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What is time management?
Time management can be said to be an effective way of controlling the time spent on a particular task. It can also be said as a way of making the proper use of your time on any task or occasion which may be personal, social, or even work-related. Making proper use of your time helps you to be proactive and creative in your thinking. You would always find yourself right on the mark, accomplishing your work with ease.
Why is time management important?
Time management has been found to be very effective when applied to any task. Effective time management helps to complete a task on time, thereby saving your time for other needs, it helps to organize and structure your work in a way to complete it on time and also improves one’s career when it is related to a work environment. Effective time management helps you to be a better worker or student. You can also apply time management skills for your personal task. Time management is generally a good skill and it helps you to appreciates time and value every minute of your day. It also increases your productivity and general health.
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5 Effective Time Management Skills
In order for you to be able to manage your time well, there are a number of skills that you have to put in place to facilitate effective management of your time. Some of these are highlighted below:
- Goal setting: for effective time management, goal setting is the first on the list of skills. For you to be able to manage your time, you have to set a goal. This means if you are assigned a task at work and you need to complete it before the end of work, you have to set up your time to fit in into the completion of the task. Goal setting helps you to understand what you want to achieve at the end of your task.
- Organizing: this skill is another important one for effective time management. An organized environment or work area helps you to complete your task in a short time. Staying organized helps you to locate all you need to work effectively without delay or obstruction.
- Prioritizing: this skill set is needed for every time manager. When given a task, you have to prioritize from the ones that need more attention or more time to the task that needs less time. Doing this would help you understand your task well and also help in completing it quickly.
- Communication: good communication is needed for effective time management. When you can communicate well, it helps you to ask questions or seek help from your seniors who have more experience in doing that task. No man is an island, there you have to communicate with people around you and this will help in focusing and solving your task.
- Stress management: as simple as this may sound, it is important to put stress management into consideration when working on time management. It is paramount to put your mental state into check because you may be going through stress during this time and your ability to be able to manage it well is a good skill. If you notice you are stressed, you can give yourself a break, walk around or eat something to be able to feel reenergized and do your work well.
10 Important Time Management Tips for Every Student
Everyone has the same amount of 24 hours a day but for some people, this is never enough. In these categories of people are the students. Time is never enough for a student as there is so much to do, from attending classes, writing assignments, doing projects, and reading and so much more, the activities seem endless. Now for a student to be able to accomplish all of these and still have a great mental state is a wonder. Below are some of the ways or tips for a student to manage his or her time effectively and still feel good.
- Prioritize: as a student, there is a reason why you are in school and it is to study and get a good result. Therefore, if you have this ate the back of your mind you already have a task that needs to be accomplished. While in school, you have to define each day with the task you are given, arrange your time to suit your activities for the day. You can do this arrangement on a scale of preferences to enable you to attend to them easily.
- Wake up early: for you to be able to achieve your goal, you have to discipline yourself. As the saying goes, early to bed, early to rise. You can set up a goal and want to apply time management skills then you sleep late or wake up late, this would disrupt your whole task. By waking up early you can do some part of your task for the day without distractions and this would go a long way to helping to keep your brain active and sharp.
- Set a schedule: setting up a schedule would help you attend to your task on time and also effectively. You can use a calendar or even your phone to set up schedules for each day, things you have to do; you can list them out and attach a time frame. Doing this would help you achieve your goal faster and also would not enable procrastination.
- Eliminate distractions: there are a lot of ways in which one can be distracted these days, with the increase in online applications and games, it is quite hard to able to stay away from distractions. As a student, when you want to read or do any of your tasks, you can start by removing all distractions which could be your phone or laptop and even your friends too who can be a form of distraction. Find a quiet place where you can concentrate and this would help you complete your task faster without delay.
- Quit multitasking: as fun as multitasking may sound, it is not good and may cause a drawback in your plan for effective time management. Learn to do one task at a time, this would not only save your time but also help you to fully complete your task without trouble. The brain said to be able to able to perform one function at a time; therefore, if you are trying to multitask it may send wrong signals to the brain which would not be advantageous to your work.
- Rest at intervals: the brain needs to rest too when it’s tired or overworked, its productivity is minimized therefore when you are feeling tired or sleepy do not force yourself to stay awake. Having a good amount of sleep or rest helps the brain to stay productive. The average number of hours to get a good sleep and rest each night is eight hours so you can try to get these hours of sleep to be able to stay productive the next day.
- Keep a checklist: learn to keep a list of everything you need to do each day and as you complete each task you can give it a tick or pass mark just to keep you motivated. Keeping a checklist helps you to find out what you have accomplished in the past and what you need to be working on presently. You can also review the list each day to make sure you are staying on track and to add or remove as the case may be.
- Be realistic in your task: there is nothing as bad as when you can’t accomplish your set goal, it makes one lose motivation which is very bad. Therefore, when setting up your goals or schedule for each day, leave room for a few interruptions and set out goals that you can be able to complete in a day. Completion of these tasks will help you to stay motivated each day.
- Determine when you are most productive: everyone cannot be the same, so as a student you would see a lot of people who tend to read at night or during the day. It is then your priority to determine when you are most productive for study; it may be at night, in the morning before everyone wakes up, in the afternoon or evenings under the cool shade. Find out these times and work using them, you would be amazed at your level of assimilation and productivity.
- Learn to be time conscious: of course, when you want to apply time management tips or skills to your task, you have to be time conscious. Learn to follow the time you assign to your task strictly, do not procrastinate. You can get a wristwatch or table clock at your side to check the time. Do not use a mobile phone as it may pose as a means of distraction for you. Try to gauge yourself when doing any task with the amount of time you can accomplish them and work on it. Do not try to be a perfectionist but try to get better in completing your task.
Also see: 10 Skills that’ll Make You More Employable than Most People
Finally, Time management has been known over time to be effective when well applied to your task. As a student coping with all the noise of the environment and a lot of distractions can be overwhelming but, when you find out what works best for you and you can plan your time appropriately, it will definitely yield good results. Procrastination is a very bad skill, try to eliminate that and you would be on your path to greatness.
