough and you can just about forget accomplishing anything major. While you can’t ignore every little item that pops up, you can shift your priorities or get others to do it instead.
  8. Join Support Groups:
    Support groups can really help when trying to stay disciplined. Whatever key area you are focusing on, there are likely to be groups available to join. If they don’t exist, consider creating one yourself. These groups have people that have been through what you are experiencing and can offer advice.

ACTIONABLE STEPS

1 2 3
Seek out forums and groups that are related to the focus of your discipline. It’s important to keep active within the groups that you find. Otherwise, the members won’t get to know you and won’t be as big a help to you. Create a written plan that contains steps to accomplish what you are trying to stay disciplined with. Make the tasks on the plan as specific as possible. Find someone who you can be accountable for your discipline. You could exchange accountability and whoever accomplishes the desired results first will get some kind of prize.

FURTHER READING

  1. The Power of Habit:
  2. The Practicing Mind: Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life:
  3. The Willpower Instinct:
  4. No Excuses!: The Power of Self-Discipline:
  5. How to Build Self-Discipline:

This report includes powerful tips related to Staying Disciplined.

It also includes 3 actionable steps you can take right away and a list of suggested reading for those people who are looking for even more information.

Dr. Jacqueline L. Knight © 2018

The Business Transformation Coach