There never seems to be enough time in the day. 24 hours seems like it should be enough, but add in sleep, work, family, activities, traffic, and the unexpected and suddenly it’s a race against the clock. Whether you’re single, married, young or on the other half of your life, there seems to be more and more to get done each day. If you’re lucky enough to have no daily obligations other than to eat, sleep, and pass the time at your leisure, this may not be a concern. If however, you are like the majority of people who some sort of responsibilities they need to manage, time can be elusive.
As a busy parent, you may be constantly asking yourself, “how can I possibly be in 2 places at the same time?” Maybe you find you’re not really listening to your child because you’re trying to multi-task at the same time. As a home care nurse working out in the field, you may be asking yourself, “how can I possibly see this many patients, provide the care that they need, drive to 4 different towns, document my findings, and get this all done in an 8 hour day?” As a student, you may be feeling overwhelmed with going to classes all day, then off to practice after school, work a job/volunteer, find time to eat, and do homework and then try not fall asleep in class the next day! Time Management can really affect anyone, at any time in their life, and have a significant impact on quality of life. Resentment starts to kick in pretty quickly when you constantly find you’re doing work off the clock, unpaid, and on your own time because of the demands of life. Kids can start to withdraw from family time or quit a good job because they “just can’t fit it all in.” Wouldn’t be nice if there was enough time in the day to give the attention you need to the things that matter most and then have some time left over to just be still and enjoy the moment. There is no miracle cure to make this happen, but maybe just making a few simple changes might help. Gaining a few extra minutes in every day can really add up to a better day, better health, and a better overall quality of life. Read on for some suggestions from worklifebalance.com
Throw away your to-do-list. Do not continue using this old way of reminding yourself you’re falling behind. Before you throw your to do list away, however, ask yourself a simple question about each item on the list. “When am I going to do this?” Then transfer each item off the list to a specific day you will do it. This relieves stress and gets important items completed in a much more timely fashion.
Do Not Multi-Task when in a phone or face-to-face conversation. Focus on the other person and the conversation. This speeds up the communication and makes sure key information is conveyed, reducing time delays in the future. Multi-tasking is a counterproductive time management technique when dealing with people. People are not tasks and resent being treated as such.
Leave detailed voice messages. Encourage the other person to leave the specific information you need on your voice mail if you are not able to pick up when they call. Avoid phone tag whenever possible.
Although these seem like obvious tips, sometimes just incorporating one of these items into your daily life can add a few precious minutes to your day!