How Do You Manage Your Time?

By- Sumit Shinde, Dinesh Karthik, Nishchay Garg

At some time in your life, you have taken a time

management class, read about it in books, and tried to use various mobile

based applications of day planner to organize and schedule your day. "Do

we succeed in it?" The answer is simple. It didn't work, why?

Before you can even begin to manage time, you must

learn what time is. A dictionary defines time as "the point or period at

which things occur." Put simply, time is when things happens.

The ability to work faster and get more done in less

time is not slavery, its freedom. You are going to have the same amount

of workload to do every day whether you want it or not. If you can be

more efficient, you can get it done and still have some time left over for

yourself— whether it’s to read the paper, spend time with family, do

exercise, play badminton or the piano.

Instead of being robotic in how you approach tasks, try to

be thoughtful and always asking yourself if something can be done more

efficiently or eliminated altogether. Managing time is not about doing as

many tasks into day as possible. It’s about simplifying how you work,

doing things faster, and relieving stress. It’s about generating space in life

to make time for people, play, and rest.

There are enough hours in a day for everything you would like to do, but

it may take a bit of rearranging and re-imagining to find them.

Goals of Time Management.

To be able to have control over your life - manage your time, don't let it

manage you. To be healthier and happier.

Value your time

Almost everyone complains about not having enough time. Yet the many

people act like they don’t give value to their time. That is contradictory.

Everyone’s time have value. To understand this value and make it

meaningful, we need to assign an actual cost per hour value to our time.

“Life is tough; it takes a lot of your time.”-Sean morey

Using the phone efficiently and effectively

You can use the phone as an effective tool in getting and keeping co-

operation with others. Answer your calls on the first or second ring, if

possible. This gives the caller the impression that you are responsive and

efficient.

Keep conversations short. Brief conversations save time and your listener

will be grateful for them. Stick to the point while talking on the

Increase efficiency 10%

Do you feel pressured? Do you feel like you don’t have enough

time even to breathe during the day? YES, you may be thinking. But it

probably is not really like this.

Try this experiment

Set up a video camera in your room. Turn it on. Record yourself

when you are studying. Then watch the tape.

You will see yourself daydreaming, looking out from window, chatting

idly with roommates, making prolonged personal calls, drinking water,

fussing with your hair and doing all sorts of time wasting or inefficient

activities.

When I did this experiment, for the first 10-15minutes I was

studying like a most sincere student of my college. After 15minutes I

started breaking backbone like I am studying from many hours, then after

30minutes of reading, in the middle I thought something and started

searching for it.

After 1 hour of study friend knocked my door and asked me for

the Maggie and I said “yes” and then 5 minutes of discussion about what

are you reading, why you are reading this and attack of suggestions by

him.

I managed to get out of this discussion and started doing my

work. Again after 10 minutes maids came with all there cleaning stuff and

that was disastrous disturbance for me. I simply went outside and ate

Maggie with friend. Then I came back to my work and think what? I was

feeling so sleepy after having full 2 packs of Maggie that I directly kept

my laptop away and slept for 2 hours. The main problem is yet to come,

so I woke up after 2 hours that time I was so dizzy that capacity of doing

work decreased and I ended up my day doing work with low efficiency.

My Learning from this experiment

While studying you don’t mind these things. You think they

are necessary break to release stress. But on video they are painful to

watch and the recordings will clearly show that you can easily cut down

on wasted time at least 10% without getting stressed.

That time I should have locked my door so no one could have

disturbed me. What we can do for this is, creating blocks of prime time

when you can concentrate on your hardest tasks without interruption.

Schedule easy tasks outside of this prime time block. Writing blogs,

reading journals, doing book review can all be done at times when you

are not completely focused on a project.

Keep your prime-time block sacred. If your prime is 7pm to

9pm and don’t even think about scheduling exercise workout session or

playing badminton at 8pm. This would break up your block.

Work Habits That Speeds You Up:

Eliminate bad habit that waste time: First, we should identify

any bad habits that waste our time. For me, it was sleeping an hour after

I first woke up in the morning. Because the morning is the most

productive work time for me. By forcing myself to get dressed and go to

the college when I wake up, instead of falling back into bed, I increased

my productivity tremendously.

For others, it may be watching a football match or TV programs till late

night in the lobby, spending too much time surfing the web, talking on

phone.

“I am always quarreling with time! It is so short to do

something and so long to do nothing.”- Queen Charlotte

After you have identified the bad habits, make a list of the ones you must

avoid.

Determine Priorities

Can you always work on what you want to work on, right when

you want to work on it? What is you answer, Most of the people will be

having answer as No. Sometimes, a pressing deadlines means putting

aside a more pleasurable task and doing formidable tasks.

In my room, I have posted a list on the wall. It contains different

levels, from level 1 to level 8 and before the end-term I have to reach level

6. This is the goal set by me and list will remind me of my goal everytime.

It reminds me of what I have to do to reach higher level. You must set

priorities and meet deadlines. One can enjoy life only if he or she

prioritizes time.

Overcome Procrastination

Procrastination is opportunity’s assassin. Procrastination is

the single biggest factor causing people to fall behind in their work, miss

deadlines.

Having a daily to-do list– and then assigning yourself various tasks

throughout the day in one hour increments. It helps you to stay on track

and avoid putting things off.

As long as you have your short term deadlines and long term

goals in mind, you can be somewhat flexible in your daily schedule,

adjusting tasks and time slots to match your enthusiasm for each task.

Give yourself rewards for accomplishing tasks. If you work for a solid

hour on budget that is slow going, reward yourself with a break to read

your mail or walk around the office building.

Avoid Distractions

Outside distractions can be a major time– waster, if you let them.

An outside distraction is any unscheduled activity that interrupts the task

your are currently working on.

For instance, if you are dedicated in the evening to working on

presentation, and an old friend asks you to join for a reunion, that's an

outside distraction.

The key is to avoid disturbances as much as possible. If interruptions are

a real problem, try setting aside a period every day during which you will

meet with people and take phone calls. The rest of time is private time in

which you can work.

Most people say they complete more work when they work without

disturbance till the work is done. The main idea is to do things on our

schedule, rather than the schedules of others. It is not always possible.

Take pause and think, do I really want to be productive?

If I want to be super productive, they are certain things I will

have to give up. These things include laziness, thinking random things

for no reason and wasted idle time.

Sometime I think about the past memories and other random thoughts

which comes in my mind and it eats a lot of mental energy and time and

I start feeling lazy. I need to stop doing all these. If I am not willing to

give these up, I must seriously question whether being more productive

is truly a priority in my life.

Set high goals:

Many students who are ambitious look at other students, see

how their performance are and set their own goals slightly higher. But,

this will not make us productive. The majority have limited outputs. So

even if we do better than them our output will still be small.

“If you stay committed, your dreams can come true” -

Michael Blake

Do not use the average performing classmate as a role model for

productivity.

Set realistic but ambitious goals. Don not be afraid to take on challenges

and try new things.

Gain 10% more energy

Here are some things which we can do to improve our energy

levels.

Drink cold water, juice or other fluids thought the day. If you are feeling

sleepy while studying and in a class during the lecture, drinking cold

water gives immediate refreshing effect.

Wash your face

Another refreshing effect of cold water is its feel on your skin. If you are

studying in late night or early in the morning wash face with cold water

it has a nice wake-up effect.

Go to bed an hour earlier

If you are just sitting around at night, killing time by surfing on internet,

checking friends Facebook profiles, checking WhatsApp, stop this and

turn of the lights and go to sleep. The extra sleep will increase the energy

in the next morning.

Eat breakfast.

Even something small. Personally, I am not hungry in the morning. But a

light snack about an hour after getting up helps revitalizing.

Avoid big meals in the middle of the day. Big meals makes us sleepy. We

can eat more small meals instead of having big meals. Do not drink

alcohol during the workday. Studies shown that alcohol may make you

drowsy and impair you mental abilities.

Take multivitamin

Vitamin, minerals and health foods are helpful for balancing the body.

Even if you don’t have time to investigate nutrition, at least take a

multivitamin. So, your basic minimum daily requirements will be taken

care of.

Take a nap

Try a 15 to 20 minute nap when you are really tired. This can be especially

effective if you don’t get enough sleep at night. Keep the nap of 20

minutes because longer than 20 minutes nap will leave you groggy for the

rest of the day. Don’t nap too late in the day as it can make falling asleep

at bedtime more difficult.

Get out of bed earlier

Don’t oversleep. It wastes time and can make you groggy. If morning is

your high energy period, sleeping late wastes the majority of your most

productive time of the day.

How can we know when we are oversleeping? If we wake up naturally that

is without alarm and go back to bed. That is oversleeping.

If we use an alarm clock and feel refreshed after waking up. But then fall

back into bed because it’s warm, dark, and comfortable. Then we are

oversleeping.

Get up 1 hour earlier every day. This will not make us tired, this one hour

early start is incredible luxury. We can do extra things in this time and

get ready in peace an clam and we will be not late in the lectures.

Monitor your sleep

Studies have shown that most people need eight hours of sleep. Few

students don’t sleep whole night for preparing for the exam or

presentations this sleep deprivation dulls their mental edge.

During exams, students who sleep less so they can study more

and get more done may accomplishing the opposite.

A major cause of poor sleep is sometime we think about work

problems before sleeping. So clearing mind of all worries before going to

bed each night is necessary.

Try relaxation techniques

Relaxation techniques are activities that help you relax when you want to

so that you can recharge your batteries and have energy when you need.

There are many ways to relax. Some people practice yoga. It is known for

its ability to reduce stress and increase mental discipline and

concentration to relax.

Another popular relaxation technique is meditation.

Meditation is a simple, natural, effortless procedure practiced for 15-20

minutes in the morning and evening, while sitting comfortable with the

eyes closed.

During this the individual experiences a unique state of restful alertness.

As the body becomes relaxed, the mind transcends all mental activity to

experience the simplest form of awareness.

Hobbies helps to release stress

The best way to take your mind off your work is with a hobby that fills

your free time. Pick a hobby that offers you something you can’t get on

the work. For example of you are in college all day, try hiking, camping,

bicycle riding or some other physical activity.

Get organized

Getting organized does require effort, but the long term rewards far

exceed the short– term costs.

“Organization is the key to moving forward in life or in

business” —Professional organizer Sandee Corshen

Disorganized peoples are inefficient because they have to expend extra

time and effort. Returning a book to library on the last date of return

period on a busy day.

These activities waste time because of poor organizational and planning

skills. Carry a pocked to-do list. Write down thoughts and ideas as they

occur. Carry a pad and pen so you can write reminders, notes, ideas and

Priority items as you think of them.

Learn to say no

Making a lot of time commitments can teach us how to manage our time.

This can be a great thing. At some point, you need to learn to decline

opportunities.

Your objective should be to take on only those commitments that you

know you have time for and that you truly care about.

Exercise and eat healthily

Numerous studies have linked a healthy lifestyle with work productivity.

Similar to getting enough sleep, exercising and eating healthily boost

energy levels, clear your mind, and allow you to focus more easily.

Summary

Thus Time Management is of utmost importance to any person

who wants to give a stellar performance in any activity of life or otherwise

also. The concepts which we have mentioned above are a testimony to the

fact that Time in itself is a priority. The more you use your time

productively, the wiser you become in the circle of life.

“Time is Money” said an anonymous person. This is the mantra

followed by all the high flying entrepneurs and business honchos all over

the world. The concept of Time has been equated to money over here

which is required for overall sustenance. Time and its preciousness has

been placed on a high pedestal. But this may not be true for all, as one

may take a short period of time to reach the altar of success compared to

the other who will take a much longer period to be successful.

“Yesterday is history, today is the gift and tomorrow is a

mystery”. So, enjoy the present (gift) that is today and don’t worry about

the past or the future.

Avoid Overload Include time for rest, relaxation, sleep, eating,

exercise, and socializing in your schedule. Take short breaks during study

and work periods. Don’t put everything off until the last minute (for

example, don't cram for exams).Learn to say "no" when appropriate and

to negotiate better deadlines when appropriate.

Relax you all over there reading our content on Time Management, this

is not the gospel of truth which we are trying to preach you, these are just

pieces of thoughts put together collectively by us.

These concepts may not hold true for all of us as each and

every one of us are differently wired in this universe with our own

ideologies and convictions. Therefore have a good time by reading our

article and keep an eye on the needles at the same time.

References:

Successful Time Management

By Patrick Forsyth

The 25 Best Time Management Tools & Techniques: How to Get More

Done Without Driving Yourself Crazy

By Pamela Dodd, Doug Sundheim

Time Management: Proven Techniques for Making Every Minute

Count

By Richard Walsh

Time Management Make Every Second Count by Robert V Bally