5 Keys For Time Management

What IS a “Time-Management System” anyway?  What makes it work for some people and not for others?  The answer to the second question is here: thejess.link/quiz, but I can help with the first answer right now.

There’s 5 Key things that make time-management successful.  Yes, you have to have all 5, or you’ll find yourself floundering.  Pretty sure you don’t want to flounder, or you wouldn’t even be reading this article.  

A Calendar

The first key is a calendar.  Hey, we’re starting off small here!  You have to have a calendar if you want to manage your time.  It doesn’t matter if you like a paper planner, an electronic calendar, a dry-erase board on the wall, or a beautiful picture wall-calendar.  But you have to have something to track your appointments.  And, as you’re filling them all in, make sure you’re putting in the who/what/where/when for all of the appointments.  (Who has ever added a meeting with someone and later can’t remember where it’s at? *raises hand*  Super frustrating, embarrassing, and a big time-waster.  Take my advice on this, add in the where.  :D )

A Goal

Or SOME Goals.  Some people choose to work on one at a time, and others have 2-3 in process.  BUT…without any goals, there’s no point in trying to manage your time.  It’s like having nowhere to go, but looking at a map.  It’s not going to get you anywhere without knowing where you want to end up.  Make sure you spend some time deciding where you want to go in your life.  If you need help, check out the Northstar Life Plan.  You’ll find it super useful

Priorities

Do you know that what you’re doing from day to day may not line up with what you say is most important to you?  You have to decide what your priorities are.  Once you do that, you’ll be set up to align your to-do list with what you are actually trying to accomplish.  Hint: you need the goals first…  There’s a really great section on prioritization in the Pristine Time Management ebook, if you need help on figuring out how to prioritize your list.

Ideas

Ideas?  Really?  We all have a lot of ideas, right?  But what do you do with all of those ideas you have everyday?  Please, write them down!  Maybe you have a whiteboard, or a notebook, or task-list, or even a space you call “parking lot” to hold sticky notes.  Where you put them doesn’t matter as much as actually recording them - in the same place each time.  Why is that important?  Because you want to actually go back and look at all of the inspiration you’ve had periodically.  If they’re all over the place, you won't be able to find them later.  

Feedback

Last key - a review cycle.  You need to spend time every so often reviewing your calendar, goals, priorities, and ideas list.  Things change over time.  YOU change over time.  If you’re never taking a look at what you’re doing, you’re missing out on all of the progress you’re making!  The time interval doesn’t matter.  Some people look back monthly, some weekly, some at the end of each day.  It’s completely up to you.  The point is that you DO IT.

So reading through these keys, what did you realize you were missing?  Did you find these helpful?  Reply and let me know!