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Time managing is something we hear a lot, and yet not everyone follows. We often complain on how we didn't have time to do this, or that. Here are some general techniques to make your time more productive.

Please note: Most of these where made to be used at work, however, some of them can also be used for house shores. Managing your time in both situations avoids stress, and in a job scenario, avoids possible deadline issues that could get you fired.



- Clear your desk and plan your activities for the next day.

- First list your ‘time specific items, e.g. meetings and then write down the tasks you have to complete.

- Once you have prioritised your tasks, make a ‘to do’ list and work through the items in priority order.

- Ensure that you have given yourself sufficient time to complete your ‘to do’ list, taking into account your daily interruptions.

- Do difficult jobs first, when you are at your best. Look after minor jobs when you are tired.

- Fix deadlines for all jobs and stick to them. A task should only take the time set aside for it.

- Do not postpone important matters that are unpleasant. Jobs rarely get more pleasant by being postponed. Do it now!

- Try to arrange set times for jobs such as going through the mail, talking with your manager or staff, computer input, etc.

- Try to fix definite times when you would not like to be disturbed, and make the system work except for genuine emergencies.

- Plan your telephone calls. Make a brief note of what you want to say and what you want to find out. It saves time later.

- If you have several phone calls to make, do them all in a burst.

- When you start a piece of work, try to finish it without interruptions. If you have to finish it later, you will lose time picking up where you left off.

- Arrange your breaks at times when you cannot work effectively.

- Plan some time for discussing routine matters with your colleagues. Then you avoid interrupting each other all the time.

- Learn to say ‘No’. Get used to asking yourself ‘Am I the right person for this job?’

- Monitor how you use your time, and make conscious changes to your behaviour.

- Stress and fatigue are rarely caused by the things you have done, but by the thought of what you haven’t done!

- Make a habit of finishing the main job of the day before you go home.


More work specific techniques can found in the following link:
- http://www.tsuccess.dircon.co.uk/timemanagementskills.htm


This post is open to sugestions, either from other sites, or personal tips to improve your productivity.

I hope you don't mind me hijacking your thread. x]

I am extremely, horribly bad at time management, especially when it comes down to homework. So, I have spent a great deal of my time and effort trying to keep myself on task, with some success...and some failure.

Still, I've found myself in the middle of typing an essay, trying to ignore the siren call of the addictive new game I borrowed from my friend the other day, and the next time I see its lil icon on my screen my finger twitches and...

...three hours later, I'm shutting down the game, and frantically continuing my essay. So yeah. These notes will apply to people who do work at home, especially homework *cough highschoolcollegeish people cough*

Time Management: What NOT to do, and how to keep yourself from doing it.

- If you want to do it, hide it.

Whether it's a spifftastic new game you fingers are twitching toward, a book you've read halfway through, and just want to continue, or your myspace button you're longing to click, make sure you can't reach it. If it's a game, stash your CD in the opposite side of the house so you don't find yourself 'accidentally' starting to play. If you really don't trust yourself, get someone else to hide it for you. Same goes for a book. Disable your internet to keep yourself from surfing the web. Put obstacles in your path to keep you from slipping.

- If you're tired, take a nap.

I am one sleep deprived high school student. Partly from procrastination, partly because I've gotten used to staying up late. So sometimes, when I get home, I find my eyelids dropping, the words on my textbook blurring, and I want to go to sleep.

Do so- at least, if you have the time. It's hard to work when you're constantly finding your mind wandering (toward sleep), when you can't concentrate or focus because your yawning constantly distracts you, or because you feel so lethargic you can barely write. Take the edge off the exhaustion, and continue your sleeptime later when you're done with work.

- No matter what the temptation is, don't work on your bed without good reason.

Generally, our beds are comfy. You settle down, and relax.

That is BAD. Especially if you're sleepy. Don't do your homework on your bed, especially if it's 12 AM, and you're just sooo tired and want to sit somewhere comfortablezzzzzzz.....

That's what happens. To me, especially. Don't work on your bed, or any comfy, squishy place you're likely to fall asleep in if you have any chance of being tempted into laying your head down and going to sleep.

- Get distracted by food so you don't get distracted by other things.

If you've followed the first instructions, and hid your video games in your closet, your PS2 in the bathroom, and shut down your internet, pulled out the router, and told your roommate to hide it- but you still find yourself glancing surrepticiously at your bed (which you can hardly dismantle), or longingly at a pillow- allow yourself to be distracted.

But not by the pillow/bed. Go get something to munch on. Food is something that can distract you without hurting your productivity much. You can type and eat chips at the same time, and if you happen to find yourself looking back at the bed, pop another chip in your mouth and focus on that- because it's much harder to focus on your homework over sleep. Use something you like to distract yourself from other things you like.

- Keep a stash of energy drinks. Don't use them too often.

First, I'd recommend you testing to see how much caffeine you need to kickstart your brain. I don't drink much caffeine (coffee = eeww), and I was hoping to see if energy drinks would help me stay up during finals. I chugged a 16 oz can of Monster, and felt slightly more awake. Apparently, caffeine doesn't affect me that much- though it make drastically affect others. So know how much you need beforehand.

(Note: Monster tastes okay, but has a shitty-a** aftertaste. Not recommended.)

Buy a sixpack of whatever energy drink you like, and drink it if you feel it's REALLY necessary for you to keep staying up. This may provide a few more hours of work from you, but it also takes away from your sleep. Use sparingly.

- Go do yoga, or something.

Staring at the same page for the last hour? Feeling completely and utterly uninspired by your essay?

Go and do some physical work, and come back. Do something that you'll actually feel afterwards, like more relaxation from yoga, or a bit of soreness from running. The change in feeling might help, or at least allow for some fresh thought through your mind.


More will be added, once I procrastinate some more, and think of more.

That's an excelllent idea! If nothing else, just to allow people to understand how much time they really have an are wasting on little unnecessary things.

It can be applied to finances, too. Many people will spend huge amounts in little bits (a dollar for coffee here, 50cents for a candy bar there) and never realize how much it can add up to. Then they wonder why they never have money. I'd like to extend this solution to the financial realm and propose that it wouldn't be a bad idea to carry around a little notebook for a week and record EVERY cent you spend. At the end of the week, put it all together and see how much you really spent.

On Distractions:

I understand that looking at a website designed for kids can be a bit embarassing, but keep in mind many adults participate in poor habits just the same. I notice many adults do nothing but watch TV in their spare time, for example. Nothing could be a bigger time waster.

Lots of people have problems with distractions.

http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/school/time/tips4.html

- TV
- Video Games
- Internet
- Phone

TV, video games, the internet, and the phone can be pretty big distractions! Many of these leisurely activities require more than a measily 10 minute break can provide. They oftentimes gulp up hours of precious time!

They don't do a great job in melting stress, although it's better than nothing. A stroll in the neighborhood or even a nicely drawn bubble bath with scented candles can be more relaxing without the disorienting effects that TV, video games, and the internet can bring.

If you get to find yourself stressed out over a neccessary activity, it's not unreasonable to give yourself a 10-30 minute break, however. When you find yourself unfocused, it is better to give you a little bit of time off so that you'll return focused again.

I found it valuable not to be hard on yourself when you find yourself unfocused. Take a breather. We're only human afterall.