Steps to Manage Your Time Better
Health
- You need to start with your health.
- You need to eat a balanced diet, exercise, get adequate sleep, and maintain a positive mental attitude.
- If you do these things, you will have more physical and emotional energy.
- Even though self-help books and motivational speakers can tell you how to become better time managers, they can’t provide you with the power to become better time managers.
- But The Holy Spirit can. Ask The Holy Spirit to empower you to become better time managers.
Workloads and Deadlines
- As soon as you receive an assignment, you should enter it on your Outlook calendar together with the corresponding start date, due date, and a reminder alert.
- It is also helpful to keep a document on your desk that lists each assignment and the due date. (This provides a reminder you can see).
- When you feel in control, you can use your energy to accomplish things instead of worry about them.
- If you choose to also use paper folders, use two racks—one to hold assignments that you are currently working on, and one that holds the long-term ones.
- Will a team work on the assignment? If so, who will do what and when?
A plan to manage your assignments and deadlines
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- When you receive an assignment, ask for the completion date.
- Ask the person who assigns the assignment how much time you should spend on it.
- Communication is critical.
- Check in periodically with a progress report.
- If you encounter any problems or issues that could keep you from completing the assignment on time, talk with the person who assigned the work.
Calendars—Monthly and Weekly
- Filling in and updating important dates on your monthly calendar helps you keep the big picture in mind.
- Filling in and updating assignments on your weekly calendar helps you see what you need to do on a daily and weekly basis, when you have time to do the work, and the due date.
- Optional==Print the monthly and weekly calendars from your computer and keep them on your desk.
- The advantage of paper calendars on your desk is that they create an instant snapshot and constant reminder about what you are working on, what is on the horizon, and what the due date is.
- In the office, I often use a printed copy of my electronic calendars. When I am out of the office, I use my iPhone and my iPad where I can simply click on my calendar and see the events for today, the week, the month, and the year.